268 MTSU Women’s Studies Research Series Examines Chinese Footbinding

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 7, 2008
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina Logue, 615-898-5081

WOMEN IN IMPERIAL CHINA NOT FOOTLOOSE AND FANCY FREE?
MTSU Women’s Studies Research Series Examines Chinese Footbinding

(MURFREESBORO) – “Poetry and Footbinding: Women in Late Imperial China (1600-1800)” will be the next presentation in MTSU’s Women’s Studies Research Series at 3 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 21, in Room 100 of MTSU’s James Union Building. This lecture is free and open to the public.
Dr. Yuan-ling Chao, associate professor of history, will deliver the address and answer questions.
“The popular image of the traditional Chinese woman is one of submission within family and society, symbolized by her tiny bound feet,” Chao says. “But what was life like for a woman in late imperial times? I propose to examine the complex roles that women played in traditional Chinese society, the construction of their identities, and the meaning of bound feet for both men and women.”
"The MTSU Women's Studies Research Series has something for everyone interested in women's experience,” says Dr. Jane Marcellus, professor of mass communication. “By bringing together scholars from across campus, we touch on a wide variety of feminist viewpoints in an informal monthly gathering.”
For more information, contact Marcellus at 615-898-5282 or jmarcell@mtsu.edu, or contact the Women’s Studies office at 615-898-5910 or womenstu@mtsu.edu.

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