Health, individuality, and nationalism: Female images in Chinese gynecological medicine advertisements (1900s-1920s)
Li, Yating
Loading…
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117617
Description
Title
Health, individuality, and nationalism: Female images in Chinese gynecological medicine advertisements (1900s-1920s)
Author(s)
Li, Yating
Issue Date
2022-07-22
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Shao, Dan
Department of Study
E. Asian Languages & Cultures
Discipline
E Asian Languages & Cultures
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Women
National body
Nationalism
Female emancipation
China
1900-
1920s
Language
eng
Abstract
Ignited by a series of national crises, the newspaper industry flourished in early twentieth-century China. Through popularizing and materializing political and collective imaginations into everyday life, they transformed Chinese people into national citizens. This study examines gynecological medicine advertisements from the 1900s to the 1920s, in which various models of new womanhood were constructed. By focusing on commercial advertisements, this study examines the relationship between women’s health and the state while underlining conflict and tension between national demands and women’s interests. Previous scholars have focused on women’s reproductive duties highlighted in gynecological medical advertisements. Delineating the scope of new roles for women in society, this paper argues that these advertisements try to promote an image of healthy, modern, and patriotic female citizens.
The discourse on nationalism, along with the women’s emancipation movement and modernization, extended the role of women beyond reproductive duties: starting with producing healthy children, then expanding to cover new roles in the nuclear family, the consumer economy, and the construction of the modern nation-state.
Use this login method if you
don't
have an
@illinois.edu
email address.
(Oops, I do have one)
IDEALS migrated to a new platform on June 23, 2022. If you created
your account prior to this date, you will have to reset your password
using the forgot-password link below.
