Robin R Wang

Bio: Robin R Wang is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Virtue & Hierarchy. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 14 citations.

A confucian defense of gender equity

Abstract: The oppression of Chinese women is typically blamed on Confucianism. We present a version of Confucianism that relies on the metaphysics of the I Ching, one of the "canonical" Confucian texts, and on more characteristic Confucian doctrines. These metaphysical, anthropological, and ethical beliefs would, if fully implemented, replace the early Confucian hierarchy based partly on gender with a hierarchy based on virtue. This would in turn legitimate the full participation of women in society. Through the "canonical" Confucian texts we reconstruct the philosophical grounds for a Confucian vision of gender equity as grounded in a Confucian view of human nature and human excellence.

The Representation of Gender in Contemporary Chinese Television Advertising: An Analysis of Content, Meaning, and Production

Abstract: This thesis examines how gender is portrayed in Chinese television commercials and how these representations reflect the social and cultural contexts of their production and the institutional practices of advertising production personnel. To date, while there have been a plethora of studies on gender representation in advertising in western contexts only limited attention has been given to Chinese advertising portrayals of gender. This study, therefore, explores particular ways in which femininity and masculinity are discursively constructed, and how this process, in turn, contributes to reinforcing and/or challenging certain gender ideologies, in particular those found in Chinese Confucian culture. The study is unique in its approach to Chinese television advertising in that it combines methods from textual analysis (quantitative content analysis, semiotic analysis and critical discourse analysis) and empirical research (interview). A sample of 679 television commercials was collected and analysed in this investigation. Content analysis was initially applied to identify recurrent patterns and characteristics of gender representation which, in turn, formed the basis for in-depth semiotic and discourse analysis. Specific signs, images, codes, discourses and myths were subsequently discussed. The study also included semi-structured interviews with 26 Chinese advertising personnel in order to understand their multiple dispositions toward gender and their actual experiences of depicting female and male characters in the creative process. Several main findings emerged from this study. The portrayal of gender in Chinese television commercials is complex because it embodies a series of simultaneously conflicting and complementary discourses on what constitute femininity and masculinity. The results of the content analysis revealed that the representation of gender in this study’s sample still remains stereotypical in terms of the different distribution of the sexes across product category, role, dress, age, credibility and voice-over. By focusing on the constructs of gender in domestic, occupational and recreational contexts, the use of semiotic and discourse analysis revealed that Chinese television advertising not only portrays women and men in line with the significant aspects embedded in both Chinese and western patriarchal traditions, but is also constitutive of cultural shifts in gender ideologies through highlighting modern (western) values. In addition, the interview findings yielded support for the conclusions of textual analysis, demonstrating that the process of advertising production is significantly influenced by traditional and modern gender values, the restriction of advertising regulations, client expectations, and the professionals’ divergent perceptions of gender and their assumptions about the audience.

Towards a comparative process thought: from Nietzsche to ancient Chinese philosophy

Abstract: ion: comparison involves a greater degree of abstraction in the sense that the comparer abstracts both cultural texts from each other and the comparer from the texts, whereas there is little abstraction from the comparer, and the texts from each other, in dialogue. The answer, in order to resolve these methodological drawbacks, is to draw on both theoretical comparison and dialogical involvement as inextricable from each other, using dialogical exposition and comparative theorization. This is a significant point lending itself to ontologies of change that I hope to demonstrate

War and Inner Peace: Li Qingzhao, Female Poet in Song China: A Biography, Poem, and Gender Analysis

Abstract: The Chinese poet Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084-1155 lived during the Song Dynasty (宋朝, 960-1279), a period of fierce wars against attacking Jurchen (女真) hordes from the North. This article describes her curriculum and reception by means of authentic and recent material. She came from a leading family of writers and politicians, and married a husband of her class. Initially, she had a happy marriage, although her partner was often for work from home. When they had to flee for the enemy, their large collection of antiquities was lost. Li had made poems since a young age. Approximately 50 so-called ci-poems (词) have been handed down from her. They show us a free woman who easily speaks about her body, sexuality, environment and work. Partly, her thoughts about her world and personal suffering come with great physical and mental pains, however, are also linked to dreams and flowers. In that she knows how to fully utilize common sense of symbolism in an original and feminine idiom. This is probably the reason that she has become an icon in traditional China, with dominating male preferences. She is placed in the socio-cultural framework of the Song Dynasty, and turns out to be child of her time. Chinese poetry, especially Li Qingzhao’s lyric, is still an important field of research.