The “Second-Wife” Phenomenon and the Relational Construction of Class-Coded Masculinities in Contemporary China

Abstract

In this article, the author takes a relational approach to examining the construction of class-coded forms of masculinity in contemporary China. Drawing upon ethnographic data and documentary research on thirty-one second-wife ( er nai/yiih naaih) arrangements of Chinese men (long-term, quasi-marital arrangements between a married man and an economically dependent woman), the author highlights women’s contribution in men’s articulation and negotiation of gender and class identities. Specifically, the author illustrates the multiple ways that second wives perform “gender labor” for their male partners and the differentiated meanings that women’s labor has taken on for workers and business elites. This article critiques the individual-centric approach to gender and argues that class-coded masculinities are constructed through interactions, relationships, and the labor of women.