Cultural Constructions Of Female Embodiment In China

Women's bodies,more so than men's,are often sites for exploitation,political propaganda,and the materialization of normative gender ideologies.Western feminists have been concerned with problematizing ‘the body' as a gender-neutral,malleable object,of which Western philosophy has long taken the body for being.In doing so,they have attempted to form ontologies and metaphysics that are a.)Not based in the Cartesian mind/body dualism and b.)Account for gender and sex as a cultural construction and not something inherent to the body.Feminist phenomenologist thinkers have posited embodiment as an alternative.Other scholars have positively questioned whether traditional Chinese thought could provide Western feminists with the ontologies and metaphysics they seek.However,does such a question romanticize the complexities of the role gender has played in Chinese history,culture,and politics? Given the long historical transcendence and impact of patriarchal systems of thought such as Confucianism,paired with the invisible and visible gaze of the male consumer in the market system of contemporary China,could Chinese thinking on gender benefit from Western feminists use of the concept of embodiment? With these thoughts in mind,this thesis explores the use of the concept of embodiment as a tool for analysis for studying gender and sexuality in post-reform China.Informed by close readings of key texts on embodiment and women and gender studies and drawing on critical theory and feminist research methods,we analyze political,historical,social,and cultural phenomenon to discuss and explore the centrality of the body in explaining women's liberation and oppression in general by looking at contemporary China in particular.We begin by providing context both within the Western philosophical tradition's thinking on the body and gender and the Chinese philosophical tradition's thinking on the body and gender.Following contextualizing and situating the thesis,we provide an integrated definition of embodiment,a definition that is used to ground the culture studies work that follows.We examine the ways in which the gendered body is socially constructed and governed in China through language,beauty,fashion,and literature.We focus mostly on the feminine/female body,but will also discuss the masculine/male body as it relates to the discussion on gender and the body.In short,we suggest that embodiment can be useful for studying gender,specifically femininity,in post-reform and opening-up China where neo-liberalism and the market have a greater influence than ever before.