Images of Women in Recent Chinese Fiction: Do Women Hold up Half the Sky?

Eber, Irene

doi:10.1086/493331

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Glasser (1997), investigating how images of women in magazines have evolved from the 1960s until 1991, found that before the period of economic reforms, Chinese women were portrayed as "self-assured" and "strong." Such characterizations were consistent with Eber's (1976) findings of images of highly committed model workers during this time period. These images showed women as active participants in the labor force and demonstrated the highly politicized nature of social life (Wallis, 2006).…”

supporting

confidence: 89%

Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras

Yin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

supporting

confidence: 89%

Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras

Yin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…The portrayal of self-assured and strong women echoes the image of the highly committed, rigidified model worker found in Eber's (1976) study of magazine fiction from the 1950s to 1970s. Studies of films such as Bai Maonu (WhiteHaired Girl, 1950) and references to the model dramas of the same period reveal a similar portrayal of the lead female characters (Yau, 1989).…”

Section: -1966: the Irony Of Liberationmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…Although the sample for this period is relatively small (a total of 77 male and female characters), the near uniformity in story setting, plot, characterization, and narrative structure reveals dominant portrayals of Chinese women. The portrayal of self-assured and strong women echoes the image of the highly committed, rigidified model worker found in Eber's (1976) study of magazine fiction from the 1950s to 1970s. Studies of films such as Bai Maonu (White-Haired Girl, 1950) and references to the model dramas of the same period reveal a similar portrayal of the lead female characters (Yau, 1989).…”

Section: -1966: the Irony Of Liberationmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…There was an insistence on overt explanation without ambiguity. Eber's (1976) study of selected magazine fiction from the 1950s through the early 1970s showed that the fiction reflected the liberating changes land reform and the Marriage Law of 1950 brought to women. The new women were portrayed as assured and outspoken, strong and independent of judgment, but not so aggressive as to compete with men.…”

Section: Gender Roles and Chinese Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Patriarchy, Mediated Desire, and Chinese Magazine Fiction

Glasser

1997

Journal of Communication

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this research I examine the relationship between mass media and social change by studying women's magazine fiction in China before and after its implementation of the Four Modernizations Policies in the late 1970s. The study focuses on the relationship between representations of women and the shifting ideological landscape from a feminist perspective. The findings reveal an important irony: As China moves towards relative political openness and economic modernization, old stereotypes of women as homemakers and caregivers increasingly reemerge in the media content. I argue that such representations of women have to be interpreted contextually. The image of the public-minded model worker in the 1960s masks the repression of personal aspirations in the name of the collective; the image of the family-oriented homemaker, mother, or nurturer from the late 1970s onward, is a dialectic response to the reemphasis of personal desires.In considering the relationship between mass media and social reality, pertinent questions include whether media are molders of social structure or reflections of it, and whether media are agents of social change or reinforcers of the status quo (Rosengren, 1981). I explore these questions using portrayals of women in Chinese magazine fiction as an index. The research draws on the theoretical perspective of ideological hegemony to see how changes in the representation of women are specifically related to ideological changes in China. In addition, this research contributes to the literature on feminist studies and women's representation in mass media. There are many feminist studies in Western industrial countries on the relationship between media representations of women and social reality, but little information has been gathered about the interactive role of media and women in the political climate of contemporary China (Gallagher,

show abstract

“…In 1949 it was written into the constitution that women and men are equal in China. Although this inception was seen as an attempt to subordinate the women's struggle to the class struggle (Eber, 1976) during the early years of economic and political hardship, it was successful in closing the gap between the two sexes. Men and women started to dress in a similar manner, to call each other comrades, and to undertake jobs that were assigned with a blind eye to gender.…”

Section: The First Casementioning

confidence: 99%

Three ‘Depressed Families’ in Transitional Beijing

Lee

2005

Journal of Family Psychotherapy

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Focusing on three Beijing families with a depressed family member, the author uses presenting symptoms as an entry into the socio-political pathway as experienced by each family. All three families shared a theme of gender evolution, a testimonial to the particular social historical period to which they belonged, and a struggle to make sense of personal and familial lives in the context of an ever changing social and political climate. These case examples offer a glimpse into a spectrum of changing patterns of family lives in modern China, and provide a snapshot of how they interface with the larger system within which they are embedded.

show abstract

Images of Women in Recent Chinese Fiction: Do Women Hold up Half the Sky?

Cited by 9 publications

References 0 publications

Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras

Cultural changes as reflected in portrayals of women and gender in Chinese magazines published in three eras

Patriarchy, Mediated Desire, and Chinese Magazine Fiction

Three ‘Depressed Families’ in Transitional Beijing

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About