Women in China's Long Twentieth Century

Abstract

Description:This indispensable guide for students of both Chinese and women's history synthesizes recent research on women in twentieth-century China. Written by a leading historian of modern China, it surveys more than 650 scholarly works, discussing Chinese women in the context of marriage, family, sexuality, labor, and national modernity. In the process, Hershatter offers keen analytic insights and judgments about the works themselves and the evolution of related academic fields. The result is both a practical bibliographic tool and a thoughtful reflection on how we approach the past. Author:Gail Hershatter is Professor of History and Director of the Institute for Humanities Research at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Among her books is Dangerous Pleasures: Prostitution and Modernity in Twentieth-Century Shanghai. Review:"An important and much-needed introduction to a rich and fast-growing field. Hershatter has handled a daunting task with aplomb." -Susan L. Glosser, author of Chinese Visions of Family and State, 1915-1953 WOMEN IN CHINA'S LONG TWENTIETH CENTURY GAIL HERSHATTER Women in China's Long Twentieth CenturyWomen in China's Long Twentieth Century Gail Hershatter Global, Area, and International Archive University of California Press Berkeley los Angeles LondonThe Global, Area, and International Archive (GAIA) is an initiative of International and Area Studies, University of California, Berkeley, in partnership with the University of California Press, the California Digital Library, and international research programs across the UC system. GAIA volumes, which are published in both print and open-access digital editions, represent the best traditions of regional studies, reconfigured through fresh global, transnational, and thematic perspectives.University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu. Hershatter, Gail. Women in China's long twentieth century / Gail Hershatter. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn-13: 978-0-520-09856-5 (pbk.: alk. paper), isbn-10: 0-520-09856-0 (pbk.: alk. paper) University of California Press1. Women -China -Social conditions -20th century. 2. Women -Employment -China. 3. Sex role -China. 4. Women and communism -China. 5. Feminism -China. I. University of California, Berkeley. Global, Area, and International Archive. II. Title. HQ1767. H47 2007 305.40951'0904-dc22 2006029808 Manufactured in the United States of America 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39. 48-1992 (r1997) The study of women in twentieth-century China has expanded so quickly since the mid-1980s that a state-of-the-field survey becomes outdate...

Making transnational intimacies: intergenerational relationships in Chinese-Western families in Beijing

“…At the same time, though, there is sufficient evidence to support the conclusion that filial piety continues to be a significant cultural ideal that defines intergenerational care responsibilities for many Chinese families and shapes public debates on this topic. In this context, the emergence of a transnational intimate space (Hershatter 2007;Farrer 2013) raises significant questions about the extent to which filial piety may be renegotiated, acquire news meanings, and become attached to new forms of everyday practice in metropolitan spaces.…”

Chinese Bodies that Matter: The Search for Masculinity and Femininity

“…Lang Ping at that time 61 and 'who were said to rival or exceed men in their capacity for heavy labour'. 62 Unlike Yang Xiuqiong, Lang Ping's 'beauty' was not derived from her physical feminine attractiveness, but from her competitiveness and her capability of bringing glory to China. This sexless image of the female athlete is said to be a result of the sports system under Mao's regime.…”

“…This would be what Marilyn Young called 'socialist androgyny', paraphrased by Hershatter, 'with women portrayed as political militants and military fighters alongside men, generally under their benevolent political guidance'. 65 Gender roles that were ascribed onto female athletes were inseparable from the national duties assigned to them. The new woman, as Hershatter rephrases Dai, 'became either a heroic woman warrior ready to sacrifice herself for the revolution or a mother who embodied the suffering of the masses and their capacity for endurance '.…”

Investing in the Future: The One Child Policy and Reform

“…The One Child Policy emerged in the context of both these international and domestic trends, where social concerns were placed secondary to the state's economic growth. Hershatter (2007) notes that ''The government argued that if drastic steps were not taken to limit fertility, the needs of a burgeoning population would not be met, national development strategy would be undermined, and terrible suffering would result (Potter 1985;Croll 1985, Tien 1985, 1987Bianco and Hua 1988;Potter and Potter 1990;Greenhalgh 2003)'' (27).…”