Family and Work Lives of Lesbians in China: Implications for the Adult Worker Model

This article examines the ways in which lesbians explore opportunities and navigate constraints in their family and work lives in urban China. It not only reveals Chinese lesbians’ difficulties in gaining equal access to the labour market and developing their desired family lives, but also discusses possible ways of enhancing the applicability of the adult worker model for sexual minority women. Previous research has indicated a shift from the male breadwinner model to the adult worker model, suggesting that both men and women are expected to join the labour market, and that women should not carry all the care responsibilities within the family. However, the model largely overlooks the interplay of gender and sexuality factors in shaping work and family lives. This article adopts a qualitative mixed-methods approach, including interviews with 20 Chinese lesbians and social media analysis, to examine lesbians’ experiences of taking part in the family as adults and in the wider economy as workers. It shows how gender norms, heteronormativity, and policy intersect in generating obstacles for Chinese lesbians to thrive as respectable adult workers. This has important implications for attempts to improve the adult worker model to fit better with people’s diverse work/family needs.

这篇文章探讨了中国城市地区女同性恋在成人劳动者模型背景下面临的挑战，该模型假设所有成年人都应参与正式就业，并通过政府措施如提供托儿服务来支持这一点。研究分析了这些女性在家庭和职场中的角色，特别是她们如何应对性别和异性恋规范带来的社会压力。文章指出，成人劳动者模型对性少数群体，尤其是女同性恋群体的适用性有限，因为传统的家庭规范、歧视以及缺乏同性关系的法律认可仍然存在。研究旨在识别能更好支持女同性恋平衡工作和家庭生活的政策措施，从而增强成人劳动者模型的包容性。

本研究采用定性混合方法，结合了2017年进行的半结构化访谈和2018至2020年间在中国两个主要女同性恋相关微信平台发布的文章的社交媒体分析。访谈数据通过与20名在北京的女同性恋者进行深入交流获得，参与者通过滚雪球抽样招募，涵盖了不同年龄、教育背景和职业领域的女性。访谈内容涉及自我认知、家庭关系、职场经历以及对政府政策和社会氛围的看法。社交媒体分析则聚焦于两个平台上与女同性恋者的工作和家庭生活相关的文章，旨在了解更广泛群体的社会关注和政策观点。数据分析通过主题分析法进行，比较访谈和社交媒体数据中的共性和差异，以生成关键主题。研究还通过反馈访谈参与者来增强数据分析的可信度。

本研究揭示了中国女同性恋者在工作和家庭生活中面临的困境。研究发现，作为女性和性少数群体的双重身份使得女同性恋者在劳动市场上难以实现自给自足，且难以获得家庭认同和育儿福利。尽管女同性恋者在职场和家庭领域面临诸多挑战，但这些困境在传统的成人劳动力模型中鲜有讨论，该模型主要基于异性恋规范假设。研究表明，女同性恋者在职场上不仅受到性别和性取向的歧视，还面临着婚姻状况和家庭角色的压迫，导致她们的职业发展和家庭生活受到限制。此外，女同性恋者在同性爱情中成为母亲的权益未能得到保障，尤其是缺乏育儿支持和相关法律权益。研究提出，要使成人劳动力模型适用于多元家庭和工作形态，需要消除性别和异性恋规范对家庭和职场的影响，并为性少数群体提供更多法律和福利保障。