On February 13, the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, the topic of "the quiet emergence of family-based severance in rural areas" appeared on Weibo hot search, and a group of netizens left messages, and the topic was read more than 100 million.
In rural areas, the topic of "breaking off relatives with family as a unit" has appeared on Weibo hot search.
Some scholars have summarized the "severance of relatives" among young people as a phenomenon of laziness, neglect, and disdain to interact and interact with relatives within the second generation.
Some netizens on social platforms told about their New Year's experience: "When I was a child, I went to my relatives' house to have a lively time, but it was a concern to grow up and go to my relatives, and they were all asking me how I earned last year, what kind of work I did, whether I found a partner, whether I got married, and whether I had children?" ”
In order to avoid the urging of relatives and friends to marry and have children, many young people choose to travel alone to other places, or simply spend the Chinese New Year in a rented house in their place of work. Some netizens believe that this is an inevitable result of the process of social atomization, and there are fewer and fewer relatives moving around, but the atmosphere of comparison is more prevalent, which increases social pressure for young people.
In fact, the phenomenon of young people "severing their relatives" has long attracted the attention of the public and academic circles.
Chen Youhua, a professor at the School of Sociology at Nanjing University, and Zong Hao, a doctoral student at the School of Sociology at Nanjing University, published a report last year titled "Breaking Relatives": Concepts, Problems and Reflections", which belongs to the National Social Science Major Project "Research on Public Policies and Their Mechanisms for Achieving Active Aging" (17ZDA120).
The above research points out that in modern society, the phenomenon of "severance of relatives" is diverse. If we look at the phenomenon of "severance" from a gender perspective, we can find that: first, there is a foster family with a girl in the original family, and after the girl grows up and marries, the husband's family is regarded as the girl's own home, and the girl regards the original family members as relatives rather than family members, and the parent-child relationship seems to be severed. The second is that after the boy grows up and starts a family, he will generally split up and live alone, so it can be regarded as a kind of "breaking off relatives". The phenomenon of "severance" caused by marriage not only has a hidden and mild side, but also a dramatic conflict caused by customs such as high bride price.
If we look at the phenomenon of "severance of relatives" from the perspective of intergeneration, the first is the "severance of relatives" of longitudinal young people to the older generation. This kind of phenomenon is also the most common occurrence in real life and ** reports, the younger generation has very little interaction with relatives in the process of growing up, coupled with the influence of values, social security system, market economy and other factors, naturally show indifference to relatives.
The second is the horizontal "severance" within the generation. It is mainly divided into two categories: one is the "severance of relatives" between the elderly, and the elderly generally have "difficult to leave their homeland" and "miss their relatives as they are", because of their common experience and common values, but even the elderly, due to different values and social status, it is difficult to talk together. If there are some irreconcilable contradictions, or even a scene where a certain family and another relative's family "do not get along with each other", this is due to the "severance of relatives" between elders.
The other type is the "severance" between young people and their peers, and the estrangement from cousins and cousins. For example, it is a joke to describe the former college students as "one year of soil, two years of foreign, and three years of not recognizing their father and mother", but in fact it means a change in mood after receiving higher education, a shift in life goals, a change in world view, etc., and it is difficult for people with large differences to have a common language. By analogy, due to the different life courses of peers, although they are relatives, some young people rarely intersect with other peers whose life trajectories are different, and they rarely have a common language.
The study believes that as a product of the changes of the times, in addition to the rational choice of individuals, it is still necessary to explore the social structure and lifestyle factors behind it, so as to better understand the causes and internal mechanisms of the phenomenon of "severance of kinship", including the collapse of geography, urbanization and population migration. pluralistic values, social mobility and social stratification; human favor and money, the development of market economy and the establishment of social security system; Reduce social costs, life stress and involution; Digital Survival, Fun and Networking.
The study concludes that with the development of urbanization and population migration, social mobility and social stratification, market economy and social security system, life pressure and involution, and digital survival, more and more people choose to "break off relatives", and "severing relatives" is the result of modernization. Although "severing relatives" will weaken family functions and reduce clan mutual assistance to a certain extent, for individuals, it is necessary to reduce ineffective social interaction through "severing relatives". "Severed relatives" are those who may not be seen once a year, only blood ties are maintained, and close to family members who can bring financial and emotional comfort. This shows a mature person's good level of self-differentiation, which can grasp the balance of intimacy and independence.
The study points out that kinship will also return to some major milestones and after young people start a family, which is defined in this study as the "elastic spring" of kinship. But in any case, if you want to better manage kinship in the future, you need to cultivate similar karma, interest, profit and values, and on this basis, the continuous connection of kinship is possible.
'Breaking off relatives' reflects the pull between the individual's rational choice and the traditional concept of family affection, but if we pull the perspective away, behind the maintenance of the social relationship network, it is a game between individuality and the cultural environment in which we live. "Research suggests that man is not only the sum total of all social relationships, but also the product of kindness and indebtedness. In modern society, people will eventually find new forms of family existence and social relationships, and the most comfortable state of getting along is always everyone's lifestyle and pursuit.
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