DIY and maintenance work is a male-dominated field in China, but an increasing number of women living alone with a desire for self-sufficiency has led to a growing appetite for courses to learn such skills.Nationwide there are now multiple all-women repair groups, including the organisers of the Hangzhou workshop, Mulan Build."People are moving away from the traditional mindset that certain jobs must be tethered to a specific gender," Chen Ning, the 27-year-old founder, told AFP.Absorbed students carefully threaded wires into junction boxes to make circuits connected to lights, bulbs flickering on one by one to signal a job well done.Student Zhang Xuefen said a lot of her friends have been "incredibly hands-on since they were kids", proving it was not "just a guy thing".
An increasing number of Chinese women are living alone and are more likely to be financially independent than before © Pedro PARDO / AFP
"This kind of empowerment can be passed on to the many women living alone today, helping them handle minor household fixes completely on their own," the 42-year-old said.The single-woman household is no small demographic in China, with marriage rates falling and women more likely to be financially independent than before.Student Xu Leran, 26, said that inviting a man into one's home can raise "safety concerns", but with a woman technician "I would definitely feel much more at ease, and communication would be smoother too".Instructor Wu Shuang said the challenges facing women living alone are "a very real, objective issue"."For a long time... their voices have been ignored, and their needs have been overlooked."'Where were all the women?'The popularity of such courses was clear last month at a Shanghai workshop run by another all-women company, 38fix -- named for the March 8 date of International Women's Day.Noise and sawdust filled the room as dozens of students tried their hand at drilling through bricks and wood.
