A regional tradition of gender equity: Shanghai men in Sydney, Australia.

Da, Wei-Wei

A critical issue in gender research is the degree to which men share labor within the family. Although women have moved into the work force at an increasing pace over recent decades, women still take the major responsibility for family work in most societies (Baker, 2001; Connell, 1987; Haddad & Lam, 1988). Research in men's roles within the family is burgeoning, but findings are blurred and complex when taking account of race, ethnicity, religion, region, and social classes (Booth & Crouter, 1998; Brown & Bumpus, 1998; Coltrane, 1998; Connell, 1995; Haddad & Lam, 1988; Hartley, 1995; Haynes, 2000; Hertz, 1986; Hochschild & Machung, 1989; Hood, 1983; Howell, 2001; Lindsey, 1997; Lu, Bellas, & Maume, 2001; Mintz, 1998; Russell, 1983a, b).

The 20th century has witnessed significant changes in the composition of population in Western society due mainly to international migration and labor market transformation. Contemporary Australian families, for example, comprise more than one hundred countries of origin (Hartley, 1995). Canada's foreign-born population makes up 17% of the total population according to the 1996 Canadian census (Troper, 2000). The changes in the composition of the population in the West imply that the existing theoretical frameworks in the studies of the family and gender relations, which are largely developed from a single cultural context, may not have relevance when applied to a population with a different cultural background (Baker, 2001; Coltrane, 1998; Connell, 2002; Haddad and Lam, 1988; Haynes, 2000; Mintz, 1998). The case of the Kibbutz community in Israel, for instance, is seen as a variant from almost all aspects of existing theories of gender roles and the family that are developed in the West (Agassi, 1991; Lorber & Farrell, 1991).

A socialization model is widely used in explaining how gender is constructed through childhood. Yet, as Connell (2002) argues, it does not consider the ethnic pluralism of contemporary society, which produces multiple patterns of masculinities and femininities. It also neglects an active part a young person plays in the process of gender learning.

The exchange theory is also frequently used in interpreting the gender roles and gender relations in families assuming both the husband and the wife in a nuclear family have a sex-segregated marital structure: man as breadwinner verses woman as homemaker. The husband brings home the paycheck in exchange for the wife's domestic services. Following this line, wives' employment and their economic contributions to the family would bring a balance of housework participation between husbands and wives. Yet empirical research on men's housework involvement among a population with multicultural background does not support this logic. Cross-cultural research highlights that a majority of women take on "second shift" duties after they come home from work (Baker, 2001; Haddad & Lam, 1988; Hochschild & Machung, 1989).

Furthermore, many family studies, as Coltrane (1998) argues, use homogeneous samples or fail to provide the details about race, ethnicity, income, living conditions, education, occupation, and the like. Further, male respondents are rarely included in the gender studies. More important, Coltrane argues that sophisticated theoretical and methodological methods are lacking when examining what men actually do in the family.

Moreover, social class biases exist in the studies of ethnic families. Research of gender relations tends to suggest an egalitarian pattern of relationships among Western families when compared with migrant families. Along with this line of thinking, a popular notion is that Western men are more likely to share the housework with their partners than their non-Western men counterparts (Hartley, 1995; Howell, 2001). The notion, however, has drawn criticism. Specifically, a growing number of empirical studies of ethnic families in the West have been criticized for their simplicity, stereotyped presumptions, and neglect of the variations in the gender relations given the complex socioeconomic and cultural contexts embedded within migrants prior to their migration (Haynes, 2000; Lindsey, 1997; Mintz, 1998; Xu & Lai, 2002). An Australian national survey by English and King (1983), for example, found that foreign-born men in general were more likely to share domestic work except childcare than Australian-born men. Soriano's (1995) study of Filipino families pointed out that they were generally egalitarian in terms of decision-making, though they had a clear role specification. Studies of Black middle-class African Americans found that Black husbands were more willing to accommodate themselves to the needs of their employed

wives than White husbands were (Haynes, 2000).

