“追求獨立”或“崇尚摩登”？近代上海女店職員的出現及其形象塑造

"Seeking Independence" or "Coveting Modernity"? The Emergence of Women Clerks and the Formation of Their Images in Modern Shanghai

連玲玲(Ling-Ling Lien)

《近代中國婦女史研究》 14期 (2006/12) Pp. 1-50

https://doi.org/10.6352/mhwomen.200612.0001

摘要

本文討論近代上海女店職員的出現及其形象建構過程，以探索近代中國婦女追求職業的社會文化意義。帝制晚期中國意識形態並不鼓勵婦女出外工作，因此職業婦女的出現被認爲有違於傳統的性別規範。儘管有些知識分子認爲婦女職業是其追求經濟獨立的因素，卻另有一些人認爲婦女職業不過是爲滿足其奢侈消費的自私慾望。而各種職業婦女中，又以經常與男同事或男顧客接觸的女店職員，最容易被貼上「花瓶」、「摩登女子」的標籤。因此，關於女店職員的辯論，一方面反映了在日漸競爭的勞動市場中的男性焦慮感，另一方面也凸顯了重新定義性別角色的需要。本文並指出，女店職員比其它職業婦女更容易被污名化，其中一項重要的原因是論者經常以性別、而非技術來評價她們的工作。這也解釋了何以女店職員捍衛其工作權時，經常採取「去性別化」的論述策略。

關鍵字

職業婦女 ； 花瓶 ； 摩登女子 ； 百貨公司

並列摘要

This article examines the emergence of female clerks and the formation of images of these women in modern Shanghai. Chinese women were traditionally discouraged from working outside the home, and the emergence of women who received modern educations and worked in public was thus considered a break with conventional gender norms. While feminist activists saw work outside the home as the hallmark of women's pursuit of economic independence, others considered outside employment merely to be a means of satisfying women's selfish desires for conspicuous consumption. Thus was the female clerk who had contacts with male colleagues and customers at her workplace often labeled ”flower vase” or ”modern girl.” The debates about women clerks reflected both male anxiety in an increasingly competitive labor market and a need to redefine Chinese gender roles in modern times. This article argues that women clerks were particularly stigmatized because their work was perceived not in terms of skills, but gender. This also explains why they adopted a ”de-gendering” strategy to fight for their right to work.

並列關鍵字

career women ； flower vase ； modern girl ； department stores

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