Civilizing Unmarried Urban Women in China : Authentic or Not?

Aim: The aim of this research was to explore and evaluate the new expected identities of unmarried urban women in China, by analyzing the changes of marriage law in recent sixty years, particularly in property division in the case of divorce. Methodology: The paper proceeded under the qualitative method and designed a case study in Chengdu. The data from books, journals, policies, newspapers and the interviewing texts were analyzed under theoretical concepts and discourse analysis method. Theoretical framework: The theoretical framework of the complex “governmentality-identity-authenticity” was applied in the thesis, with the main focus on gender issues. Conclusions: The self-reliance identity has been established among the unmarried urban women in China, while the self-esteem identity failed. By interviewing unmarried urban women in Chengdu, the biggest obstacle is the lack of protection and compensation for divorced women from China’s marriage law. The fear of drop in life standard and suffering from poverty after divorce led to the insecure feelings and negative emotions among the unmarried urban women, which hugely influenced on their marriage concepts and self-esteem identity building