“Factory Girls” Teaching Western Women About Feminism

I recently came across the book Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China on Jezebel — my favorite feminist blog — and was surprised to not only see a mention of Asians, but a population of women that I encountered during my medical studies in China. Many in the Western world would only encounter these women in the Nike shoes they wear or in the “Made in China” clothing they buy. However, a few years ago I had an opportunity to visit one of these factories in China. You see, my uncle is the head of a Japanese owned hat factory; over the years he has sent gifts of money to complete my college education which, despite studying frat boys instead has been a great source of pride for my family. Yet, as I am wandering from 4:00am Burlesque themed parties to off-Broadway stage doors, I can’t help but to wonder about these young women whose dreams and dedication put me here in this decadent Gossip Girl lifestyle.

Factory Girls follows the lives of multiple girls who travel from the small farming villages in rural China to factory cities where they earn a pittance of a salary by our standards — yet, it’s enough for them to develop a taste for brands, glamour and modern sexuality. They go from towns without running water and sharing the house with livestock to cell phones and gourmet chocolate. In a culture where parents eagerly await the birth of the awaited boy child, spare girls are not only allowed but are encouraged to leave home to seek their fortunes. Like the second children of Christopher Columbus’ Europe, they are allowed to venture into the modern world to find employment and hopefully, to send their profits home so that the rest of their family might enjoy a more comfortable lifestyle.

In Leslie T. Chang’s book the girls take English classes and learn to pour a proper cup of Western tea (the cup must be 70% full) in order to move up a social class from factory worker into management. Height is highly desirable, as is youth. The typical employment period is between 18-25 as the girls are expected to return home for marriage before they turn 30. Some of the girls long to remain in the city married to a urban boy but those desires conflict with parental pressures to return home and marry a village boy. However, the girls discover that with financial power comes freedom from their parents and the tradition of their ancestors.

I was pleasantly surprised at how alike we were despite being separated by language and geography. Although it’s easy to idealize the working class of China for being hardy and self-made, it’s also important to realize that China has a great distance yet to come in the realms of education, health care and basic human rights. My uncle has always said that despite our apparent social loftiness from the average factory worker, we all sleep in a bed at night, we all eat three meals a day, and work most of the day. Despite our clothes being a little more expensive and our cars a little nicer – we’re not that different.