Differentiation, Competition and Biased Distribution of Pressure——Understanding on Rural Young Women's Suicide in 1980s-1990s

According to the investigation as well as analysis of relevant data and cases, it is found that the high suicide rate among young women in the rural areas of southern China in the 1980s and 1990s is related to rural clans and blood groups diverging, small peasant families comparing and competing with each other, and the stress and anxiety arising therefrom. As family members had different identities and roles within the clan, the distribution of competitive pressure within the family was also unbalanced. Young rural women's perception of competitive pressure was the greatest, so they were more likely to commit suicide when their competitive pressure could not be dissolved. The pressure is mainly manifested in three aspects: structural pressure from comparison and competitiveness brought after the differentiation of peasants; pressure felt by young women treated as "outsiders"; pressure resulting from young women's status in the family. In the 21st century, the goal to mobilize a new generation of young women has been realized; moreover, migration flow has kept young women away from villages, so suicide among young women has declined rapidly.