- Paperback: 474 pages
- Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (Jan 7 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0520221168
- ISBN-13: 978-0520221161
- Product Dimensions: 2.3 x 1.5 x 0.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #637,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The past two centuries have witnessed tremendous upheavals in every aspect of Chinese culture and society. At the level of everyday life, some of the most remarkable transformations have occurred in the realm of gender. Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities is a mix of illuminating historical and ethnographic studies of gender from the 1700s to the present.
The essays in this highly creative collection are organized in pairs that alternate in focus between femininity and masculinity, between subjects traditionally associated with feminism (such as family life) and those rarely considered from a gendered point of view (like banditry). The chapters provide a wealth of interesting detail on such varied topics as court cases involving widows and homosexuals; ideal spouses of early-twentieth-century radicals; changing images of prostitutes; the masculinity of qigong masters; sexuality in the era of reform; and the eroticization of minorities. While most of the essays were specifically written for this volume, a few are reprinted as a testament to their enduring value.
Exploring the central role of gender as an organizing principle of Chinese social life, Chinese Femininities/ Chinese Masculinities is an innovative reader that will spark new debate in a wide range of disciplines.
The essays in this highly creative collection are organized in pairs that alternate in focus between femininity and masculinity, between subjects traditionally associated with feminism (such as family life) and those rarely considered from a gendered point of view (like banditry). The chapters provide a wealth of interesting detail on such varied topics as court cases involving widows and homosexuals; ideal spouses of early-twentieth-century radicals; changing images of prostitutes; the masculinity of qigong masters; sexuality in the era of reform; and the eroticization of minorities. While most of the essays were specifically written for this volume, a few are reprinted as a testament to their enduring value.
Exploring the central role of gender as an organizing principle of Chinese social life, Chinese Femininities/ Chinese Masculinities is an innovative reader that will spark new debate in a wide range of disciplines.
From the Inside Flap
"The last thirty years have seen an astonishing growth in the field of gender studies for late-imperial and twentieth-century China. In this ingeniously orchestrated book, Brownell and Wasserstrom not only give us a careful bibliographic and analytical summary of that earlier work, but by assembling paired essays on matching male and female gender issues, written by an excellent roster of scholars, they have indicated the lines along which this field can expand fruitfully in the future."--Jonathan D. Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
"In Chinese Feminities/Chinese Masculinities we finally have a volume that scholars of the world outside China will ignore at their peril, so thoroughly will it shake prevailing assumptions about how sexuality and gender can be historically and culturally constituted. Scholars and teachers of history, anthropology, sociology, history of medicine and science, law, politics, literature, and psychiatry, among others, should prepare for the great impact this splendid book is sure to have."--Emily Martin, author of The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction
"In Chinese Feminities/Chinese Masculinities we finally have a volume that scholars of the world outside China will ignore at their peril, so thoroughly will it shake prevailing assumptions about how sexuality and gender can be historically and culturally constituted. Scholars and teachers of history, anthropology, sociology, history of medicine and science, law, politics, literature, and psychiatry, among others, should prepare for the great impact this splendid book is sure to have."--Emily Martin, author of The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
Historians have long described notions of womanhood and the social conditions of women during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) with reference to the so-called cult of female chastity. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Historians have long described notions of womanhood and the social conditions of women during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) with reference to the so-called cult of female chastity. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The evolution of gender in China,
By
This review is from: Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Paperback)
A great collection of insights from many angles on gender in China. The articles touch on the changing faces of law, crime, medicine, obscenity, rebellion, pollution, romance, and more. Through it all, we have a drama of conflicting visions for better relations between the sexes. We have a longing for equality between the sexes, but with rapidly changing images of what equality looks like. It's a helpful comparison with similar developments in the West.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Engaging academic reader about Gender Roles in China,
By SusanAndDaniel - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Paperback)
I'm not a sociologist or a gender-studies person. I have studied Chinese and China for several years, from various angles. I picked up this book to learn more about historical concepts of what is "masculine" and "feminine" in China. If that bores you, so will this book. However, if you're looking for an introduction to historical ideas of gender in China, this is a good choice. Admittedly, some parts of this book are dry, but overall I found it an engrossing read.The book is broken up into parts. Each part has two subsections, looking at the topic from the "feminine" angle and the "masculine" angle. The chapters are: Gender and the Law (Qing dynasty), Ideals of Marriage and Family (Mid-Qing and Early Republican era), Gender and Literary Traditions (May Fourth to Reform era), Dangerous Women and Dangerous Men (A look at prostitutes and bandits from the late Ming to the Communist period), The Gender of Rebels (The Cultural Revolution), The Gendered Body (health practices and medicine in the Qing and Reform era), Shifting Gender Contexts in the Reform Era, and finally Gender, Sexuality, and Ethnicity (Reform Era). I enjoyed reading about Gender and the Law, Marriage and Family, Dangerous Women and Men, and the Gendered Body. Each of these chapters featured a lot of content, helpful background information, and substantive arguments about the topic at hand. Some chapters (literary traditions, especially) dragged, and lacked background information and content. For all chapters, a basic understanding of Chinese history and intellectual movements is a must--this is not an introduction to these movements. This book is a historical reader--it doesn't look much at recent gender roles, although it isn't supposed to. But if you want to know how "maleness" and "femaleness" were represented historically in late-to-early modern Chinese history, it's a good read.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The evolution of gender in China,
By Brian Griffith - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Chinese Femininities/Chinese Masculinities: A Reader (Paperback)
A great collection of insights from many angles on gender in China. The articles touch on the changing faces of law, crime, medicine, obscenity, rebellion, pollution, romance, and more. Through it all, we have a drama of conflicting visions for better relations between the sexes. We have a longing for equality, but with rapidly changing images of what equality looks like. It's a helpful comparison with similar developments in the West.--author of A Galaxy of Immortal Women: The Yin Side of Chinese Civilization |
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