Women and Gender in Contemporary Chinese Societies
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- ISBN 9780739182970
- Weight: 376g
- Dimensions: 153 x 226mm
- Publication Date: 04 Mar 2013
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
- Language: English
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Recent attention to historical, geographic, and class differences in the studies of women and gender in China has expanded our understanding of the diversity and complexity of gendered China. Nevertheless, the ethnic dimension of this subject matter remains largely overlooked, particularly concerning women’s conditions and gender status. Consequently, the patriarchy and its oppression of women among the Han, the ethnic majority in China, are often inaccurately or erroneously associated with the whole gendered heritage of China, epitomized by the infamous traditions of footbinding and female-infanticide. Such academic and popular predisposition belies the fact that gender systems in China span a wide spectrum, ranging from extreme Han patriarchy to Lahu gender-egalitarianism.
The authors contributing to this book have collectively initiated a systematic effort to bridge the gap between understanding the majority Han and ethnic minorities in regard to women and gender in contemporary Chinese societies. By achieving a quantitative balance between articles on the Han majority and those on ethnic minorities, this book transcends the ghettoization of ethnic minorities in the studies of Chinese women and gender. The eleven chapters of this volume are divided into three sections which jointly challenge the traditions and norms of Han patriarchy from various perspectives. The first section focuses on gender traditions among ethnic minorities which compete with the norms of Han patriarchy. The second section emphasizes the impact of radical social transformation on gender systems and practices among both Han and ethnic minorities. The third section underscores socio-cultural diversity and complexity in resistance to Han patriarchal norms from a broad perspective. This book complements previous scholarship on Chinese women and gender by expanding our investigative lens beyond Han patriarchy and providing images of the multiethnic landscape of China. By identifying the Han as an ethnically marked category and by bringing to the forefront the diverse gender systems of ethnic minorities, this book encourages an increasing awareness of, and sensitivity to the cross-cultural diversity of gendered China both in academia and beyond.
Shanshan Du is associate professor of anthropology at Tulane University. She authored Chopsticks Only Work in Pairs: Gender Unity and Gender Equality among the Lahu of Southwest China (Columbia University Press) and co-edited “Negotiating Women's Roles and Power: The Practice of World Religions in Contemporary Asia” (a special issue of Religion). She is a recipient of fellowships from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation and the Mellon Foundation/ACLS.
Ya-chen Chen is assistant professor of foreign literature and Director of Chinese Language Program at Clark University, and formerly affiliated with the City University of New York (with the same titles and Asian Studies Director), in both of which this book was prepared. Her academic books include Farewell My Concubine: Same-Sex Readings and Cross-Cultural Dialogues (2004); Women in Taiwan: Sociocultural Perspectives (2009); Higher Education in East Asia: Neoliberalism and the Professoriate (2009); and The Many Dimensions of Chinese Feminism (2011).
