Technology and Gender (A Philip E. Lilienthal Book)
Bray, Francesca
ISBN 10: 0520208617 ISBN 13: 9780520208612
Published by University of California Press, 1997
Used
Paperback
From
HPB Inc., Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
AbeBooks Seller since 15 September 2017
This specific item is no longer available.
About this Item
Description:
Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_471715721
Synopsis:
In this feminist history of eight centuries of private life in China, Francesca Bray inserts women into the history of technology and adds technology to the history of women. Bray takes issue with the Orientalist image that traditional Chinese women were imprisoned in the inner quarters, deprived of freedom and dignity, and so physically and morally deformed by footbinding and the tyrannies of patriarchy that they were incapable of productive work. She proposes a concept of gynotechnics, a set of everyday technologies that define women's roles, as a creative new way to explore how societies translate moral and social principles into a web of material forms and bodily practices.
Bray examines three different aspects of domestic life in China, tracing their developments from 1000 to 1800 A.D. She begins with the shell of domesticity, the house, focusing on how domestic space embodied hierarchies of gender. She follows the shift in the textile industry from domestic production to commercial production. Despite increasing emphasis on women's reproductive roles, she argues, this cannot be reduced to childbearing. Female hierarchies within the family reinforced the power of wives, whose responsibilities included ritual activities and financial management as well as the education of children.
Bray examines three different aspects of domestic life in China, tracing their developments from 1000 to 1800 A.D. She begins with the shell of domesticity, the house, focusing on how domestic space embodied hierarchies of gender. She follows the shift in the textile industry from domestic production to commercial production. Despite increasing emphasis on women's reproductive roles, she argues, this cannot be reduced to childbearing. Female hierarchies within the family reinforced the power of wives, whose responsibilities included ritual activities and financial management as well as the education of children.
About the Author: Francesca Bray is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of The Rice Economies: Technology and Development in Asian Societies (California, 1994).
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Bibliographic Details
Title: Technology and Gender (A Philip E. ...
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good