Gender and sexuality have been neglected topics in the history of Chinese civilization; despite the fact that philosophers; writers; parents; doctors; and ordinary people of all descriptions have left reams of historical evidence on the subject. Moreover; China's late imperial government was arguably more concerned about gender and sexuality among its subjects than any other pre-modern state. Sexual desire and sexual activity were viewed as innate human needs; essential to bodily health and well-being; and universal marriage and reproduction served the state by supplying tax-paying subjects; duly bombarded with propaganda about family values. How did these and other late imperial legacies shape twentieth-century notions of gender and sexuality in modern China? In this wonderfully written and enthralling book; Susan Mann answers that question by focusing in turn on state policy; ideas about the physical body; and notions of sexuality and difference in China's recent history; from medicine to the theater to the gay bar; from law to art and sports. More broadly; the book shows how changes in attitudes toward sex and gender in China during the twentieth century have cast a new light on the process of becoming modern; while simultaneously challenging the universalizing assumptions of Western modernity.
#2348649 in Books Cambridge University Press 1984-02-24Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.02 x .67 x 5.98l; .90 #File Name: 052127379X304 pages
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