Gender roles changing as girls outperform boys

Boys in Heibei province attend an event designed to promote bravery.Jin Liangkuai / Xinhua

However, many commentators online believe that the promotion of stereotypical images of men and women is a form of gender discrimination.

"In the old days, when sons were preferred to daughters and men steered the families and the nation, people stressed masculinity - which usually equates to dominance - and femininity, which we can interpret as obedience. Such ideas belong in the past - now everybody, male or female, can be somebody in the family and in society," wrote a micro-blogger, under the pen name of "Xiaoyang".

Yu Yaya, whose son and daughter attend primary schools in Shanghai, said her children are treated equally at home.

"I won't tell my son that boys cannot shed tears if they are frightened or in pain, or tell my daughter that women who smoke are unpleasant. Those things were frequently said by members of previous generations," she said.

"They'll both take charge of their lives one day. I believe that social expectations for boys and girls in terms of personal development and contribution to society have become very similar."

Some experts believe that ideas such as those expressed by Fan and Yu indicate that the social status of Chinese women is rising, indicating progress both socially and financially.

"When women have equal access to education and earn competitive wages, they will win more respect from their families and society, and more women will refuse to be seen just as the wife behind a successful husband. That mindset will then be passed down to the next generation and influence their understanding of the familial and social roles of the two genders," said Zhou Haiwang, vice-director of the institute of population and development at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

A 2013 survey conducted in 31 cities nationwide by the Horizon Research Consultancy Group showed that in some places - such as Shanghai, Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, and Chaozhou in Guangdong province - women were often the main decision-makers in their families, which is very different from the traditional picture in China, where the husband holds the dominant position in the family.

In addition, a survey published by the Shanghai Marriage and Family Research Commission in 2015 showed that wives have a bigger say, and therefore greater influence, in many Shanghai families.

Moreover, the latest statistics from the Ministry of Education show that women accounted for more than half of all undergraduates in China in 2015, and female students had outnumbered their male counterparts for seven consecutive years. Added to that, the proportion of female PhD students rose to 37 percent in 2015.