This book traces how the legacy of the Maoist gender project is experienced or contested by particular Chinese women, remembered or forgotten in their lives, and highlighted or buried in their narratives. Xin Huang examines four women’s life stories: an urban woman who lived through the Mao era (1949–1976), a rural migrant worker, a lesbian artist who has close connections with transnational queer networks, and an urban woman who has lived abroad. The individual narratives are paired with analysis of the historical and social contexts in which each woman lives. Huang focuses on the shifting relationship between gender and class, fashion and shame in the Mao and post-Mao eras, queer desire and artwork, and contemporary transnational encounters. By rethinking the historical significance and contemporary relevance of one of the twentieth century’s major feminist interventions—socialist and Marxist women’s liberation during the Mao years—
The Gender Legacy of the Mao Era provides insight into current struggles over gender equality in China and around the world.
Table of Content
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations and Selected Glossary of Chinese Names and Terms
Introduction
1. Born into the Mao Era: Lin’s Life Story
2. The Shaming of
Funü: Dong’s Life Story
3. I Am a Rock: Shitou’s Life Story
4. The Cosmopolitan Daughter of
Funü: Anne’s Life Story
Conclusion The Gender Legacy of the Mao Era and Contemporary Feminist Struggles
Appendix List of Participants
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Xin Huang is Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.
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