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The Late Qing Gender-Sex System

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The late Qing gender-sex system continued to put women in an inferior position to men. The idea of cloistering women became the standard for females all over the country. Whether rich or poor, women aspired to lead a cloistered life. However, only the elite women, known as the gui xiu, were actually able to to put the ideals into practice. They were the ones with the money and education to do so. On the other side of the spectrum were the bare sticks, poor peasant women who couldn’t afford to stay cloistered. Despite their limitations, the bare sticks still did what they could to practice cloistering. This insistence on adhering to the ideals limits the women in their everyday life, subordinating them to the wills of men.

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