The University of Pittsburgh's Department of East Asian Languages & Literatures will host Dr. Hua Huang and the lecture "'New Housewives' in Contemporary China: Through the Lens of Chen Hengzhe" on April 20.
With a wave of “New Housewives” emerging in mainland China, more and more young women returned home from work in recent years. This phenomenon reversed the practice of women’s full employment advocated in the Maoist era and caused heated discussion and attention. How does a woman choose between “family” and “career”? In this lecture, Dr. Huang discusses this age-old problem through Chen Hengzhe’s view on women. As the first Chinese female professor who was forced to resign due to her childbirth, Chen’s theories of “Women’s dual identities” and “Motherhood duty” can shed light on the “New Housewives” phenomenon. Taking The First Half of My Life (TV Series) as an example, Dr. Huang addresses the contemporary “woman question” that has troubled Chinese intellectuals for decades.The talk starts at 12:00 pm in 4130 Posvar Hall (map) and is free and open to the public.