| Summary: | 博士 === 輔仁大學 === 心理學系 === 107 === Governed by the traditional Chinese patriarchy, women of Chinese cultural heritage often placed family and marriage as the priorities of their lives. Accordingly, whether or not one had a successful marriage could have significant implication on one’s social status and further determine their worth. In the same vein, it is not uncommon for Chinese women to sacrifice their ‘self’ in order to fulfill the culturally-prescribed gender-role obligations as a wife, mother, or daughter-in-law.
This narrative inquiry investigated the researcher’s personal narratives in her marriage. Using her life story as the central axis/referential point, the researcher first looked back and reflected on her experiences and practices in marriage, and then compared her own psycho-biographies with that of two female figures living in the New Culture Movement in the early 20th century to identify the commonality and differences in their experiences across the timespan of 100 years. By doing so, the researcher was able to picture women’s conditions in the patriarchal society, what their inner experiences and psychological process were like, their struggles to claim individuality and independence, as well as the breakthroughs they had made against the Chinese patriarchal conventions. In light of the narratives of the three women in this study, the researcher recognized the evolution of women’s life situations and the improvement of women rights, their awakening and transformations.
In this study, lifestyles of three women from various historical backgrounds were portrayed and presented. Their attitudes and values were shaped by their gender roles in the family and the familial relations. Meanwhile, it was apparent that women’s individuality and the development of their ''self’ were both confined by their socio-economic status and other sociopolitical circumstances. However, over the past 100 years, women from the lower social class started to gain opportunities for more education and thus became more competent at works. These changes had opened up new possibilities for women to develop a stronger sense of self as society progressed.
The current study also noticed that the storied of these three women were impacted by the socio-cultural contexts they resided within. By placing personal biographies within the broader sociohistorical and cultural contexts, the researcher was able to empower and transform herself through self-reflection and mutual empathy among her biographies and that of the other two. These efforts were made to lead to consciousness-raising and the development of their ‘self’ during a transitional era from the traditionality to the modernity.
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