How gendered lived experiences shape sex preference attitudes in contemporary urban China

Objective

This article examines how gendered lived experiences—the constellation of women's quotidian, on-the-ground encounters and perceptions of gender inequality—shape highly educated women's sex preference attitudes in contemporary urban China.

Background

Recent theoretical developments highlight women's experiences and views of gender (in)equity as powerful forces that drive their fertility aspirations and behavior. Yet, extant research on sex preference has overwhelmingly focused on features of the patrilineal family institution and overlooked the role of gendered lived experiences.

Method

This study adopts a mixed-methods approach, combining six waves of the nationally representative China General Social Survey (2010–2018) and 70 in-depth interviews.

Results

Quantitative analysis found that compared to those with exclusive daughter preference, highly educated urban Chinese women who exclusively desired sons held similarly egalitarian views on gender. Qualitative analysis further demonstrated that invoking lived experiences of gender injustice, these women framed their son preference attitudes as “a mother's duty” of wanting to shield their children from gendered hardship. They viewed raising daughters amidst pervasive gender discriminations as emotionally taxing hard work. Meanwhile, such preference aligned with entrenched familial expectations that demanded male offspring, thereby holding behavioral implications for second-birth outcomes.

Conclusion

This study uncovers previously obscured reasonings—beyond the outright devaluation of girls—that undergird highly educated urban Chinese women's son preference attitudes.

Implications

By unpacking how gendered lived experiences underpin the nuanced reasonings behind some highly educated urban Chinese women's son preference attitudes and the behavioral implications, this article joins the theoretical conversation that considers how gender egalitarians may perpetuate gender unequal outcomes.