Women in China's Long Twentieth Century

Abstract

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The Sexual in Chinese Sociology: Homosexuality Studies in Contemporary China

“…It is in this context that homosexuality was scrutinized, notably through many debates in the 1930s, for example, whether homosexuality was right or wrong, whether it was a personal or social problem, or whether it could be cured or not (see Kang, 2009: 43–49 for the debate between Hu Qiuyuan and Yang Youtian, and Chiang, 2010: 634–647 for the debate between Zhang Jingsheng and Pan Guangdan). Female same-sex love was seen as abnormal and a threat to patriarchal power on the one hand and intense affectionate attachments between women on the other (Sang, 2003; Hershatter, 2007: 40–41). However, it is the English sexologist Havelock Ellis's medical theory of homosexuality dichotomizing sexual normality and deviation that gained hegemony through repeated citation and translation from the 1920s onwards.…”

“…During the 1980s and the 1990s, the male homosexual oscillated between being a mental patient and a hooligan, or both. The construction of female homosexual shared this view but female homosexuality were commonly understood as a reaction to abuse or neglect by men or as a compensatory sex in the absence of men (Ruan and Bullough, 1992: 221–225; Hershatter, 2007: 41).…”

Women as Pleasure Seekers: Courtesans, Actresses, and Female Visitors in the Amusement Halls of Early Republican Shanghai

“…Studies on courtesans generally point out the transition between the late Qing period and the early republican era, during which the more "cultivated" kind of sexual trade waned and a less hierarchical form of prostitution emerged. 12 The decline of the courtesan industry was part of a larger process of the growing commercialization of prostitution and leisure activities in Shanghai. 13 The demise of the already weakening industry was hastened by incessant calls for reformation-ranging from a total ban on prostitution proposed by the Committee on Moral Improvement (later known as the Moral Welfare League, formed in May 1918, and with primarily Christian and Western members) to pressure to eradicate courtesans as a "social devil" in the May Fourth discourse.…”

“…13 The demise of the already weakening industry was hastened by incessant calls for reformation-ranging from a total ban on prostitution proposed by the Committee on Moral Improvement (later known as the Moral Welfare League, formed in May 1918, and with primarily Christian and Western members) to pressure to eradicate courtesans as a "social devil" in the May Fourth discourse. 14 In this context, the close connection between Shanghai's amusement halls and the courtesan industry was reviewed or even challenged. The interplay of the courtesan industry, entertainment culture, and popular periodicals had long been established since Youxibao began providing updates on courtesan activities in 1896.…”

“Leftover Women” and “Kings of the Candy Shop”: Gendering Chinese American Ancestral Homeland Migration to China

“…Influenced by the Marxist notion that gender equality hinges on women’s full participation in the productive sphere, Communist campaigns during the Mao Era (1949-1976) promoted female inclusion in typically male-dominated work sectors. By 1958, the percentage of rural women involved in agricultural production reached 90% (Hershatter, 2007). Urban women, previously clustered in light and service industries, entered in unprecedented numbers into heavy industries such as construction, mining, and iron, steel, and petroleum production.…”