In later years of the Japanese Occupation (1937-1945), the modernization of Taiwan had gradually accomplished as the Office of Governor-General planed.
Comparing to many places and cities in Mainland China, Taiwan had been an
outstanding and advanced area, due to the Japanese colonial government’s efforts on education, public hygiene, and infrastructure, etc. Taiwan was then a showpiece of Japanese “model colony.” Japanese Occupation certainly led to the modernization and westernization of Taiwanese society; however, these efforts meant to transform Taiwan into an ideal colony that will more efficiently provide the need of inland Japan.
The development was parallel to the exploitation under Japanese colonial ruling.
Women seemed freer than before. They were allowed to gain education, walk out of the family, have a job, participate in social movements, and join women societies. In Figure 11, we may find an ad of Kikumoto Department Store, the first department store established in Taiwan area. It shows that the fashion in Taiwan society was no more bound feet, Cheongsam, or Han Chinese clothing. The female image on the ad was a modern and westernized figure. It is true that the successful duplication of the modernized Japanese education system benefited to the liberation of Taiwanese women significantly. The organization of women society was also introduced to Taiwan as shown in Figure 12. The well-educated and confident woman figure was the representative of the contemporary female intellectuals.
However, these progress and development of women’s rights were all under the cautious plan of Japanese colonizing. Women were the strong base of the colonized society and also one of the important sources of labor for the ruling country,
especially in the wartime.
Fig 11 Kikumoto Department Store newspaper ad Fig 12 Taiwan Women magazine cover
The Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937. The shortag of resources had become more and more serious in Japan. The ruling country relied on the colony for both the supply of the materials and the recruiting of army. Women power was never neglected in the wartime. Through education and various activities, Taiwanese women had already identified themselves as “Women of the (Japanese) Empire,”
“Mothers (Wives) of the (Japanese) Soldiers,” “Industrial Fighters (Suppliers)” (Yang, 1993 & 1994; Chang, 1999). The female images on the print materials in the war period were mostly belonging to this category of utilizing women power, as in Figures 13-16.
Fig 13 Women Power magazine cover Fig 14 An air raid drills poster
Fig 15 First Aid in War book cover Fig 16 A musical ad on newspaper
Observing the “type of code” of these prints, we may find that the target audience is Japanese-speaking people and the “goal” of these prints is obviously propagandistic--women’s participation in the wartime is imperative.
The Assimilation Movement since 1919 reinforced Taiwanese people’s
subjection to Japanese ruling and culture. Later on, Kominka Movement since 1937
gradually and finally regarded as the mother country to some Taiwanese people.
The extreme success of Japanese colonizing and women policy can be represented by the following poster as in Figure 17:
Fig 17 “Working Hard Is Patriotic” propaganda poster
Taiwanese women’s production, subjection and participation in wartime served Japan, the mother country, exclusively. The female images demonstrate the perfect combination of Taiwanese and Japanese women virtues, diligent and obedient. The background is the landscape and harvesting field of Taiwan but the rising-above Japanese national flag reminds us of what the real ruling power is. The linguistic text, “working hard is patriotic,” and the pictorial text, laboring women, accurately depicts the women in the first and successful Japanese colonial Island of Formosa, Taiwan.
Shanghai society experienced radical changes in 1920’s. Foot binding, prostitution, and concubinage were all considered as outdated feudalistic customs by the intellectuals. The image of high-class prostitutes gradually disappeared from CSCP, retreated from the popular culture, and eventually faded away against the background of the growing numbers of college women and the flourishing film and entertainment business (Hershatter, 1997). Meanwhile, Li, the poet prostitute,
holding books (for example, the series of “Indanthrene Cloth” ads), as sporty women, nature-loving energetic women, or modern housewives enjoying the Western style of life were becoming the new female images on CSCP in 1930’s.
Fig 18 Stomach-ache Pills (Wu & et al,1994) Fig 19 Great Eastern Dispensary (Chiang, 1994)
In Figure 18, the woman of the “Stomach-ache Pills” poster in 1931 was never again shy and reserved. Although the model was a Chinese woman, her costume and jewelry are obviously westernized. Her gesture and facial expression revealed self-confidence. The background of the picture is a living room in western style.
