Dominant, passive, and recessive feminism: a postfeminist reading of Taiwanese cinema

ABSTRACT

This paper aims to add to the underrepresented scholarship on feminist critique in Taiwanese cinema by investigating the ways in which female power has been represented in the female-centred Taiwanese film, The Bold, the Corrupt and the Beautiful (BCB). Through a postfeminist reading, this study attempts to challenge the dichotomy of Asian versus Western values in order to engage Taiwanese films into the global debate of feminism. By revealing the problematization of representations of the seemingly powerful female characters in BCB produced by male filmmakers, we unveil the hidden contradiction of feminism and anti-feminism in order to gain a profound understanding of women’s power relations and the socio-cultural perception of them in the Taiwanese context. We categorise the three leading female characters into significations of “dominant feminism”, “passive feminism”, and “recessive feminism”, and show how their power is exercised through scheming, seduction and detainment, respectively. Therefore, we argue that these seemingly powerful female images in BCB are all represented as stigmatic which attempts to equalize female power to negativity thereby essentially disavowing feminism.

KEYWORDS:

• Taiwanese cinema
• feminism
• postfeminism
• gender
• women

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and Dr. Cynthia Carter, Co-Editor of this journal for their thought-provoking comments. Special thanks go to Tang Hu.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Zhen is actually born to Ning before marriage. Mrs Tang declares Zhen to be her daughter, Ning’s little sister, in order to cover up Ning’s immoral sexual behaviour.

2. For a definition of the term “matrophobia”, see Adrienne Rich (1976, 36) Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution: “the womanly splitting of the self, in the desire to become purged once and for all of our mother’s bondage, to become individuated and free”.

3. For the concepts of gender myths and feminist fables, Andrea Cornwall (2008) contended that gender has been discussed in socio-cultural development, storylines, fables and myths that, while emphasising some aspects of feminist agendas, push others out of the frame. Drawing upon Emst Cassirer 1946, 43) theory of the emotional qualities of myth, which suggests that “myth does not arise solely from intellectual processes; it sprouts forth from deep human emotions…it is the expression of emotion…emotion turned into an image”, Andrea Cornwall (2008) argued that “myths are narratives that do more than tell a good story”; a myth consists of “a series of familiar images and devices, and works to produce an order-of-things that is compelling precisely because it resonates with the affective dimensions of values and norms”. Andrea Cornwall (2008) further contended that the mythical qualities of narratives about women endow them with the power to motivate people to action.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Notes on contributors

Tingting Hu

Tingting Hu is a Research Fellow in School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University. Her research interest lies in the articulation of media studies, gender culture and feminist theories in various social and cultural contexts. Her recent publications appear in Journal of Contemporary China, Television and New Media, Continuum and Asian Studies Review. Email: E-mail: [email protected]

Tianru Guan

Tianru Guan is an associate Professor in School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University. Her academic interest lies in political communication and public opinion. Her recent publications appear in Comunicar, Journal of Contemporary China, Media, Culture and Society, Information Society, International Communication Gazette, Social Science Quarterly, and Journal of East Asian Studies. Email: E-mail: [email protected]