134.9
Culture Difference As a Strength: An Autoethnography Writing on Saving the Marriage

Wednesday, 18 July 2018
Location: 714A (MTCC SOUTH BUILDING)
Distributed Paper
Min REN, sociology department of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
This is an autoethnography applied case study to address how with the culture difference between China and America, in which lie in psychological and institutional resources, a visiting scholar couple has rebuilt their marriage. When in China, with the male-dominated culture, the husband unconsciously tried to control his wife and the whole family life which arose the fight of the high-educated wife who values the respect from spouse. With no reflection of the husband, also logically rooting in the malelism, the wife had never achieved the gender equality in family. While in America, with the advantage of language, the wife took charge of the family which gave husband opportunity to understand her former situation as a dependent and cooperated to adjust the relationship. Also the gender equality and love family culture exposed through the scaring culture and legal crisis made the husband learned passively, which worked as the great source to promote the migration family change. The paper revealed how the wife actively and consciously explored all culture differences to save her marriage as well.