The ‘final say’ is not the last word. Gendered patterns, perceptions, and processes in household decision making among Chinese immigrant couples in Canada
Journal Title: Journal of Comparative Research in Anthropology and Sociology - Year 2010, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
The central assumption of the ‘final-say’ measure of conjugal dynamics is that reported decision-making outcomes reveal gender inequality within the household; since power is defined as the ability to make decisions affecting the life of the family, the decider is often regarded as the one possessing more power or higher status. Qualitative data collected from in-depth interviews with 16 married Chinese immigrant couples in Canada, however, problematize this assumption. Drawing on data from separate interviews with the spouses, I highlight three subtle ways in which gender inequality manifests itself. First, in a substantial proportion of households, wives rather than husbands made decisions about day-to-day expenses, even when the wife held no paid employment or earned less than the husband. Second, husbands consciously avoided making such decisions. Not only did interviewees perceive household expenditure decisions as ‘women’s business’ (nurenjia de shi), but these decisions were also trivialized by both male and female respondents. Third, interview data showed that there was an unequal distribution of power between spouses, even in the model of joint decision making, because wives tended to seek their husbands’ approval, especially for real estate purchases or high-end consumption. The major findings from this study suggest that researchers’ conclusions about gender relations in the family may depend on the methods of data collection.
Authors and Affiliations
Shirley Sun Hsiao Li
Keywords
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