The fireplace, chandelier, sofas, and the portrait of the host all together create a luxury, spectacular and voguish atmosphere. Besides the ideal modern family life, CSCP of the 1930’s also depicted women in the magnificent dancing ballrooms, such as “Wusi Maolun Silk and Satin Shop” and “Insecticidal Incense” posters (Chiang, 1994).
Dazzling, slim fit cutting, half back and side slit cheongsams and the gorgeous
dancing hall illuminated the luxury and hedonic Shanghai at that time.
In Figure 19, the picture of a young lady in a boat is one of the famous sports series of CSCP during its meridian period. Swimming, tennis, horse riding, golf, biking or even flying planes, women joined all kinds of sports and outdoor activities.
The female image of CSCP in 1930’s was not thin-narrow-shouldered and no longer languid and fragile. Women were healthy, strong and sporty in the posters. Even the male artist of “Great Eastern Dispensary” poster might draw the half-covered breasts on purpose and this demonstration of female body might not be acceptable for every consumer. It cannot be denied that the consumers’ attitude toward female body had been changed dramatically within a decade.
Besides reflecting the daily life and popular culture, the female image of CSCP offers an opportunity to understand the value system and the aesthetic judgment of the era (Chen, 2004). Especially when more and more women become capable of purchasing products, the advertisers dare not use those images that may offend female consumers. Westernized objects imply the modernization; splendid decorations suggest luxury life style; strong and healthy body signifies self-confidence and independence. These elements of CSCP in 1930’s enriched the imagination of a better future life for the audience. Neither subordinate to men nor the passive and weak second sex were women in the meantime. Confident, aggressive and active, Shanghai women were popular and admired as a visiting writer from Taiwan had recounted:
[Shanghai women are] much more active than Taiwan women. They deliver speeches in public and participate in patriotic activities and women’s rights movements. They are talented both in writing and fighting. They are women warriors (Hsu, 1998: 214-215).
Shanghai is a women’s world. They are like Persephone bringing the real spring to Shanghai. On the streets or around the corners, lonely and dull it would be if without women (Hsu, 1998: 243-244).
Conclusion
Thus, it is to be asserted that the differences and development of the female images of CSCP illustrate and write out the history of Chinese women’s obtaining economic independence. Nevertheless, this women’s economic independence is synchronal to the awakening of female subjectivity. Most of the existing
scholarships tend to reckon that the female images of CSCP are the evidences of objectified female body (Shen, 1999 & 2005). However, after this pictorial semiotic analysis, “female image” as an ad icon can be treated not merely a consumed and desired object. Because of the invasion of capitalism and the stimulation of free market, Chinese women paradoxically gain the opportunity to participate in the production and eventually achieve the financial independence. During the period of 1910’s - 1930’s, Shanghai women indeed obtained the supreme women’s rights ever in Chinese history.
On the other hand, the success of Japanese colonizing did not promise the progress of Taiwanese women’s social status. The modernization is parallel to the exploitation and the oppression has never been cancelled by the colonizing. The female images in the print advertisements finally tell their own stories and rewrite the history written by the hands of male colonizers. The oppression and exploitation are thus multiple, complicated and interwoven by capitalism, patriarchy, racism and most of all, colonialism.
The raison d'être of cultural differences is tempro-spatial and dialectic.
those years. However, by appropriating pictorial semiotics, we analyze the four features of the target texts and are able to tell the dissimilarity from the similar layout of posters and print ads. The signification of these very alike female images differs from each other when the social context is concerned. Cultural difference is not as natural as it should be in different regions whereas cultural shocks exist among the ethnically related groups. The study finds political and economic
powers play tremendously important roles to affect the contemporary women status.
However, in the cases of Shanghai and Taiwan, one can never assert that the lower the level of ad gender stereotype is, the higher the culture is more developed or civilized. Female images in ads are (re-)telling their own stories. In Shanghai, capitalism did not necessarily result in the commodification of women and gender stereotype as feminists point out. Neither did (colonial) modernization bring out higher women status in Taiwan. The history represented and retold by the female images of the print ads in the early twentieth century is rather dialectic than
dogmatic as that of “his story.” Or subversive, it may be when the “female image”
often signifying beyond the “frame” (Sun & Chen, 2008).
Reference
Barthes, Roland (1977). Image-Music-Text. New: Hill and Wang.
Buker, Eloise A. (1996). Sex, sign and symbol: Politics and feminist semiotics.