Long time ago, China was definitely one of the sexist country in this world. But, when Qing dynasty was destroyed by nationalists women were able to gain the power that they never had experience of. While men were always outside pursue "revolution" women were looking for stable job, so they can feed their family. In the story the main character was very astonished by the many opportunities that were given to her. Although she does not like the idea of working in the factory, she appreciates the foreign influences. Things such as microsoft words and a pair of nike shoes enriched her life quality, and also maintained her family. Her thoughts became big and realized that it is her job to come up with ideas that would make her life better. She was able to grab the chance it was given and use the experience as an advantage. Just like that, she was able to build her visions in a compacted factory, and surely, that vision would prepare her for up coming events.
I think factories do offer young girls a way to earn a living, support their parents. Based on the reading, it seems as thought this factory, Yue Yuen, also offers a safe and fun environment for the young woman working there. (I believe it said 80% of workers were women.) The author describes how on their off hours, the women dress up and how their living quarters are decorated like an American teenage girl's locker, with poster etc.. She also talks about how throughout history woman have always been encouraged to remain at home, and how in present years this has changed dramatically. Her interviews with women show their enthusiasm towards the community within the factory. The women say they are bored when they go home, and that they seek to marry within the factory (because they are untrusting of the outside). While all of this may be true for some woman, i am skeptical that each woman feels the same. I think an important quote to note i on page 161, "if you wanted something different, it took all your strength to break free." Some of these woman want alternatives, but are unable to escape, while others may be unaware of possibilities and their desires do to having worked in factories their whole lives with little education. This article was frustrating to me for this reason, that the woman see their situation as the best because there is nothing (potentially) "better" available. (Some woman might still chose working in a factory if they were given options, but not all, and it bothers me that those woman are stuck).
Joined: 02 Nov 2011 Posts: 7 Location: United States
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 8:19 pm Post subject:
I agree with madi, the validity of the factory lifestyle is an interesting enigma. On one hand it's a job which is able to support loved ones and make money in a time which women were not suppose to be part of the workforce, especially in the factories. It's very similar to the industrial revolution in america, specifically the lowell mill girls in the mid 19th century. For the first time women were allowed, and preferred to work in the factories for many reasons including that they would work for less. It seems like the same thing is happening in this story, there are many benefits, but with those benefits comes issues like bad work conditions and low pay
To me, factory life did not seem to terrible to be in. Actually, the conditions in the factory where we were introduced from this narrative are better than some factories in Korea, it almost seems. There are certain aspects of this factory life that benefits them; of course, they would have more earnings than they would have back in the villages but there are also that social aspect of their life that is freer in the factory compact.
As we can see from the reading, the factory life is no longer a pronoun for a terrible life of money machines; in fact, the conditions in the factories got so much better over time that the majority of the factory population seek to persue the city life, than the village life, ideally.
What this means is that there are people who are dissatisfied with the conditions in the factory, and that they could talk about it without being harmed. This is very important because that means there are infinite room for improvements in living conditions.
Thus far, from the impression that I got from the reading, I think that factory life offers a lot of things to its comprising populations, which are money, future, and sense of standard of living. Because of this new culture that is built off of this factory life, I think common Chinese people will move on in terms of living conditions and beyond, because so many now know and want to achieve city lifestyle.
Factories are a way for a young girl to earn a living and support their families. In the reading we heard about a woman who was promoted and wanted to work there for their life. As factories go Yue Yuen seemed to be one of the better ones since some employees went to working at different factories but then came back to Yue Yuen. The women that are working in the factories are not all educated, on page 162 one of them say’s “I didn’t even finish elementary school.” Theses uneducated women’s families rely on them to make money. They cannot simply switch back to their old lives since “when they go home, their parents don’t usually want them to work” in the fields. These girls are stuck in their high stress jobs because they need the money and want the benefits of being in the cities. The high stress is simply due to the speed that they have to work and the inability to fight back since they are replaceable.
Joined: 04 Jan 2012 Posts: 6 Location: Deadfield, MA
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:58 pm Post subject:
Factories do give young girls a chance to get started and make money for a living and for their families. The work that they do teaches them responsibility and gives them a real shot in the working world. The major flaw with factories though is the conditions. For example, the Lowell Mill girls had bad working conditions in their factories. There were very strict rules within these factories at work so it taught time management skills because of all the "at this time, you need to be there" type rules. For many girls, factory life was the only option have and it was great work for them and a chance to bring back money for their families. _________________ "If you're not violating the honor code at BYU, it's not worth doing"- Daniel Tosh
I was surprised by the descriptions of workers' life at Yue Yuen, the conditions seemed so much better than I have imagined. At Yue Yuen where the workers created their own community (it is like a "city", with seventy thousand people) with smaller groups separated by the provinces. At the factory the girls enjoy the opportunities given, some promoted to better titles, received money to spend however they want. (sometimes sent to their families and sometimes used for themselves like fashion and entertainment.) They can choose to study, although outwardly they are against further education, seeing it as unnecessary, choose to make boyfriends, and build friendships (although uncertain to be continued). Yue Yuen gave them the chance to earn money, support family and build future, although I am not sure about other factories as most girls describe them to be worse than Yue Yuen. When Qianqian left Yue Yuen with uncertainty of what to do next, I was curious to know why so many girls grew tired of their factory life and wanted to quit. When the narrator asks Qianqian "Why did you leave Yue Yuen?" She answers that she left because "it isn't fun anymore," but seemed to hide somewhat deeper reasons behind it.
This reading was the first time I think I had ever read about factory labor, and the reading hadn’t made it sound awful. As everyone has been saying, it seemed like there was a lot of mix between good and bad features of working at the Yue Yuen factory. I was confused a bit, because there was evidence that it was both a binding and non-binding job/career. The quote that Madi gave shows that in some cases it ‘took all their strength to break free’ from the factory, where was on page 160 it says, “If a girl decided to leave the factory, it sent ripples of shock and uncertainty through everyone around her. To be a migrant was to be constantly abandoned by the people closest to you.” The key word in this quote is the “decided” because it makes at seem as though girls had power enough to decide to leave, but the idea was simply unappealing to many. Before, the reading had also given the example of Zhou Yinfang, who joined the factory at age 17, and about 15 years later has earned much promotion, met her husband, and started a family, all within the factory. It is interesting that someone’s life can be so fully dedicated to the production of the factory, while still enjoying many of life’s great pleasures such such as marriage and having children, like I said before, all within the boundaries of the factory.
Just like everyone has mentioned, working in the factory did provide the laboring women with more financial and status-ish (what is the word for this?) freedom than the villages would. I have always imagined that factory working would be somewhat more dramatic and inhumane. Exhausted workers working 15 hours a day in rat-swirming brick buildings, passing out, and then getting fired would be somewhat closer to my picture of factory workers. However, female factory workers in the reading seemed to enjoy their jobs better, though that only seemed relevant to Yue Yuen
Like Minsu mentioned, I was surprised to hear about how "good" the conditions were. When I think of a factory in China, the first thing that comes to mind is a sweat shop where people work long hours and make little pay. However, the factory mentioned in the reading seemed different from others. The beginning portion of the story about how sneakers are made struck me the most. When I buy sneakers, I support these working conditions, yet I can't stop myself from buying these shoes. When I as a consumer am bombarded with ads telling me to buy a certain product, it is only natural for me to do so. Hearing the stories expressed in the reading made me me think twice about what I buy and who it ultimately affects.
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