NEWS AND INSIGHT NEWS & INSIGHT
WHEN GENDER PREFERENCE ENGENDERS FEMALE FAMILY MEMBER EXPLOITATION
SCHOOL: Lancaster University Management School COUNTRY: UK
Gender inequality to the point of sustained exploitation at the hands of family members is revealed in new research from Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) senior lecturer Chihling Liu. Liu’s study delves into the dark side of life in certain families in China to uncover ingrained discrimination felt by many women throughout their lives. Specifically, she reports on what is termed ‘son preference’, where families that exhibit a strong preference for sons over daughters often expect female family members to make substantial financial or labour contributions to their parents before and after marriage, habitually to subsidise the schooling and living expenses of their brothers. “My research sheds some light on why women may seemingly allow this exploitation to continue throughout their lives. Evidence suggests that daughters are prepared for this exploitation from birth and grow up believing that their role is to ‘give’ to their family and they should not expect to receive anything from the family in return – all because of their gender,” explained Liu, who is also programme director for the MSc in advanced marketing management at LUMS. “They grow up carrying a weight on their shoulders, believing they are indebted to their family and must pay them back with total commitment
for however little they have received. Their debt starts from the day that they are born.” Drawing on a range of anonymised testimonies, Liu argues that the ensuing impact on women’s lives and personal wellbeing is such that is bears comparison with those affected by modern slavery. “Whereas in cases of modern slavery, victims may be aware of the fact they are being exploited but lack the economic means or knowledge of the law to escape their situation, this is rarely the case in the family context I’ve studied. Yet, it is clear that sustained exploitation takes place today and is normalised in so many families,” Liu highlighted. The study, published in the Journal of Marketing Theory , is based on an analysis of more than 30,000 comments on online Q&A forum zhihu.com and YouTube equivalent bilibili.com between 2016 and 2022. The timeframe was designed to take in renewed public interest in the topic of family discrimination and abuse fuelled by popular TV series Ode to Joy . TBD
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Ambition | NOVEMBER 2023 | 13
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