[Editor's note]

At the beginning of the 20th century,"Doll's Home" was introduced to China. Nora inspired many Chinese women to break out of tradition and seek independence with her spirit of resistance and self-reliance. However, she has also been used by various male-centered grand narratives to create new female images that suit her own interests. In the 1920s and 1930s, the grand narrative of free marriage and love, which mainly promoted Western concepts of love, encouraged women to resist arranged marriages, but failed to provide social conditions to liberate them. This article is excerpted from "Nora" in China: The Shaping and Evolution of New Female Images, 1900s-1930s "by Xu Huiqi, Shanghai Sanlian Bookstore·Utopia, July 2024 edition, with deletions. The Paper News is authorized to be published.

"Nora" in China: The Creation and Evolution of New Female Images, 1900s-1930s "

In the 1920s, although Chinese society experienced new youth declaring war on tradition and old customs since the May 4th Movement, it still created a contradictory picture of avant-garde thinking and old-fashioned morality due to long-standing habits and undecided new systems. New ideas on gender relations widely spread among young people include open social relations, free marriage and love, free divorce, new sexual morality, etc. The old morality that is difficult to use can be seen in the evolution of women's view of chastity, such as a woman who does not talk about second love, people avoid marrying divorced women or widows (white head), and the fact that husband is the most important thing in everything, and women regard marriage as their profession. In an era of mixed old and new, it is easy to produce certain special or extreme phenomena, and modern women are one of them.

At the end of 1930, Tianjin's Ta Kung Pao published a short article "Ibsen's Merits and Offences" written by an anonymous author, connecting Nora with the emerging modern woman. The author satirizes Ibsen's ability to "only set fires, not put them back"; the release of "Nora" inspired many women to leave, but:

Although those women were freed from the shackles of their families, they did not relieve their puppet careers. Either jumping between clubs, or wallowing in the Hall. Suddenly resisting Mr. A's shoulder suddenly slipped into Mr. In B's arms... Naturally, family puppets are by no means the right path. Opening cages and releasing doves is a matter of course. Mr. Yi relieved pain, advocated freedom, pioneered pioneering work, and had the courage to be inappropriate. He was really extraordinary. The world's number one hero, rare! However, if all the good phenomena after liberation were written down in Brother Yi's credit book, then when these miserable situations were mentioned, I am afraid that Mr. Yi would also be "implicated in it, big or small."

The so-called "miserable situation" in the article refers to the modern phenomenon that gradually became popular since the 1920s. The word modern was one of the most controversial new terms in China in the 1920s and 1930s. Almost all public opinion agrees that Modern is a transliteration of English "Modern", just as "Mao Duan" is a Japanese transliteration of "Modern". Most Chinese people's understanding of modernity tends to the superficial meaning of "Modern", which means pursuing fashion taste in appearance and showing that they are at the forefront of fashion, thereby symbolizing their "new" and fashion. However, some commentators attempt to grasp the modernity connotation of "Modern" meaning progress and think that the term should be correct. The emergence of modern trends is directly related to the increasing Westernization of Chinese society. The phenomenon of "spreading Western customs to the East" that emerged from the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China was even more widely practiced and spread during the May 4th Movement. Introducing Western civilization too indiscriminately can easily lead to the shortcomings of imitating others. Since the era of warlords in the 1910s, Western military, economic and cultural forces have continuously penetrated into various parts of China. Accompanied by them included Western life and entertainment models, which can be seen in various advertisements in newspapers and periodicals at that time. Since the 1920s,"women have been regarded as symbols of civilization and pioneers of fashionable consumption," so they have been favored by advertisers. The increasing number of female athletes who demonstrate body-building physique and agility also play a decisive role in guiding and shaping the current trend of new women. It is undeniable that although the female athletes at that time each had sports skills, they were still inevitably viewed by the public from the perspective of enjoyment and enjoyment. Men's mentality and behavior of openly consuming and entertaining women's bodies make them, from players to entertaining women at all levels, play a more complex role than ever in the process of urban secularization, modernization and commercialization. This development has changed women's closed lifestyle in the past and expanded women's space for social activities, but it has not necessarily improved women's status. Because "foreign financial capitalism invaded China and created a new leisure class in China," new modern women emerged with the needs of the new leisure class. These needs were accompanied by the germination of urban consumer culture in modern China.

