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https://japantoday.com/category/features/lifestyle/chinese-repairwomen-smash-stereotypes-with-power-tools>
"The sound of pliers clicking filled a workshop in eastern China's Hangzhou as
a group of women practiced stripping wires, their female instructor moving
around the classroom to offer advice.
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
organizers 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".
"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."
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