Home>Course>[CHES5101] Selected Themes on Gender in China: Gender and Culture in Contemporary China>CHES5101

This course takes an anthropological perspective to debate a general human category, gender, in the context of contemporary Chinese society. Through this approach, the course will show how the notion of gender is largely a sociocultural product. The anthropological approach helps us contemplate taken-for-granted beliefs regarding gender and sexuality. Gender politics in essence address differences and inequality. Reflecting upon how gender became a category of analysis for anthropologists, we bring to the fore the relationship between culture and power. Students will explore material, economic, political, and sociocultural factors that underpin such processes of construction. This course will start by introducing core concerns, arguments, and approaches related to gender and sexuality in China. After the introductory sessions, we will focus, week by week, on common (or controversial) gender and sexual issues we encounter in our daily lives. Students are encouraged to examine their own gender identities and beliefs critically; to not only understand how our gender assumptions are shaped but also to develop one’s own gender statements.

1. What is Gender, and Why do We Study Gender?: An Anthropological Approach to Gender and Sexuality
2. Performing Chinese Femininities
3. The Hybridity and Pluralism of Contemporary Chinese Masculinities
4. Gender and the Chinese State
5. Gender, Marriage, Power and Resistance
6. Empowerment or New Forms of Exploitation?: Gendered Mobility in　Contemporary China
7. Gender, Class, and Work
8. Gender, Body and Consumption
9. Gender, Aging and Caregiving
10. Gender, Eating and Cooking
11. Gender, Feminism and the Future: Alternatives and Challenges