In traditional Chinese society, the concept of "eliminating extravagance and respecting frugality" basically dominates the trend of consumption thought. The main consumption manifestations of this concept include practicality as the manufacturing principle of consumer goods, food and clothing as the social consumption goal, food and clothing as the main structure of consumption, moderation as the ruler of consumption needs, original consumption as the ideal, and level as the basis for consumption. The above six characteristics can be used to measure and compare the consumer culture of modern Chinese cities...

In addition, at that time, female students across the country were highly concentrated in metropolitan areas, making it relatively easy to study and difficult to find employment; this also planted the factor of young unemployed women competing for fashion. During the Republic of China, the regional distribution of female students across the country was quite uneven. Taking women's vocational education as an example, in 1929, provinces and cities without women's vocational schools accounted for almost half of the country. Most of the remaining female students are concentrated in a few cities. This wide distribution is only harmful to women's employment development. Taking Shanghai as an example, there is obviously fierce competition in the women's job market where there is a shortage of people. In the 1930 school year, there were 11 women's vocational schools in the city, accounting for 73.33% of the city's vocational schools, ranking first in the country. In the same year, the total number of students in Shanghai Women's Normal School was 1192, accounting for 62.54% of the total number of normal students in the city. It was second only to Gansu in terms of proportion, but the number far exceeded Gansu, which had only 119 students. In terms of higher education, by 1931, there were more than 10 higher education institutions in Shanghai, accounting for at least 13% of the country's higher education institutions with female students at that time. It is not low. Compared with the educational institutions that are constantly established to accommodate female students, Shanghai has a very limited job market for women graduating from secondary and higher education. Indeed, there are many career options for middle and lower class women in Shanghai, such as female workers, waitresses, maids, caregivers and other labor or services. Although the city offers many types of occupations for highly educated women, job opportunities are relatively few. When these female students who come from wealthy families and are influenced by trendy trends on campus leave society only to find that there is no suitable career for them, they easily indulge in the free love and material enjoyment that began when they were students. Some commentators accuse many female students of embracing the "three-seeking" values of studying, courtship, and seeking comfort. This mentality of "just asking for nothing" encourages a vain and pompous social atmosphere. Affected by this trend, many parents have abandoned the traditional view that a woman's lack of talent is virtue, but have the mentality of letting her daughter's graduation certificate serve as a dowry. Some commentators pointed out that this trend of emphasizing external conditions such as academic qualifications over substantive connotations was quite popular among female students at that time.

Although this group of new women who are educated, have the ability and time to indulge in love games and enjoyment, their living conditions are very different from those of brothel women who are forced to fall into poverty due to their livelihood, their words and deeds are also regarded by the world as degenerate. Even highly educated university halls cannot escape superficial beauty and enjoyment. Titles such as "Queen" and "School Belle" can be seen everywhere on campus, and female students are still eager for it. The author signed the name "Hannong" pointed out in 1923 that "the reasons for the degeneration of women are indeed extravagant and tired of labor, love to eat and wear, love to play, and want to be in the limelight."

What "Henong" said can be said to be the main characteristic of "modern women" or "modern dogs" in modern China. Since then,"modern" has become a fashion symbol pursued by young men and women, a hot topic published by public opinion, and an object of criticism by worried people. In 1924,"Women's Magazine" solicited contributions from men to "what I hope for women". Most book contributors believe that modern women are "too particular about decoration and too vain." Among them, some people said that although a woman's responsibility goes beyond being a good wife and a good mother, there were too few women who could be called a good wife and a good mother at that time.

When Nora has no career, it gives rise to a deviation of lack of financial self-reliance; modern women are the degenerate and deformed new women in the eyes of everyone. Although the modern woman is not always Nora who ran away, to some public opinion, Nora who walked out of the house is likely to become a "modern dog" with the empty name of a new woman. Author Zhang Danzi mentioned: "In Ibsen's plays, what moves women most is the 'puppet family'. Its power is enough to awaken ordinary women and not become men's playthings. In particular, most women who were studying shouted loudly, saying that they were unwilling to be men's playthings. According to this, it seems that the new women are no longer willing to be men's playthings; but in fact, they are not. The women are still dressed up like evil spirits, and they are still unwilling to work, only willing to seduce." A modern woman has become a Chinese Nora who has no career (or does not focus on career).