Why some men share housework with their wives more than others do, and why some are more willing to share than others are some of the questions researchers seek answers to. Research highlights that the resource structure and the distribution of power in society relate to how housework is arranged in the family (Connell, 1987). Studies frequently document that women's participation in the work force and the prevalence of the nuclear family are some of the forces "pushing" men into family work (Baker, 2001; Hertz, 1986; Lau, 2002; Lindsey, 1997; Russell, 1983a, b). Studies also consistently report that men's participation in domestic work has risen. However, some scholars question whether men's housework participation has actually risen. Press and Townsley (1998) argued the increasingly reported men's involvement in family work might result from over-reporting behavior of men and women, who may try to follow social norms or what they perceive is socially desirable. Mintz (1998) refutes the notion of a shift in men's domestic involvement from patriarchy and androgyny to egalitarian, and argues that the notions ignore the complexity and diversity of men's roles in families throughout history. According to Mintz, the socioeconomic context has a pivotal role in shaping men's roles in the family. Gerstel and Gallagher's (2001) study in the United States indicates that men's caring role is contingent on the availability of female members in the family. Kane and Schippers (1996) point out that the gender beliefs men and women hold determine gender relations, and men may not hold absolute power over women at the micro level. Lorber and Farrell (1991) find that gender equity is linked to what it means to be a "wife" or a "husband." Moreover, gender relations are related to personality and emotional attachment (Connell, 1987, 2002).

Studies of gender relations in migrant families tend to suggest that migrant men's housework involvement is related to their migration status because of economic needs and women's increasing employment in the new social and cultural milieu. It is also associated with influences from mainstream society, such as Haddad and Lam's (1988) study of migrant men's housework involvement in Canada and Mak and Chan's (1995) study of Chinese from Hong Kong in Australia. Research on migrant families also highlights the effect of social context and cultural beliefs in the migrants' home country on their family practices in the new country (Dion & Dion, 1996). Haynes's (2000) study of Black Americans pointed out that social and cultural capital may offer fuller explanations to the division of labor at home. Haynes indicated that African-American husbands were more willing than White husbands to accommodate and share housework with their wives. Amezquita and associates' (1995) study of Latin American families in Australia found that men's housework involvement was related to their construction of gender and the cultural meaning of what "being a man" is in their country of origin. In sum, factors that contribute to the housework arrangements are diverse and influenced by gender, class, and race as well as being individualized and contexualized (Dillaway & Broman, 2001).

Although studies on gender relations in Chinese society have been growing since the 1980s, they still are limited. However, studies of gender relations in Mainland China suggest that the social system, gender ideology, and state welfare policy play a fundamental role in shaping gender relations in families rather than resources and power structure (Croll, 1983; Hooper, 1989; Lu et al., 2001; Skinner & Meredith, 1998; Xu & Lai, 2002; Zheng & Meredith, 1997; Zuo, 2003). Cheung et al.'s (1997) study of gender role identity, stereotypes, and attitudes in Hong Kong concludes that most previous studies of gender roles tend to be descriptive, and they suggest a need to move beyond this stage. They also call for further research on the dynamics of the synchronization of gender role changes among women and men. Lau's (1981) study of Chinese families in Hong Kong highlights the utilitarianistic trait, which shows the emphasis of family interest rather than the traditional boundary of authority relationships among family members. Stockard's (1989) study of traditional marriage customs in the Canton Delta Region of China during 1860-1930 highlighted "the delayed transfer marriage" (1) form that is divergent from a majority of marriage practices in the rest of China. Lu and colleagues' (2000) recent national survey of Chinese husbands' participation in household work shows that the husbands' participation is related to the wife's employment status, income, and educational level. Zuo's (2003) recent study of gender relations in China based on data from Beijing highlights that men's breadwinner roles are constructed through spousal interaction on a daily basis rather than income level and early childhood socialization. In Zuo's sample, women with a high income are reluctant to commit to the breadwinner role because they perceive the breadwinner role directly related to manhood, whereas womanhood is associated with housework and childcare.

Migrants from China are a relatively recent migrant group to Australia. The sharp increase of Chinese population in Australia over the past two decades has drawn the attention of scholars from various fields. However, studies on this migrant group tend to focus on demographic characteristics, economic participation, and acculturation (Fung & Chen, 1996; Hon & Coughlan, 1997). Studies of gender relations among the group have remained largely unexamined.

Drawing on the frameworks of resource and power structure in the studies of gender relations, this study aims to examine the division of labor among recently arrived Chinese in Australia, with a focus on men's housework participation and regional differences if there are any and why. The assumption of the study is that gender role performance among Chinese migrants may be related to the immigrants' region of home origin, given the geographical diversity and uneven socioeconomic development among different regions in China. By examining the differences in gender role performance among the Chinese migrant families, I intend to bring attention to research on gender relations among migrant families and to consider the social milieu in the migrants' home country as well as the regional context.

