Lien, Ling-ling, “Searching for the 'New Womanhood': Career Women in Shanghai, 1912--1945” (2001)

Title : “Searching for the 'New Womanhood': Career Women in Shanghai, 1912--1945”

Author(s) : Lien, Ling-ling

Year : 2001

Type : Dissertation

Subject : History

Keywords : women;social

University : University of California, Irvine

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : This dissertation will examine a group of career women in Shanghai to explore the social and cultural implications of changes in women's economic roles in Republican China (1912–1949). New opportunities for education and employment allowed women to work outside the home, which reshaped their gender identity as well as the expectations of proper women's roles by the state and society. This dissertation first discusses the emergence of the new social group: career women—Who were they? Why did they seek employment outside the home? in what ways were they empowered by their paid jobs? As a new social phenomenon, the emergence of career women also caused heated debates about the “new woman” in Modern China. Believing that the “new woman” should contribute to maintaining social order, the Nationalist government and some social reformers promoted the idea of “healthy motherhood” in which women were expected to play the roles of home caretakers from whom the future generations of the nation benefited. However, others defined the “new woman” as those who received modern education and pursued independent careers in light of women's emancipation from the bondage of family obligations. and even the “healthy mother,”—though considered a relatively traditional image of the new woman—was in fact very different from the domestic heroine of late imperial times. The image of the “new woman” became further complicated when she was confused with an allegedly frivolous urban woman, the so-called “modern girl,” who wasted her energies and the nation's resources on consumption. The debates over the “new woman” then reflected social anxiety about gender roles, national strength, and consumption and production in changing times. Finally, this dissertation also discusses career women's culture networks. Participation in leisure activities not only allowed career women to have a break from the stresses of their work, but also broadened their social connections and created a cultural space in which they could assert their own concerns. Although the government often called on women to abandon “selfish” feminist claims, career women gave priority to their rights as women over nationalist slogans. This study thus reformulates the relationships between nationalism and feminism in China. Despite an overwhelming sentiment during the war, nationalism did not necessarily overshadow feminist rights; rather, feminist interests, as career women claimed, were the paramount concerns.