Women in Public Spaces: Theater, Modernity, and Actresses in Early Twentieth-Century Beijing

Abstract

In the male-dominated theatrical world of early twentieth century China, actresses strategically relied on personal connections to survive. As “public” women and agents of mass media, they were utilized by men for different purposes. Theatrical managers and male audiences were intent on turning actresses into sexual objects in licentious plays, whereas nationalist reformers recruited actresses for mass mobilization. Actresses participated in the nation-building cause by presenting diverse human roles via the stories that either conveyed new ideologies or historical values. The fictional plots of women's emancipation, however, provided a learning process in which actresses could adopt the concepts of personal rights, self-determined marriage, and economic autonomy. The Chinese states, despite minor variations, always sustained ideals of gender distinctions and opposed or restrained women's public roles. The stories of actresses' survival and prosperity, nonetheless, demonstrated the tremendous endurance, flexibility, intelligence, and strength of Chinese women.