METHOD AND SAMPLE

As an example of qualitative research, this study's data were primarily collected from semi-structured in-depth interviews with an interview guide. A personal biography and demographic data were also collected. This method captures the complexity and the dynamics of family relations and gains insights into family life that may not be available from commonly used social surveys.

The fieldwork took place in Sydney, Australia, during 1997-98 for my doctoral research on Chinese migrant family practices, wherein I interviewed 40 Chinese women and men. The data for this study are based on 34 respondents (19 females and 15 males) who were married either in China or in Australia. Respondents were mainly recruited with a snowball approach through friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. Several Chinese organizations and religious groups provided assistance with sampling for this study, also.

A majority of the respondents arrived in Australia in the 1980s and early 1990s, responding to the changes in immigration policy in both China and Australia. A majority came as students to study English or seek a higher university degree. A small proportion of the sample arrived in the early 1990s as independent migrants. The sample's educational level is relatively high, with a majority of them having a university degree or having engaged in professions when they were in China. Their occupations prior to migration included researcher, engineer, government employee, teacher, and technician. The sample may be thought of as "elite migrants" in terms of educational qualifications, occupations, and urban background. Their age ranges from early 30s to mid 50s at the time of the interview. The social and demographic characteristics of the sample are generally in conformity with a large population of Chinese in the Australian census (Fung & Chen, 1996; Hon & Coughlan, 1997).

The housework examined in this study includes four areas: childcare/education, cooking, shopping, and cleaning/laundry. No formal questionnaire was used in this study. The questions used included: "Would you tell me about how the housework is arranged in the family?", "Could you tell me in detail what you and your partner do in a particular day?"

The interviews were conducted in the respondents' native language and were recorded with the respondents' consent. After the interview, all recordings were translated into English. A case study was written based on the raw materials. Some respondents were again contacted for a second interview due to incomplete information or interruption of the interview. Most respondents were very co-operative. All respondents' names noted in the following sections are anonymous.

To examine the regional differences in men's housework participation, the classification of the sample by region of home origin in China is somewhat complex because of the mobility of many educated people who were born in one city but worked in another. There are also cross-regional marriages among the sample. However, I classified the sample primarily based on where they were born rather than where they worked before migration. Because of the limited sample of the study, I grouped their birthplaces into three broad regions: the north region, which includes places like Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiangzhuang, Chifeng, a medium city in Hebei province, and Qingdao, in Shandong Province; a middle-coastal region, which includes places like Shanghai, Yangzhou, a medium city in Jiangsu province, and Hefei, capital of Anhui province; and a south region, which includes Gaungzhou, provincial capital. Shenzhen, a special economic zone in Guangdong province, Fuzhou, provincial capital, and Xiamen, a major port city in Fujian province. Of the 34 respondents, a majority came from three cities, namely, Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

FINDINGS

A REGIONAL PATTERN OF SHANGHAI MEN'S HOUSEWORK INVOLVEMENT

The results about men's housework involvement are summarized into three types: "equally sharing," "male involved more than female," and "male involved less," which were primarily based on how respondents perceived their housework participation. As the findings show, most men in the sample share housework with their partners across all three regions, but the amount of housework varies in degree. Among the 34, 13 respondents (seven women and six men) stated that housework was shared between the two parties. Five women reported that their husbands did more housework than themselves, while six men reported that they did more than their wives. Also there were seven women who reported their husband did little, and three men stated they did less housework. There is no clear pattern of men's involvement in the housework when I related it to their occupations, educational qualification, or income level. Yet when the types of men's involvement were further classified by the respondents' region of home origin in China (see Table 1), a pattern of Shanghai men's housework involvement became evident.

A majority of "sharing type" was found among those who came from the southern region; there were more men from the north in the type of "male involved less"; by contrast, "male involved more than female" type was primarily found among those men who came from the middle coastal region, mostly from Shanghai.

How do Shanghai men engage in housework? What makes Shanghai men differ from the men from other regions? The following sections will present the details about what Shanghai men do at home, including views from both women and men.

SHANGHAI MEN ARE FAMILY MEN

Shanghai men are generally seen as family men. Shanghai men not only tend to take on more housework and caretaking for their wives and children but also report enjoying doing housework.

