Article
"Mencius" and Masculinities: Dynamics of Power, Morality, and Maternal Thinking (review)
China Review International
(2009)
Abstract
In her latest book, "Mencius" and Masculinities: Dynamics of Power, Morality, and Maternal Thinking, Joanne Birdwhistell presents a fresh perspective on a classic text. She develops a clear and detailed argument for the necessity of understanding the Mencius as a text concerned with masculinity and explores the nature of the type of masculinity proposed by the Mencius. Through a careful analysis of imagery, agrarian connotations, and maternal practices, Birdwhistell argues that the new masculine ideal the Mencius calls for is, in fact, the result of extensive transgendering1 of specifically female and maternal practices.
Keywords
- Mencius,
- Feminism,
- Morality
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 1, 2009
DOI
10.1353/cri.0.0150
Citation Information
Sarah A. Mattice. ""Mencius" and Masculinities: Dynamics of Power, Morality, and Maternal Thinking (review)" China Review International Vol. 15 Iss. 2 (2009) p. 195 - 197 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/sarah-mattice/20/