Well, trying to get an objective POV from a divorced woman ... Whilst there will be some truth, one should always listen to the other side as well. The Chinese couples I know (single digit) look more like matriarchy - in some cases that seems to be because she attended a higher prestige college than he.
At least we can conclude one common circumstance in the West and China, it's the woman that divorces.
Thanks for writing. I guess it’s the aggrieved party that initiates the divorce and numerically that leans towards the women, certainly historically in China.
I beg to disagree. In the West, women are much more likely to initiate divorce because they get the kids, the house, child support etc. The man is lucky to be able to get a new wife because of the deadwood he is carrying around with him.
Thanks very much for this. I got here from MoA. I've been trying to learn about China, and found lots of interesting stuff, but there is also a lot of bias, not necessarily overt, but spun in one way or another.
Thank you. I guess I got fed up with reading nonsense written by people who don’t live here and have never been here and who get their information from other people similarly informed. I shall range a bit more widely and next week I have a score to settle with the U.K.!
Yes, I'm British. I lived in Hong Kong for a year and made Chinese friends. Obviously they were from the side that lost the civil war and HK was rampantly capitalist, but it was fascinating to talk to them about Chinese society and history.
The fallout from the UK's colonialist brutality is something British people rarely know or care about. The Raj in India is some kind of "lovely past" where you had tiffin and watched gymkhanas. I read Shashi Tharoor's book and the reality was horrifying. I'm always surprised how most people I meet from the subcontinent seem to like us and not have a chip on their shoulders!
Thank you for this. I currently teach history and economics online for a Chinese company, but I am teaching the children of the elite (who speak excellent English), so my experience is hardly a typical one. It is therefore fascinating for me to read these stories of the Other China, that is less affluent and sophisticated. Please do write more. I look forward to reading your article on the UK, my home country.
Thank you. Yes, these are ordinary working class people, but their standard of living is surprisingly high these days.
I'll leave this up for a week and post the UK article next Thursday in the new Open Thread. I keep thinking it is finished and then I find yet another facet to add!
Yes, I'm sure that their standard of living is higher than that of many working class British people, these days.. certainly the infrastructure available to them will probably be of better quality in most cases.
Jolly Good Show! Please write more. Based on your posts at MoA I was expecting something much more party line / upbeat etc. but these very real human stories are fascinating to read. I live in Mexico where I suspect many of the working class (and poor but not working) male-female dynamics are similar, though have no statistics etc. I happen to think that class differences are fairly universal, and throughout human history to boot, so the male-female dynamic is going to change somewhat between very poor, working poor, higher middle class, aristocrats etc. and most of us tend to remain in one stratum and thus tend not to see that many different mores.
Frankly, I was a little surprised by your stories because the few Chinese (and Tibetans) whom I know are into things like martial arts and qigong, and in that milieu women tend to be well treated as far as I can tell. In Tibet, for example, there is a huge difference between a working class farmer girl, who is basically little better than a slave socially speaking beholden to whatever male or matriarch in her immediate situation, and a martial artist or yogi, who is treated more like how we treat professors. Different class, different treatment. In any case, I mainly know sub-group types and have almost no experience with people outside that milieu.
But I was also surprised because I naively thought that communism had rubbed out most of those old-fashioned male-female dynamics and they were all equal now. I don't know where I got that impression, but I did. I might have just made it up based on all the pictures of smiling male and female blue-jacketed communists from decades ago.
Anyway, thanks. I look forward to reading more and hope your substack flourishes!
Yes, as I show, the boy/girl disparity of value, and the mistreatment of women is still very prominent at least in the working class. I don't get to mix with the aristocracy so can't comment further!
Well, trying to get an objective POV from a divorced woman ... Whilst there will be some truth, one should always listen to the other side as well. The Chinese couples I know (single digit) look more like matriarchy - in some cases that seems to be because she attended a higher prestige college than he.
At least we can conclude one common circumstance in the West and China, it's the woman that divorces.
Thanks for writing. I guess it’s the aggrieved party that initiates the divorce and numerically that leans towards the women, certainly historically in China.
I beg to disagree. In the West, women are much more likely to initiate divorce because they get the kids, the house, child support etc. The man is lucky to be able to get a new wife because of the deadwood he is carrying around with him.
Excellent start!
Thanks Karl!
I think the next one may interest you, the title is The Demise of Great Britain, I'll post it on the new thread next Thursday.
Many are expressing an interest!
Thanks very much for this. I got here from MoA. I've been trying to learn about China, and found lots of interesting stuff, but there is also a lot of bias, not necessarily overt, but spun in one way or another.
Would like to read more articles from you.
Thank you. I guess I got fed up with reading nonsense written by people who don’t live here and have never been here and who get their information from other people similarly informed. I shall range a bit more widely and next week I have a score to settle with the U.K.!
Yes, I'm British. I lived in Hong Kong for a year and made Chinese friends. Obviously they were from the side that lost the civil war and HK was rampantly capitalist, but it was fascinating to talk to them about Chinese society and history.
The fallout from the UK's colonialist brutality is something British people rarely know or care about. The Raj in India is some kind of "lovely past" where you had tiffin and watched gymkhanas. I read Shashi Tharoor's book and the reality was horrifying. I'm always surprised how most people I meet from the subcontinent seem to like us and not have a chip on their shoulders!
Thank you for this. I currently teach history and economics online for a Chinese company, but I am teaching the children of the elite (who speak excellent English), so my experience is hardly a typical one. It is therefore fascinating for me to read these stories of the Other China, that is less affluent and sophisticated. Please do write more. I look forward to reading your article on the UK, my home country.
Thank you. Yes, these are ordinary working class people, but their standard of living is surprisingly high these days.
I'll leave this up for a week and post the UK article next Thursday in the new Open Thread. I keep thinking it is finished and then I find yet another facet to add!
Yes, I'm sure that their standard of living is higher than that of many working class British people, these days.. certainly the infrastructure available to them will probably be of better quality in most cases.
Jolly Good Show! Please write more. Based on your posts at MoA I was expecting something much more party line / upbeat etc. but these very real human stories are fascinating to read. I live in Mexico where I suspect many of the working class (and poor but not working) male-female dynamics are similar, though have no statistics etc. I happen to think that class differences are fairly universal, and throughout human history to boot, so the male-female dynamic is going to change somewhat between very poor, working poor, higher middle class, aristocrats etc. and most of us tend to remain in one stratum and thus tend not to see that many different mores.
Frankly, I was a little surprised by your stories because the few Chinese (and Tibetans) whom I know are into things like martial arts and qigong, and in that milieu women tend to be well treated as far as I can tell. In Tibet, for example, there is a huge difference between a working class farmer girl, who is basically little better than a slave socially speaking beholden to whatever male or matriarch in her immediate situation, and a martial artist or yogi, who is treated more like how we treat professors. Different class, different treatment. In any case, I mainly know sub-group types and have almost no experience with people outside that milieu.
But I was also surprised because I naively thought that communism had rubbed out most of those old-fashioned male-female dynamics and they were all equal now. I don't know where I got that impression, but I did. I might have just made it up based on all the pictures of smiling male and female blue-jacketed communists from decades ago.
Anyway, thanks. I look forward to reading more and hope your substack flourishes!
Yes, as I show, the boy/girl disparity of value, and the mistreatment of women is still very prominent at least in the working class. I don't get to mix with the aristocracy so can't comment further!
Thank you Walt. Very moving. Peace to you and all the women.
Thank you!.