Some people argue that using these categories downplays the rich individuality of these grand-mothers 'lives, and in fact these categories are all a little overlapping. For instance, many of the women who were adopted by their future in-laws as young children also passed "lives of constant toil" or "shared their husband with other women." There are many possible ways to organize these essays.
有人覺得分類可能會把阿媽生命的豐富性減低，其實這些類別本來就有一些重疊性，譬如許多阿媽都是童養媳，但她們也可能是「操勞一世的阿媽」，或「與人共享婿的阿媽」，這之間有許多不同的排列組合。