China Travel Forum

[Joan]

I am off in Jan for a year of travelling with my boyfriend and cant wait. The thing i am wondering is about the reactions to women in places like thailand, cambodia, vietnam, china etc. I know women are deemed by men in non-western countries to be inferior, but is it really that bad?

Perhaps any female travellers could tell me how they got along and the responses they got to being assertive, confident and independent women. Im not the sort of person to let somebody do the talking for me, but with a man by my side, will i be listened to or ignored??

Maybe im making a big deal out of this?? But i'd like to know other peoples experiences.

[Jin Chan]

I don`t think there`s so great a cultural gap between western countries& non-western countries nowadays, especially among young people in urban areas. Frankly, I`m afraid many westerners know very little about the eastern world, regarding it as...I don`t know...another world? It`s very understandable though; I know very little of the middle-eastern countries. We are in a big big world. However,I was even surprised to find that many women in western countries are more "inferior" than women in China. Most Chinese women are playing several roles: an independant female, a considerate mother/wife and a capable business woman. Sometimes it`s just so exhausting~! Dress&food&kisses in the street...not a problem at all! But do show respect to the elders. I once stood up four times to give my seat to four different senior citizens in 25 minutes on a bus. The buswoman will call out and ask people to do this in Beijing. Speaking of this, when I told my Finland friend that I regard it my responsibility to take care of both my own parents and my future parents-in-law when they get old, he showed great surprise. (but parents are getting more independant than the old days, perhaps they don`t need us to take care of them. ) Peter mentioned it`s accepted that people in western countries speak to elders as equals. I can`t understand this even though I`m well aware of it. Will anybody like to explain this cultural phenomenon to me?