A Feminist Ventriloquial Analysis of Hao Gongzuo (“Good Work”): Politicizing Chinese Post-1980s Women's Meanings of Work

ABSTRACT

This study examines Chinese post-1980s women’s meanings of work at the intersections of gender, generation, and culture. A feminist ventriloquial approach is used to tease out the enactment of tensions in the communicative constitutions of the colloquialism hao gongzuo (“good work”). Figures such as women’s personal aspirations, gender roles, cultural and generational values, and the material conditions of the Chinese workplace ventriloquize into their everyday constructions. This study finds that post-1980s women are both perpetuators and dissidents of gendered and national-cultural work ideology as they negotiate various tensions to frame good work as wending (stable), timian (face adding, status promoting), and yourenyouyu (fulfilling, achieving). Situated in the context of a transitional developing country rooted in Eastern traditions, this study unpacks how various discursive and material forces engage in tensional constructions of work meanings and sheds light on women’s career socialization and gender equity in the Chinese workplace.

KEYWORDS:

• Chinese women in the workplace
• colloquialism
• intersectionality
• post-1980s generation
• ventriloquism

Notes

I draw from Western feminism—in particular, postmodern feminist theories and intersectionality—to inform my investigation of the research question and to bridge theories of feminism with ventriloquism. While employing a feminist framework developed primarily from the West, I pay attention to local nuances and non-Western ideas that may make post-1980s women participants say or do certain things.

In member reflections with participants of the study, I asked a couple of participants for permission to record our postinterview conversations and follow-up chat in case additional insights emerged. In some cases, I asked the participants to repeat their points so that I could have their exact words on tape. New insights or examples that emerged have been incorporated into the analysis.

In member reflections with nonparticipant post-1980s generational members, they offered their own interpretations of good work and examples of their personal and friends’ career experiences. In general, women’s encounters with the colloquialism confirmed existing findings from my data set, and the figures identified in the study strongly resonated with them. Men framed good work as high pay, high status, and generating a sense of achievement, which highlighted the gendered nature of meanings of work, as well as how culturally specific performances of femininity and masculinity were woven into their constructions of good work. In addition to affirmation, member reflections with nonparticipants generated insights that nuanced the analysis. For instance, a conversation with post-1980s workers revealed the “hidden benefits” of working in state-owned enterprises/government, adding another layer to wending (stable) work that highlights the instrumental benefits of the employment. As another example, post-1980s workers pointed out that my data set may reflect only a privileged group of workers in China, whereas the post-1980s generation is a diverse group, many of whom are in low-income households in rural China and who do not have autonomy over their career choices. I then became conscious of socioeconomic status as a potential figure, and of not making generalizations about the post-1980s women as a whole in my analysis.

Bianzhi is an official roster of employees with assigned roles in the organizational structure. It is a legacy practice of planned labor systems whereby the state determines the number of personnel positions needed by an organization. Those who are listed in the bianzhi are considered workers who have “iron rice bowls.” However, the labor processes have been transitioning from bianzhi-based to contract-based employment to adapt to the marketization of the Chinese economy.

Members of the post-1980s generation are particularly significant because they entered the job market after China adopted market-driven, contract-based labor structures and Western human resources management strategies in most of the industries.

Taobao is the largest consumer-to-consumer online shopping portal in China, similar to eBay.com. A woman can become a Taobao seller through her own will by creating an online business at very little cost. This alternative form of employment is very different from traditional work in organizations.