LRCCS Noon Lecture Series | Explaining the Sexual Empowerment of Married Women in China

Please note: This lecture will be held in person and virtually on Zoom. The webinar is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/pV41e

The transition of Chinese marriage from a patriarchal to a more egalitarian model is well known, but the rise of women’s sexual empowerment within marriage is less so. Using survey data from the 1980s and 90s, this talk examines a key aspect of a woman’s conjugal power, her ability to decline to have sex with her husband.

Bill Lavely is Professor Emeritus of international studies and sociology at the University of Washington. Trained at the University of Michigan Department of Sociology and the Population Studies Center, he is a social demographer who has written on Chinese fertility, marriage, mortality, sex ratios, and historical demography.