Ten-Year Changes of Attitudes Toward Gender Role and Patriarchy in Four East Asian Societies

Gender structures the situation of men and women in all societies, yet varies in shape and dynamics. In East Asia, the social system has long been regarded as patriarchy in which the role of the father is central to social organization and the male head of the household holds extensive authority over women, younger family members, and property. However, there had been significant social and economic changes over the past decade. In reality, no region of the world today is more dynamic than East Asia. Women’s higher education attainment and increasing ties to the labor market have helped to enhance their equality and reduce their oppression. Does the expanding economic role of women change people’s attitudes toward breadwinner-caregiver stereotype in the patriarchal system?

This paper aims to explore, under similar external dynamics, how difference social contexts engender different articulations of gender in the East Asia region. Four societies (China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan) are selected for analysis because of the availability of nationally representative survey data. The EASS (East Asian Social Survey) project establishes common questions based on issues and concerns unique to East Asian societies, and attempts to conduct cross-national analyses. Analyzing the data collected in 2006 and 2016, the goal is not only to gain insights to gender ideology in East Asia but also to extend our understanding of the dynamics of gender in the contemporary world. Through detailed comparative study, the authors wish to show the extent of distinction of gender roles and patriarchy in four societies and to test the idea of a coherent Confucian East Asia.