ABSTRACT
This chapter draws on the author's research into the attitudes towards marriage of Chinese dagongmei (female migrant labourers) in order to reflect on the relationship between ethics and the ability of women to 'act on their own' and 'be independent' (zizhu). Under the old system of arranged marriages, the availability of a husband to a woman was determined largely by the attributes of her parents. But now that arranged marriages are no longer the norm, it is believed that a woman's own qualities have a great bearing on the choice of husbands available to her. Married women 'compete' with each other over the degree of their femininity using their husbands as a measure. Today, dagongmei are not the victims of their marriages as were women in previous generations. However, the more they understand what a marriage can do for their life, the less motivation they have, it seems, to resist pre-existing gender roles or even stay single.