Case 1. Nan is in her early 40s, married with a child born in China who was studying at an elementary school at the time of interview. Nan and her husband both came of age in Shanghai. After graduating from the university, they found a professional job in another province. They arrived in Australia as skilled migrants and both found professional employment. According to Nan, she and her husband work in the same occupation, but his income was slightly higher than hers. When she was asked about the division of housework at home, she immediately remarked,

 My husband does more work at home. He is a caring man, caring
 for our son and me. Generally, Shanghai men, though not all of
 them, are good at housework. My husband does all the cooking,
 laundry, shopping, and other housework. I am only responsible for
 supervising my son's study and some cleaning....

Nan was observably proud of her husband and satisfied with her marriage. Obviously, Nan's husband did many tasks that are traditionally expected of women. When I asked her how housework was arranged back in China, she simply answered, "He did more than me." She later added, "It was the same; nothing changed after we came here. That was why I married him...." It is interesting that willingness to do housework was one of Nan's criteria in selecting a marital partner.

During the interview, Nan pointed to her hair and said that her husband cut it and that it was her husband's idea to do this for her. Obviously, performing such behavior is less expensive at home than in a barbershop. Not dismissing the possible economic consideration of cutting his wife's hair, we might suspect that Nan's husband enjoyed doing this for his wife for the pleasure of it. Nan also spontaneously mentioned that her husband came to pick her up after work every day, which I witnessed. Nan explained that the husband's routine of picking her up was not really necessary, because she could take a bus from work, without transfer, to get home directly. But she remarked that he insisted on doing this every day. When she was telling me all this, it didn't sound like she was "blaming" him, but rather describing how her husband cares for her.

I had an impression that Nan may have had a dominant role in the family even though her economic contribution to the family may not have been more significant than her husband's.

Shanghai men's support of their wives' pursuing a career is illustrated in the next case study.

Case 2. Both Ling, a mother of two children, and her husband came to Australia as skilled migrants. Their two children were both studying at the university at the time of the interview. Ling and her husband came of age in Shanghai. They both had a university degree and an academic job before migration. Ling found an academic job that matched her qualification, while her husband had a well-paid job at an international company. With regard to the division of housework in the family, Ling remarked, "He performed more housework than I did." Ling continued,

 I came back home often late ... my husband cooked the meal
 almost every day. I share some cooking on weekends. At weekends,
 my husband and I [do] shopping together as well as cleaning
 and laundry.... My two sons also help with various tasks like
 dishwashing....

I assumed that Ling's husband's housework involvement might relate to his current occupation, which required regular working hours. Ling has an academic job, which is more competitive and always requires extra hours after work. When Ling was asked how the housework was arranged when they were in China, Ling answered that he did the same when they were in China, where they were both academics. On another occasion, I met one of Ling's colleagues, who knew Ling's family well. From what she had observed, she admirably told me that Ling's husband indeed took on more housework tasks than Ling did. It seemed that Ling was very much devoted to her job, which cannot be separated from her husband's support and his taking on more housework.

The two illustrations suggest that Shanghai men's housework involvement after migration is consistent with their housework pattern before migration. There is no significant association with resource/income discrepancy between the two couples. Further, I got the distinct impression that both Nan and Ling appeared happy in their marriages.

The observed characteristics of Shanghai men being gentle, caring, and good at doing housework were also supported by some of those who came from other regions of China. A female respondent named Ping, for example, came from the south of China. When asked about gender roles in her family, Ping told me a story about one of her neighbors, a man from Shanghai.

 I have a neighbor from Shanghai. You know, he is so caring to his
 wife. I have never seen a guy like this.... It seems to me that he
 enjoys doing domestic work. He does everything at home; you
 cannot imagine. He believes he is doing better than his wife. Do
 you believe it? He cooks the meals and does laundry and cleaning.
 I am wondering if it relates to his personality....

Although Ping's remarks about Shanghai men seem positive, her tone and mannerism gave me the impression she might think Shanghai men "lacked masculinity," or were "abnormal." In sum, Shanghai men's housework participation is obvious.

SHANGHAI MEN'S SELF-IDENTIFICATION AND SELF-PERCEPTION OF GENDER ROLES

What has surprised me is Shanghai men's self-identification as being "a Shanghai man" and their perception of gender roles in the family, which diverges far from traditional gender roles when compared with men from other regions. Some typical examples are presented in the following section.

