Masculine Compromise by Susanne Yuk-Ping Choi, Yinni Peng - Paper

About the Book

Drawing on the life stories of 266 migrants in South China, Choi and Peng examine the effect of mass rural-to-urban migration on family and gender relationships, with a specific focus on changes in men and masculinities. They show how migration has forced migrant men to renegotiate their roles as lovers, husbands, fathers, and sons. They also reveal how migrant men make masculine compromises: they strive to preserve the gender boundary and their symbolic dominance within the family by making concessions on marital power and domestic division of labor, and by redefining filial piety and fatherhood. The stories of these migrant men and their families reveal another side to China’s sweeping economic reform, modernization, and grand social transformations.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction: Migration, Family, and Masculinity in Postsocialist China
2. Marginal Men and China’s Grand Narratives
3. Striking a Balance: Courtship, Sexuality, and Marriage
4. Conjugal Power and Diverse Strategies
5. Housework and Respectability
6. Migration, Fatherhood, and Emotionality
7. Filial Piety from Afar: Migrant Sons Renegotiating Elderly Care
8. Masculine Compromise: A Feminist Framework of Changing Masculinity

Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"Impressive and innovative.. The book deftly presents theories, empirically rich, and also rather comprehensible to readers. I would strongly recommend it to scholars who engage in gender and migration studies in China and beyond, as well as anyone who is interested in migration, family and gender issues."
— New Books Asia

"Masculine Compromise makes a prominent contribution to the existing literature of men and rural–urban migration in China, with a primary focus on the migrant men’s family lives and personal relationships. . . . The book captures the power of patriarchy and the notion of masculine ideals through unfolding the patrilineal and patrilocal practices in the migrant men’s everyday lives."
— Sociology

"Drawing upon rich narratives that speak to intimacy and emotionality within men’s experiences as husbands/partners, fathers, and sons… this book makes a significant, compelling addition to the scholarship on family life and gender relations in contemporary China."
— American Journal of Sociology

"Masculine Compromise presents a true-to- life depiction of the experience of rural men living on the margins of urban society. It does so with subtlety and sensitivity, quietly documenting men’s private aspirations and personal failures…"
— Contemporary Sociology

"The primary contribution of this book is Choi and Peng’s insightful framework of “masculine compromise,” which they use throughout the book to vividly describe the strategies and practices of migrant men."
— Gender and Society

"The conceptualization of ‘masculine compromise’ serves well as a feminist framework. It captures the tension and negotiation of masculine ideals articulated through the men’s life stories, intersecting with a wider context of structural inequalities in relation to class and gender."
— Sociology

"This well-written, persuasive and enjoyable book is a timely and much-needed contribution to the literature of rural-to-urban migration in China."
— Sociological Research Outline

"Masculine Compromise is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the vast cohort of male Chinese migrants as they attempt to navigate changing identities as husbands and fathers."
— The China Journal

"The book deftly presents theories, empirically rich, and also rather comprehensible to readers. I would strongly recommend it to scholars who engage in gender and migration studies in China and beyond, as well as anyone who is interested in migration, family and gender issues."
— International Institute for Asian Studies

"Rich in detail and lively in style, the engaging ethnographic and qualitative accounts serve the purpose of the books well to destigmatise prevalent stereotypes and showcase the diversity of the “floating population” in post-socialist China."
— Nan Nü

"Masculine Compromise is extremely well written, the personal stories are compelling, and the core analytic concepts do not require readers to be familiar with sociological debates. By virtue of the scope and depth of its empirical detail, Masculine Compromise will be an important book. Moreover, because the authors have such a fine grasp of analytic discussions beyond China, the book will have major impact even on North American–focused scholarship, which dominates this field."—Deborah Davis, Professor of Sociology, Yale University and coeditor of Wives, Husbands, and Lovers: Marriage and Sexuality in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Urban China

"Masculine Compromise shines a much-needed spotlight on migrant men and with sensitive fieldwork and brilliant analysis illuminates the power of migration to transform what seemed like intransigent patterns of parenthood, intimacy, conjugal power, and filial obligations. This book is a must-read."—Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, author of Paradise Transplanted: Migration and the Making of California Gardens (UC Press)

Masculine Compromise

About the Book

About the Author

Table of Contents

Reviews

Awards