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Affilia, Vol. 22, No. 3, 255-270 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0886109907302260

Desperate Housewives

The Case of Chinese Si-Nais in Hong Kong

Petula Sik-ying Ho, PhD

Hong Kong University, psyho{at}hkucc.hku.hk

This article documents the strategies that married Chinese women in Hong Kong use to cope with the stigmatized identity of being si-nais (middle-aged housewives). It analyzes how, in the larger context of Hong Kong's social, economic, and political transformation, the term si-nai has changed over time from being a mark of respect to being a derogatory label. The dissatisfaction expressed by these women with their lives is matched by resistance to a stigmatized social identity and stereotyping images with which others may seek to confine them. The study problematizes the way in which the figure of the housewife is constituted as some form of "other" by feminism.

Key Words: Chinese women • housewives • identity • stigma


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