Independent, adventurous, competitive and ambitious, such words
were often used to describe men, but today they are commonly used
on post-1980s college girls.
According to a research conducted by East China Normal
University, nearly one third of college girls show a mixed
personality with strong masculinity and feminity, and the
proportion among the post-1970s college girls is only 14
percent.
The post-1980s generation are mostly single children, who are
brought up under the joint care of both parents and grandparents.
As they don't have brothers or sisters, it is natural for them to
have an independent character, which endows the girls with the
character that used to be exclusively seen on men.
Chinese women used to be encouraged to be the assistants of
their husbands rather than to have careers of their own, but
post-1980s girls are different, who are known to always tend to
seek a high income and enjoyable lifestyle. To them, freedom is one
of the most important things in life, thus they won't allow
themselves to be bound by men or family chores.
Besides, it is necessary for people to have some masculinity to
survive such a highly marketized society, be they men or women.
(Chinanews, December 7, 2007)