Gender Role Expectations and Chinese Mothers’ Aspirations for their Toddler Daughters’ Future Independence and Excellence

Abstract

What kinds of futures can urban Chinese mothers imagine for their toddler daughters? How do gender role expectations shape what they imagine? This paper addresses these questions by looking at how a high-income mother and a low-income mother in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, talked about their aspirations for their toddler daughters’ development of independence and excellence. We further examine the childrearing practices they used in the present and hoped to use in the future to cultivate these qualities. 2 Drawing on analysis of interviews, survey responses, and video recordings of mothers playing with their daughters, we examine the dilemmas that arise when Chinese mothers try to cultivate these qualities in their daughters while also trying to maximize their daughters’ current and future chances for happiness in a society where independence and excellence are sometimes considered less appropriate for females than for males.

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