University of British Columbia Press
Sporting Gender
Women Athletes and Celebrity-Making during China’s National Crisis, 1931-45
9780774824828
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Sporting Gender
Women Athletes and Celebrity-Making during China’s National Crisis, 1931-45
Sporting Gender is the first book to explore the rise to fame of female athletes in China in the early twentieth century. Gao shows how these women coped with the conflicting demands of nationalist causes, unwanted male attention, and modern fame, arguing that the athletic female form helped to create a new ideal of modern womanhood in China. This book brings vividly to life the histories of these women and demonstrates how intertwined they were with the aims of the state and the needs of society.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1 Zhang Huilan (1898-1996): The “Mother of Women’s Modern Physical Education”
2 Nationalist and Feminist Discourses on Jianmei (Robust Healthy Beauty)
3 The Basketball Team of the Private Liangjiang Women’s Tiyu Normal School
4 The Evanescent Glory of the Track Queens
5 “Miss China,” Yang Xiuqiong (1918-82): A Female Olympic Swimmer
6 Sportswomen on Screen: The “Athletic Movie Star,” Li Lili (1915-2005)
Conclusion
Notes; Glossary of Chinese Terms, Titles, and Names; Bibliography; Index