Case 3. Jiang had a child with his wife prior to migration. He arrived in Sydney as an independent migrant with his family. He had a master's degree from a university in Shanghai and a professional job. He was lucky in finding academic work after migrating to Australia. His wife, who also holds a university degree from China, had to take a job below her academic qualifications in Australia. Jiang's educational level and income is higher than his wife's. Yet his self-identification regarding to his housework participation is striking. Jiang stated,

 I am a Shanghai man. Our Shanghai men are well known for their
 housework participation.... Did you hear that? Shanghai men all
 do housework....

What a nice indication of being a Shanghai man! He seems to be proud of being a Shanghai man and a family man. Jiang had a well-paid professional job. Obviously, he is a major economic contributor to his family's well-being, but this does not constrain him from sharing a major proportion of the housework. Regarding the family's housework arrangements, Jiang remarks,

 My time at work is flexible. I do more housework. I cook the meal
 and do shopping during the weekdays. She does some housework
 on the weekends. I also spend more time supervising my son with
 his schoolwork in the evening. I check his homework and ask him
 about his day in school.... We, my wife and I, have a kind of
 division in helping my son with his study. I help him with English,
 and my wife ... practices [our] mother tongue language with
 him.... We discuss all the familial matters together. She loves
 fashion dresses, and I am okay with it....

Jiang's involvement in the domestic work, which includes helping his son with schoolwork, is significant. On the whole, Jing's participation in housework is irrespective of his having a higher income and a better job than his wife.

Case 4. Wan, a male in his early 40s, had an eight-year-old child. He and his wife, as Wan noted, were both from Shanghai. Wan, with about 10 years of schooling, had the lowest educational level of the sample of respondents. Wan had worked in a state-owned factory in Shanghai before coming to Australia. He was self-employed at the time of the interview. Regarding the division of housework at home, Wan states,

 I have no special expectation of my wife of what she should do.
 You know this. Shanghai men take good care of their wives. I
 don't think I have ever had what is called a "man's superiority." I
 do housework and childcare. I grew up this way. My father did
 housework, too. I did everything at home no matter if we were in
 China or in Australia.

At the time of the interview, Wan was alone taking care of his eight-year-old son while his wife was staying with her father because her father had an accident and could not live by himself. Wan ran a small business along with taking care of his son. He sent his son to school in the morning and picked him up in the afternoon. He was juggling the housework including childcare and running his business every day.

From what Wan said, family background, especially his father's influence, was critical in his gender learning process. His attitudes toward housework and what he said about his expectations of his wife also made his case typical.

Shanghai men's interpretation of the division of gender roles is also noteworthy. A typical example is presented here.

Case 5. Sun, a male in his early 40s, married and had one daughter before coming to Australia. He and his wife were both born in Shanghai to families who had lived in Shanghai for several generations. Sun came to Australia alone. He had been granted a permanent status only a short time before the interview. At the time of the interview, he had been separated from his wife and daughter for almost eight years. Yet he still sustained his marriage and was expecting his wife and daughter to join him soon. When he was asked about the division of housework when he was in China, he stated that while he was in China with his family, "Women gave birth to a child, and so men should rear the child. That is the equal division of labor in the family."

It is clear that there is a regional tradition in Shanghai men's housework participation. However, Shanghai men's housework participation is also seen as responding to women's expectations of men's roles at home.

SHANGHAI MEN ARE EXPECTED TO SHARE HOUSEWORK

What intrigues me is Shanghai women's expectation of men, which is salient and runs counter to most women's traditional expectations. A typical case is presented here.

Case 6. Hong, a woman in her mid 30s, had an infant baby at the time of interview. Both she and her husband had university degrees and worked in education when they lived in Shanghai. Hong was taking courses for a master's degree at the time of the interview, while her husband was employed full-time in a job below his qualification. As for the division of labor at home, Hong remarked,

 At home, my husband does more work. Being a Shanghainese, he
 is expected to do everything, such as cooking, cleaning, laundry,
 and shopping. I usually go shopping with him. I don't have some
 particular expectations of my husband, except not being lazy at
 home....

From what Hong said, we could assume that a man's willingness and ability to do housework is an important element for a woman when selecting a marriage partner. Nan, who was noted previously, also expressed this view. Shanghai women's expectations of men's roles in the family do contrast with those of female respondents who came from Chinese regions other than Shanghai. Jing provides a typical example.

