Having a good job is pretty important to many women - that is
unless they can find a wealthy husband to look after them.
A recent survey of women in Guangdong Province revealed that
almost half would rather prefer marry a rich man than get a good
job.
At 45.2 percent, the figure is 8.9 percent higher than the
country's average.
The survey showed many women are still very conservative in the
province that borders Hong Kong and Macao special administrative
regions, according to an official from Guangdong Provincial Women's
Federation.
The federation conducted the "Survey and Analysis on the Social
Gender Concepts in Guangdong Province" early this year.
"A large percentage of local women still have the traditional
idea of relying on their husbands after they have married," said
the official who did not want to be named yesterday.
Women who are less educated have a stronger desire to marry rich
men and rely on their husbands, she added.
Chen Wenqi, a local white collar worker, however, said she would
refuse to rely on her future husband.
Chen said she would never marry a rich man who she did not love
at all.
"Men and women should be equal both at work and at home and
wives should not rely much on their husbands if they have the
ability to work," Chen told China Daily yesterday.
The 27-year-old works for a local foreign-funded logistics
company.
The survey also revealed the number of rural women who said a
rich husband was better than having a good job, was 11.7 percent
more than their urban counterparts.
"The tendency of independence often goes against the economic
and social status of the women," Wang Xiongjun, a sociology PhD
student at Peking University, said.
"The more you can support yourself with a decent life, the less
you are willing to depend on others, even your spouse."
And 75.1 percent of the Cantonese women said they would continue
to work even after they married rich husbands.
The figure is also nearly 13 percent lower than the country's
average.
Most of the local women agreed that husbands should focus their
efforts on work and social events while wives must spend much of
their time on family and housework.
More than 40 percent of women said being good looking was more
beneficial to finding a good job, then having ability.
On the sex issue, men are slightly more lenient than women when
it comes to forgiving infidelity. About 47.5 percent of women said
they would excuse their husbands for being unfaithful once,
compared to 50.3 percent of men.
(China Daily September 11, 2007)