1. In Mitter, read Chapter 1.
2. In Wild Swans, read chapters 1-4, pages 9-93. These pages may vary
depending on what version of the book you have.
3. Then read:
1. “Courtesans and Streetwalkers” by Gail Hershatter
2. “The Vocational Woman and the Elusiveness of “Personhood'” by Bryna Goodman.
3. “Citizens or Mothers of Citizens?” by Joan Judge. This is an OPTIONAL article for those who want to read more about women’s political status in the late 19th-early 20th century in China.
The discussions questions are the following:
Discussion questions: Week 2
Your readings this week describe the lives of women from different backgrounds: economic class, educational attainment, urban and rural. From different perspectives, the authors describe the images and realities of women’s work in pre-revolutionary China.
What might be the consequences for women who violated the boundaries society set for women of a particular class background?