A) Yan Yunxiang demonstrates in Private Life Under Socialism that many features of the constellation we have come to think of as the Chinese family are fast disappearing in Xiajia and other Chinese communities. These include the primacy of the elder generation, the strong emphasis on having many children and especially many sons, the property-holding extended family, the strict prohibitions on premarital intimacy, and others. You have also seen these changes manifested and discussed by local people in the film Dahua's Wedding. Do these momentous changes also mean the end of patriarchy in Chinese society? Do they mean the end of male dominance? Why or why not?

In writing on this topic, make sure that you define what you mean by patriarchy and by male dominance.In addition to Yan's chapters, you should make reference to other sources you are reading for the class, including but not limited to articles by Watson and Zhang, and Harrell.

B) In the Reform Era, with the strict implementation of the Planned Birth campaign, most families have one or at most two children. You can see graphic examples of the lives of these children in Vanessa Fong's Only Hope. What does the shift from a norm of many children to a norm of one child or at most two mean for a) the future of the Chinese family system; b) the future of the Chinese labor force; c) the future of gender relations; d) the future of middle-aged and old people in China?

In writing on this topic, you should make sure to relate the specific urban stories in Fong's book to the generalizations made by Watson and Harrell, as well as to speciic rural case material from such sources as Zhang, Yan, and Dahua's Wedding.

C) We are reading and discussing a lot of issues related to changes in dating, sexuality, marriage, and youth culture in general, most of which have happened in the last 20 or even the last 10 years. One might brush these changes off with a shrug, and the glib observation that China is becoming "modern" or "Westernized." But careful reading of the various sources reveals that these changes are part of "modernity with Chinese characteristics," "youth culture with Chinese characteristics" or even "sexual liberation with Chinese characteristics." Drawing on readings, lectures, and other materials, consider which aspects of China's "sexual revolution" are universal and which are particular to China, and for those that are particular to China, show how they connect to other aspects of both traditional and changing Chinese family and gender relations generally.

General guidelines for essays
All essays should be submitted by email to the instructor by 5:00 p.m. on the posted due date. Essays that are submitted late on the due date will be graded down one notch (e.g. A- to B+ or B to B-); essays that come in after the due date will be graded down two notches (e.g. A to B+ or B+ to B-). Essays will be returned by one week from the announced due date and time.

Essays should be between 1500 and 2000 words in length, not counting references. You may use any style (footnotes, endnotes, or embedded author and date) for references, as long as it is clear where you have gotten your information. Quotations should always be referenced, as should any information that is taken explicitly from a given source.

If you need help with writing, you should make an appointment to visit the Anthropology Writing Center or the JSIS Writing Center. Because of the large number of students and because of time limitations, I will not be able to read and comment on preliminary drafts.