A reflective essay on how women in China are being punished for not conforming to the norms of heterosexual marriage through the lens of Michel Foucault's panopticism. Written in 2017 by Kirin Heng for a graduate course. 

The Taoist dualisms of yin and yang are deeply ingrained in Chinese culture. The yin, personified by the woman, is “negative”, while the yang, personified by the man, is “positive” (Lau 186). Neo-Confucianism institutionalized this by placing woman in an inferior position to man, such that their “functional importance” was in bearing children, specifically male heirs (Lau 183). 

Despite efforts of the Cultural Revolution in the 1970s to encourage the virtues of the working-class woman, independent from the yoke of patriarchy, society responded with a backlash that targeted any woman who refused to be subject to the Neo-Confucianist principle of heterosexual patriarchy. Back then, these were the women who chose to take jobs, often becoming the breadwinners of their families. 

Nowadays, the perceived villains can be seen as two types of women who refuse to obey the link that subordinates woman to man: matrimony. On the one hand, there is the woman who wishes to forsake marriage to advance her career. She is shamed and Other-ed as the Leftover Woman (Sheng Nu 剩女). On the other hand, the woman metonym-ized as a seductress fox (Huli Jing 狐狸精) wishes to cheat marriage by using her body to survive or advance financially, by living as an ‘other’ woman, concubine or mistress (Er Nai 二奶, literally second wife). 

These women, both seen as ills in society, are punished in two different ways. For the first, the panopticon machine may sometimes prove useful in restoring her to society as a dutiful wife or wife-to-be. For the second, she is separated by society by suspicion and stereotyping, shamed as the plague-victim, never to redeem her virtuous, pure femininity (Foucault).

Those who have become the most absorbed into the panopticon machine of traditional Taoist-Neoconfucianist patriarchy are the Leftover Woman’s parents. Knowing every personal detail of their daughter’s life, they put it on display, to the public of the inner ring, begging that their errant daughter be saved by matrimony. This they do by going to marriage markets, putting advertisements of their daughter’s physical features and age on display, in hope of meeting any potential groom’s parents browsing this market for their own son (Broadly). All this is done unbeknownst to the most important parties to this transaction, the children of these desperate parents. In this way, the daughters are similar to the panoptical subjects, knowing the existence of their parents’ disapproval of their singlehood, but never knowing when or whether it is being acted upon.

The leftover woman is surrounded on all sides by disapproval. Her parents chide her for being picky, lacking in consideration for their family legacy—without her marriage, their single-child family line would end with her. They can go as far as cutting ties with their errant daughter. The leftover men—themselves far outnumbering the leftover women—shame her career ambition as a lack of femininity, as unbecoming (Broadly). Often enough, and soon, too soon, the opposition on all sides close in on her, taking her in as one of their own. She becomes a self-policing agent, ashamed of her own independence, seeing it now as a fault to be fixed with matrimony. 

Media plays a big part in this disciplining system. Take for instance, the controversial advertisement for a speed-dating event by Baihe, a dating website (Luo). It attempts to appeal to the sense of filial piety of these women, such that ‘leftover women’ are committing disrespect to their parents by remaining unmarried (Luo). Advertisements expounding on the happiness and rewards of marrying young abound in cities (Broadly). The success of these attempts to discipline the errant unmarried woman past the prime time for getting hitched, is proven in the success of speed-dating events and matchmaking services. The proliferation of “bridal competitions” is testament to the fact that more and more women are buying into the rule that they must get married before a certain age, and must avoid contracting the disease of the Leftover Woman (Osburg).

On the other hand, when a rich and successful businessman takes on an Er Nai, she is seen as a “parasite”, preying on his moment of weakness. She is the wily fox spirit preying on him, a victim of human nature. She lives in an apartment in a city away from her patron’s family, away from her own family, in comfort but isolation, a bird in a gilded cage, for she cannot reveal her identity of mistress to others (Lau 191). If discovered, she is punished severely and made a social pariah by most often, the legitimate wife of her patron, who can go as far as to publicly strip her, beat her up, and spread feces on her face (Wheatstone). Defaced, she is nonexistent to society, her reputation in shambles. When the dirty, morally unsound woman is metaphorically killed in this way, society is made pure again. 

Works Cited

Broadly. “From 'Iron Girls' to 'Leftovers' - Independent Women in China.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 2 Dec. 2015. Web. 7 Oct. 2016.

Foucault, Michel. 1995. “Panopticism.” In Discipline and Punish, translated by Alan Sheridan, 195-231. New York: Vintage Books. 

Lau, M.P., and Fang-fu Ruan. “China.” In Francoeur, Robert T., The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality, edited by Francoeur, Robert T. and Raymond J. Noonan. New York: Continuum Publishing Company (2004). 182-209.

Luo, Chris. “Baihe, Chinese matchmaking site, criticised for ad telling people to marry to please grandparents.” China Insider. 25 August. 2015. Web.

Osburg, John. "Tough Love." Foreign Affairs. 6 Oct. 2016. 12 June. 2014. Web.

Wheatstone, Richard. “Footage of angry wives attacking mistresses in the street in China's dangerous social media trend.” Mirror. 6 April. 2015. Web.