Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Autonomy or Relationality? A Critical Review of Feminist Theories of Marriage and Motherhood in Western and East Asian Contexts

Xiao ZhangUniversity College London*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

This paper offers a critical review of feminist theories of marriage and motherhood, examining their conceptual foundations and cultural applicability across Western and East Asian contexts. Western liberal feminist frameworks have largely evaluated marriage and motherhood through the lens of individual autonomy, equality, and self-realization, highlighting structural constraints such as the gendered division of labor, the motherhood wage penalty, and the privatization of care. These autonomy-centered approaches have been instrumental in exposing systemic gender inequalities. However, their underlying assumptions about individual subjectivity generate theoretical tensions when applied beyond Western societies. In many East Asian contexts shaped by Confucian ethics and family-centered moral orders, marriage and motherhood are embedded within relational obligations and interdependent kinship structures. Rather than prioritizing individual autonomy, feminist scholarship in these settings emphasizes relational subjectivity, internalized gender norms, and culturally embedded forms of governance. By synthesizing key debates on autonomy, maternal subjectivity, affective labor, and relational patriarchy, this review identifies three persistent conceptual tensions: universalism versus cultural specificity, autonomy versus relational subjectivity, and external patriarchy versus internalized governance. The paper argues for the development of culturally situated feminist frameworks that integrate commitments to gender justice with sensitivity to the relational and contextual dimensions of women's lived experiences.

Keywords: feminist theory; marriage and motherhood; autonomy and relational subjectivity; East Asian feminism; gendered power
Published: March 30, 2026
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2026.32467
Volume: CHR Vol.103
pp. 63-70
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