The father guards her during virginity, the husband guards her in youth, the sons guard her in old age; the woman is never fit for independence.
“
Men decide, women follow” was the traditional Chinese model. If visitors called, and only a woman was present, she might answer that “
independent identity. They were appendages to the patrilineal clan.
There were young men with their lives ahead of them, the world at their feet, their hopes high.. [But] a girl belonged to a man, Wong Su-ling’s autobiography.
Patrilocality meant that a bride relocated to live with her husband’s family. Men lived on family land, supported by their family and village. Women did gain status once they had produced sons for the lineage, but a young bride was an outsider with no claim to resources. Moreover, she was closely policed by her husband’s kin, so had little autonomy. As Tang