Case 7. Jing, a male, about early 40s from Beijing, had earned his doctoral degree in law after migration. He married a Chinese woman in Australia. According to Jing's biography, he grew up in Beijing, but his parents came from the south of China. His wife came from an educated family in the north of China. She was educated and was expecting a baby while taking courses for a master's degree at the university when I interviewed Jing. It seemed to me that Jing was open-minded and willing to share housework with his wife. But his wife always made some excuses to take over more housework even when she was pregnant. Jing states,

 I have no complaints about her [his wife]. She took over all the
 housework in our marriage from the very beginning. She believes
 that performing housework is not the proper role of a husband.
 She is very traditional. I am willing to share with her, but she
 doesn't allow me to do it. She tends to spoil me.

Situations in which women take the major share of housework and accept a submissive role in the family are found in several cases among those who came from the north region. In Jing's case, his wife's taking over all of the housework may be a way she expresses her love to Jing.

Another male respondent, named Gang, frankly noted that his wife always asked him to make the decisions when it came to family affairs. He perceived his wife's behavior as a sign that she was afraid of taking any responsibilities.

DISCUSSION

The evidence is clear that there is a gender tradition in Shanghai men's housework participation. Shanghai men not only volunteer but also become involved in the family work. Shanghai men's self-identification as being Shanghai men and perceived gender roles in the family are divergent from the rest of the sample in this study but are also different from traditional views of gender role expectations. Evidence shows that the pattern of Shanghai men's housework involvement has no clear association with either the resource/power distribution perspective or the exchange theory. What factors have contributed to the observed pattern of Shanghai men's housework participation, though?

In discussing the factors shaping Western men's family roles, Mintz (1998) points to several, including women's participation in the work force, feminist movements, the sexual revolution, the growth of divorce, the legalization of abortion, and so on. But not all of these, social changes have positive impacts on men's housework involvement. Mintz pointed out that two factors, "the erosion of the family wage" and "the increasing emphasis of the mother-child dyad," have had a role in weakening men's family roles. In comparison, the "family income" social policy implemented in the West has never ever been introduced in China. The mother-child dyad is also less emphasized in family practices in China. Moreover, the women's movements in China, as Brugger (1971) commented, have always been led by male elites, including Mao. The trajectories of men's housework participation in China are very different from those of the West. Thus, the discussion of the observed pattern of Shanghai men's housework involvement cannot be understood apart from early historical events, social changes, regional culture, and economic context in Shanghai and a broad context in China.

First, and most important, the discussion of Shanghai men's gender roles and gender identity must consider the early industrialization in Shanghai. Sexual division of labor is the first human division recognized in social science, which is deeply embedded in the economic circumstances of history (Connell, 2002). Gender relations are dynamic in responding to socioeconomic changes. The early industrial development that emerged in Shanghai during the 19th century is critical to some extent. The early industrial development in Shanghai, as Honig (1986) depicted, is more like the mill towns of Lancashire and Manchester in the UK. The emergence of cotton mills and silk and tobacco factories in Shanghai attracted thousands of women to join the work force. The female workers accounted for about two-thirds of the total industrial population in Shanghai (Honig, 1986; Lieu, 1936). Women's participation in the work force was obviously against the long established values of Confucianism and posed challenges to the traditional views of women's roles and family relations. Women's economic independence weakened males' authority, which is often associated with the family's breadwinner role.

The particular marital role behaviors Shanghai men exhibited in the study may also have associations with Western influences during the middle of the 19th century that came along with the imperialists' invasion of China. Shanghai, as one of the largest treaty ports opened to the imperialists, was exposed to Western influences more than any other region in China. The foreign population in Shanghai reached 60,000 during the 1930s. The large foreign population in such a limited space fostered a culture of mixed influences. The British and American banks, French cafes, dancing halls, gambling houses, and opium dens were part of the city scene. The large foreign trade and number of industries also provided various job opportunities for women. The city thus evolved from a peasant civilization (Brady, 1995; Chow, 1991; Murphey, 1953).

Apart from its economic development, Shanghai was also a political center in China. Along with Western influences, Marxism and democracy were introduced, and advocacy of equal rights between the two sexes to access empoyment and education also spread through frequent interaction with the West. Shanghai was the birthplace of the Chinese Communist Party, which was established in Shanghai in 1921. It has also been fraught with various political events through modern history, such as the May Fourth Movement of 1919 and the Nationalist Revolution of 1927 (Honig, 1986). Women were also actively involved in the process of various social changes.

