Gender in Modern East Asia ─ An Integrated History

This comprehensive text covers the history of women and gender in Japan, Korea, and China in the early modern and modern eras by examining the dynamic histories of sexuality; gender ideology, discourse, and legal construction; marriage and the family; and the gendering of work, society, and power. The authors take the unique approach of locating gender history within a society’s national history as well as describing its role in an integrated history of East Asia. In addition, this book examines the global context of historical changes in these countries and highlights cross-cultural themes that transcend national boundaries. For example, themes or concepts such as writing,” the body,” feminism,” immigration and diasporas,” and Confucianism” are part of an integrated history. The authors capture the flow of ideas, people, materials, and texts throughout these three countries in an easily accessible way for students.

Barbara Molony is professor of history at Santa Clara University and author of numerous books and articles on gender in Japan. In addition to co-authoringModern East Asia (Pearson, 2012), Molony has co-edited two scholarly works on gender in Japan and Asia, written a monograph on technology and investment in prewar Japan, and is currently working on a biography of Ichikawa Fusae.

Janet Theiss is associate professor of history and director of the Asia Center at the University of Utah, and co-editor of the journal Late Imperial China. She is the author ofDisgraceful Matters: The Politics of Chastity in 18th Century China (U California Press) and a number of articles on 18th century Chinese gender history.

Hyaeweol Choi is professor of Korean Studies and Gender & Cultural Studies at the Australian National University. She is the author ofGender and Mission Encounters in Korea: New Women, Old Ways (U California Press), and a forthcoming book,New Women in Colonial Korea: A Sourcebook (Routledge.)