Thomas Sze | Brown University (original) (raw)
Drafts by Thomas Sze
From the Chosŏn dynasty to present-day South Korea, gender equality has always been a struggle fo... more From the Chosŏn dynasty to present-day South Korea, gender equality has always been a struggle for Korean women. In the premodern era, women were strictly confined to the patriarchy, with only lower-class women able to briefly escape the totalizing hierarchy of Confucian society. During the colonial period, women were prostituted into the comfort women system to serve the Japanese military, leaving deep scars in the psyches of Korean men who were unable to protect their mothers and daughters from the colonial project. Meanwhile, the experience of national division and the unending Korean War have necessitated the need for a constantly hypermasculine, militarized state that has gendered the roles of males (as the protectors) and females (as the caregivers). Such historical events have led to nearly a 50% wage gap and a 1:10 ratio of women in senior management positions in South Korea, some of the worst in the OECD, but beyond the statistics, women face dehumanizing working conditions and unrecognized labor in the domestic sphere, with misogynistic expectations that are both normalized and perpetuated.
By simultaneously inspecting differing stylistic and thematic elements in the portrayals of women... more By simultaneously inspecting differing stylistic and thematic elements in the portrayals of women during the 1930s as well as the apparent discrepancies between the two film eras' dominant feminist discourses (Western individualism vs. collective socialism), my research hopes to address both the limitations of Left Wing Cinema and how films from the Socialist Film Period sought to dismantle those limitations through the construction of liberated women, retroactively. Finally, the additional comparison of post-Mao films’ partial female subjectivities eschews the linear progression of women’s liberation in China’s history by arguing that women’s return to being the objects of male critical reflection is emblematic of a significant turn in China’s socio-political history that epitomizes the continual stagnation in feminist struggle.
Papers by Thomas Sze
Brown Urban Journal, 2022
Introduction and Historical Context Known as "Chinamen," "coolies," or "celestials," Chinese immi... more Introduction and Historical Context Known as "Chinamen," "coolies," or "celestials," Chinese immigrants came to the United States and other Western territories in search of prosperous futurities promised by wealthy European traders and colonists, a situation that seemed far more opportunistic compared with encroaching, semi-colonial influences during the Opium and Sino-Japanese Wars. 1 The Chinese were considered an infinite supply of cheap labor to fill the gap left by the abolishment of slavery in 1865 2 and meet the demands of surging surplus capital reinvestment in the form of the booming construction and railroad industries. With the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, many Chinese immigrants were forced to remain in the United States and pursue "merchant" businesses, such as restaurants and laundromats, all while navigating the impossibility of reuniting with their families. 3 In this context, Providence's Chinatown is often linked to the construction of a theater on Westminster Street and the demolition of a tenement house on Chapel Street, which necessitated the need for Chinese immigrant workers in 1900. 4 By the 1920s, Providence's Chinatown only had roughly 200 people. Providence's Chinatown area, located on Empire Street, was a hub of laundromats and restaurants that catered to White Americans. During these early waves of immigration, the Chinese were looked upon with suspicion, intrigue, and often overt racism. One particular news clipping from the Providence Journal reported in 1908 that Chinese laundrymen were "robbed, assaulted, and humiliated." 5 Additionally, the Chinese who wanted to pursue the restaurant business were met with arbitrary opposition from the local population, who harbored racialized stereotypes, fearing that the restaurants would foster a community of gambling and opium addiction. 6
From the Chosŏn dynasty to present-day South Korea, gender equality has always been a struggle fo... more From the Chosŏn dynasty to present-day South Korea, gender equality has always been a struggle for Korean women. In the premodern era, women were strictly confined to the patriarchy, with only lower-class women able to briefly escape the totalizing hierarchy of Confucian society. During the colonial period, women were prostituted into the comfort women system to serve the Japanese military, leaving deep scars in the psyches of Korean men who were unable to protect their mothers and daughters from the colonial project. Meanwhile, the experience of national division and the unending Korean War have necessitated the need for a constantly hypermasculine, militarized state that has gendered the roles of males (as the protectors) and females (as the caregivers). Such historical events have led to nearly a 50% wage gap and a 1:10 ratio of women in senior management positions in South Korea, some of the worst in the OECD, but beyond the statistics, women face dehumanizing working conditions and unrecognized labor in the domestic sphere, with misogynistic expectations that are both normalized and perpetuated.
By simultaneously inspecting differing stylistic and thematic elements in the portrayals of women... more By simultaneously inspecting differing stylistic and thematic elements in the portrayals of women during the 1930s as well as the apparent discrepancies between the two film eras' dominant feminist discourses (Western individualism vs. collective socialism), my research hopes to address both the limitations of Left Wing Cinema and how films from the Socialist Film Period sought to dismantle those limitations through the construction of liberated women, retroactively. Finally, the additional comparison of post-Mao films’ partial female subjectivities eschews the linear progression of women’s liberation in China’s history by arguing that women’s return to being the objects of male critical reflection is emblematic of a significant turn in China’s socio-political history that epitomizes the continual stagnation in feminist struggle.
Brown Urban Journal, 2022
Introduction and Historical Context Known as "Chinamen," "coolies," or "celestials," Chinese immi... more Introduction and Historical Context Known as "Chinamen," "coolies," or "celestials," Chinese immigrants came to the United States and other Western territories in search of prosperous futurities promised by wealthy European traders and colonists, a situation that seemed far more opportunistic compared with encroaching, semi-colonial influences during the Opium and Sino-Japanese Wars. 1 The Chinese were considered an infinite supply of cheap labor to fill the gap left by the abolishment of slavery in 1865 2 and meet the demands of surging surplus capital reinvestment in the form of the booming construction and railroad industries. With the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, many Chinese immigrants were forced to remain in the United States and pursue "merchant" businesses, such as restaurants and laundromats, all while navigating the impossibility of reuniting with their families. 3 In this context, Providence's Chinatown is often linked to the construction of a theater on Westminster Street and the demolition of a tenement house on Chapel Street, which necessitated the need for Chinese immigrant workers in 1900. 4 By the 1920s, Providence's Chinatown only had roughly 200 people. Providence's Chinatown area, located on Empire Street, was a hub of laundromats and restaurants that catered to White Americans. During these early waves of immigration, the Chinese were looked upon with suspicion, intrigue, and often overt racism. One particular news clipping from the Providence Journal reported in 1908 that Chinese laundrymen were "robbed, assaulted, and humiliated." 5 Additionally, the Chinese who wanted to pursue the restaurant business were met with arbitrary opposition from the local population, who harbored racialized stereotypes, fearing that the restaurants would foster a community of gambling and opium addiction. 6