"Male Gaze" or "Power of Display"? Love, Conjugality and Gender in Bridal-Gown Photography in Contemporary Rural China. Issue 4 (20th October 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hou, Renyou
• Is Part Of: Visual anthropology. Volume 35:Issue 4/5(2022)
• Page Start: 390
• Page End: 419
• Publication Date: 2022-10-20
• Subjects: Visual anthropology -- Periodicals; 306
• DOI: 10.1080/08949468.2022.2129254
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0894-9468

Abstract

Abstract : Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a Chinese village and at a wedding planning company, this article analyzes the matrimonial norms and practices, as well as the representation of gender relations, in contemporary rural China. I argue that even though for mass consumption the bridal-gown photography still enables young villagers to have an extraordinary experience that promotes expression of their personal desires. By examining the mise en scène of photographed protagonists, I conclude that the gender relations cannot simply be viewed as male domination, but rather as a more complex hierarchical relationship with a possibility of reversal of power and authority positions in family and social life.