Second, the discussion of Shanghai men's housework participation must also consider the impact of political campaigns and gender reforms during Mao's regime. A widely perceived success of the Chinese government is the improvement of women's social status by bringing women out of the family into the work force (Croll, 1983, 1995; Freedman, 1979; Goode, 1963; Ho, 1964; Whyte & Parish, 1984). Women's participation in the work force was enforced through various social policies and legislation in China, which led to China's having one of the highest rates of women's participation in the work force (Connell, 2002; Lu et al., 2000). Dual-earner families appeared in China earlier than in the West. In Canada during the 1970s, for example, nearly 50% of the families still lived on the husband's income alone, while in the 1990s the percentage decreased to 20% (Baker, 2001). Gender relations in China have also been improved by the removal of various traditional practices including prostitution and polygamous marriage, while advocacy of equal rights and equal pay between the two sexes has been promoted.

In summary then, Shanghai men's gender identity and intense involvement in domestic work cannot be understood as separate from their interaction with women and women's improved social status. As noted in the preceding sections, men's roles in the family, in fact, correspond to women's expectations.

Research tends to suggest that men's housework participation is rather selective and the tasks men do are likely to relate to creative or leisure activities (Haddad & Lam, 1988). This study shows that Shanghai men do all kinds of housework and seemingly enjoy doing them. This implies that there might be a positive element in gender learning among Shanghai men. There is not just one dimension of gender learning, as Connell indicates (2002) in the discussion of the socialization theory.

Scholars may argue that migration status may contribute to men's housework involvement because of economic needs migrants encountered in the new social and cultural milieu. It may be true. Yet Shanghai men's self-perceived gender role and self-identification provide evidence that their housework participation is basically a continuity of what they did before migration and what they perceived their roles should be.

Here I would like to make clear that the findings do not suggest that only Shanghai men actively and voluntarily are involved in housework or that men from other regions in China do not share housework with their wives. There are Chinese men from other regions in my sample that do demonstrate intensive involvement in family work. What I intend to say here is that Shanghai men, as a group, are more likely to engage in housework than men from other regions of China. A final point I want to make is that there are considerable variations of masculinities and femininities among the Chinese.

The study has its limitations. The discussions about gender construction of Shanghai men could go further if I had more data. There exists little literature about gender relations in Shanghai at this time. In addition, the study's sample is limited to those who share a similar social background, and thus the findings may not be applicable to those from other social classes. Finally, it would be more ideal and convincing if I could have gathered data from an older generation, which would have allow me to see if there are differences in men's housework participation between two or more generations.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

This study examines men's housework involvement and regional differences among Chinese migrants from China to Australia. A pattern of Shanghai men's housework involvement emerged, which shows that Shanghai men are not only intensively but also voluntarily involved in housework. Also salient is Shanghai men's self-identification as being a Shanghai man that links to their perceived gender roles in the family. The observed pattern of Shanghai men's behaviors differs from what most would consider traditional men's roles. This phenomenon, Shanghai men's intense involvement in housework, cannot be explained simply by the resource/power structure framework, the socialization model, or the exchange theory. Evidence yielded in this study indicates that there is a regional tradition in men's housework participation that goes back to the migrants' home origin of Shanghai. It has associations with social policy, gender ideology, and practices in China at large. It also relates to the given context of Shanghai, its early industrial history, women's massive participation in the work force, and early exposure to Western influences. The findings support Connell's (2002) views that there are various forms of masculinities in contemporary ethnic-plural society. Men's family roles are diverse, ethnic, historical, and regionalized.

NOTE

(1.) The "delayed transfer marriage" is a particular marriage custom practiced in the Canton Delta Region. Traditional marriage customs specified that a bride, after the marriage ceremony, moves to her husband's family immediately and begins to perform various duties including domestic work, childbearing, and childrearing. Yet, according to the "delayed transfer marriage" custom, the bride moves out from her husband's family on the third day after the marriage ceremony to live with her own parents for at least three years. During these three years, the bride visits her husband's family only on special occasions such as festivals or family celebrations (Stockard, 1989, pp. 3-5).

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WEI-WEI DA

University of Toronto, Canada

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Wei-Wei Da, Joint Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Settlement--Toronto (CERIS), University of Toronto, 246 Bloor Street West, 7th Floor, Toronto, ON Canada M5S 1V4. Electronic mail: weiwei.da@utoronto.ca.