Labor Stratification and Gendered Subjectivities in the Service Industries of South China in the 1920s and 1930s: The Case of Nü Zhaodai (女招待)

現代服務行業與婦女勞工的主體性－1920-30年代華南的女招待

陳欣欣(Angelina Y. Chin)

《近代中國婦女史研究》 14期 (2006/12) Pp. 125-178

https://doi.org/10.6352/mhwomen.200612.0125

摘要

二、三○年代，女招待成爲廣州工會分子、婦女團體、政府官員以及社會評論家熱烈爭辯的話題。雖然僱用女性作招徠令當時面臨困境的服務行業得以重生，但是，女招待的性感形象卻被視爲對社會帶來極大威脅。本文章以1922及1935年廣州的兩次女招待勞工運動爲例，分析勞工及性別在中國現代化進程所發生的關係。女性投身服務行業，挑戰了「勞工」一詞的男性定義，也挑戰了男性勞動者的工作特權。女招待的勞工運動更揭示了廣州市民對現代性的不同想像和衝突。對於知識分子及女性主義者來說，女性的工作權是國家現代化項不可或缺的條件。相反，工會及反對陣營卻認爲女招待是現代化帶來的惡果，令城市的道德淪亡。而與此同時，圍繞著聘用女招待的討論，將女性提供的服務重新界定爲勞動，更將從事服務行業的女性重新建構成爲對社會發展有貢獻的市民。

關鍵字

女招待 ； 服務業 ； 廣州 ； 勞工 ； 道德 ； 現代化

並列摘要

The hiring of nü zhaodai (waitresses) in teahouses and restaurants was a common topic of debate among labor activists, feminist groups, politicians, and commentators in the Guangdong region in the 1920s and 1930s. The explosion of concern about women's employment in the service industry demonstrates that while women were indispensable in reviving the depressed service sector by attracting male customers, the sudden visibility of seductive women working in public space posed a serious threat to society. This article examines two major labor movements led by nü zhaodai in Guangzhou, in 1922 and 1935, to understand the intersections of labor and gender in a modernizing China. Women's entry into the service industry in the early twentieth century challenged the working privileges men had been enjoying. Moreover, these two labor movements reveal contradictory visions of modernity. While among progressive intellectuals and women activists, the labor rights of women were seen as necessary for China's modernization, the male labor union and anti-nü zhaodai critics condemned nü zhaodai as immoral elements of modernity that were harmful for the city. Through the labor movements, nü zhaodai and other political participants refigured services provided by women as work and reconstructed women in the service industry as productive citizens.

並列關鍵字

nü zhaodai ； waitresses ； service industry ； Guangzhou ； labor ； morality ； modernity