Rural
Women: Content with Their Lot
I participated in events organized by the
UN Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) initiated in the aims
of reproductive health, with the main emphasis on poverty-stricken
townships. I therefore had the chance to chat with rural women
and hear about their happiness, anger, grief and joys. At the
forums held in Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi, the
impression I gained from rural women was that they are hardworking,
unafraid of hardship, and content with their lot. They hope
for an income and material life whose levels are not polarized;
they are content with their reality, and are willing to share
weal and woe with a husband. They do their best to provide for
the education of their children, helping them towards prospects
of success in life. TV sets in the countryside now being as
commonplace as in urban areas. They have a relatively rich cultural
life, and are also making ideological progress.
Mannequins modelling underwear |
Tian Yaqun lives in Xicun Village, Xicun Township,
Yijun County, Shaanxi Province, and is a native of Baoji. She
met her husband in Beijing when they were working as laborers
there. She is 36 years old, and has a son and a daughter. Talking
about rural life, she said, "My family has an apple orchard
that produces 5,000 kilos of apples a year, and added to incomes
from growing grain and raising pigs and chickens, we can earn
7,000 yuan. My husband drives a motor-powered tricycle to transport
goods, and all in all we have an income of 10,000 yuan a year.
"My family lives in four cave dwellings,
totaling 100 square meters, which are warm in winter and cool
in summer -- very comfortable. My husband and mother-in-law
treat me well, and I am content. As farmers, our labor is not
too tiring, since all farm work, including planting and harvesting,
has been mechanized. Our main manual work is to put apples under
cover and pick them in the autumn.
"I think another advantage we have is
not needing to worry about being laid off. Our job is permanent,
and in one year there are six months of slack season. We are
free to go to work at any time, and have no fear of the repercussions
of being late. Even though our incomes are less than urbanites,
I do not envy them, and am content with our rural life. I am
the leading actress in our amateur theatrical troupe. In winter,
when work is not busy, we rehearse and perform. Our days pass
happily."
After telling us this, she sang us an aria
from a Shaanxi opera.
Her case is representative, and many other
women agree with her point of view.
Realistically speaking, there are many difficulties
in rural life, such as the low prices of grain, high fees for
children's education, hardship when forced to do odd jobs in
the city, risks of "unemployment," and the increasingly
high cost of medical care, but their positive attitude is admirable.
The quality of marriage for women in China
is changing, along with social progress, encompassing both joys
at improvements, and suffering that some changes bring. My belief
is that it will continue to improve.