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Looking at those men and women who criticize modern women as the shame of new women, they generally cite four major crimes: they are not good for society; abandoning the role of good wives and mothers; being happy in the face of national disaster; and not loving to use Chinese products. Before the 1930s, public opinion focused on criticizing fashion and helping social development, focusing on discussing the behavior of female students. For example, commentator Jiang Yisheng once listed reasons such as uneconomic, unsanitary, personality-related, hypocritical, harmful to studies, and contrary to biology to explain his reasons for opposing fashion. Others criticized many Shanghai women for their unhealthy qualities such as "having the concept of luxury but not frugality, gambling but not doing things, watching the theater but not reading, using money but not saving, playing games but not profession". Some people even described the female students who were dressed in a seductive and charming manner as "prostitute" decoration, and analyzed the psychology and shortcomings of those female students who dressed in pornographic costumes based on the three factors of "imitation, vanity, and beauty". Luxury and extravagant consumption air was originally limited to large cities in the southeast, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Nanjing. By the mid-to-late 1920s, this wind also blew to the north.

The modern activities that were prevalent among young women at that time, including love, movies, singing and dancing, and enjoyment, were regarded as "a reflection of the dead alleys of the entire Chinese nation and society." This trend of fun that does not seek growth made a lady "Ran Zi" who claimed to have gone to foreign schools, scolded the old society, talked about revolution, and studied popular literature, unable to help but jump out and express that she would rather women be good wives and mothers. She explained that she wrote this article because she felt that a German reporter published a recent article in Tianjin's Ta Kung Pao criticizing China for "blackening", that is, saying that the Chinese people have lost their inherent spirit and culture and have only learned superficial Europeanization. Therefore, she particularly felt that these modern women should self-examine. "Ran Zi" criticized those fashionable "Mies" for opposing good wives and mothers: "It's really wrong to sacrifice the root and pursue the wrong! Neglecting the duty of being a woman." She strongly advocated: "A good wife and a good mother is the first essence of a woman, especially women in China today!" The popularity of modern women has made those women defending the road feel like thorns on their backs, for fear that the troublemakers among these new women will destroy the positive image they create. As a result, these women urged modern women to turn back and be good wives and mothers. An author signed the name "Shi Chen" even wrote a limerick "Attached to the Song of Advocates to Modern Women", which was full of nostalgia for the virtues of women in the past:

... I heard about the old lady yesterday that in the past, women were really nice. They cooked and washed family matters, worked hard by themselves, relied on plain clothes, cloth, shoes and socks, and very little applied to polish powder. When you are free to make up for your family, you have made a lot of contributions to society. Looking back at today's modern women, how few can abide by this kind of woman's path, talk about equality and freedom, and call for liberation and liberation indiscriminately... It should be noted that the relationship between the country and the family is crucial, and the boundaries of responsibilities between men and women are clear, and no one should be defeated...

The poor performance of modern women brought the still orthodox idea of a good wife and mother to a higher level, and even strengthened the power of the retro trend of the 1930s (see below). Since the Japanese army launched the "September 18th Incident" in 1931, public opinion's criticism of modernity was slightly different from that of the previous period. At that time, the country's situation was becoming increasingly dangerous, coupled with the economic depression, and the surplus was increasing. Many commentators were wary of the people when the national crisis was in danger and urged them to join forces to overcome the national crisis. Intellectual women with a sense of crisis actively call on female compatriots to rise up and prove with actions that women are the backbone of the country. To those patriotic women, the existence of modern women is like a slap in their own female world. There are endless cheers from the women's community criticizing modern women for "only consuming and not knowing production". At this point, modern times have almost been regarded as contrary to patriotism. The more conservative defenders even sigh that "modernity is enough to subjugate the country."

Around 1920, the clothes of young Chinese women.

This kind of criticism, which opposed modernity and patriotism based on the sense of crisis in recognition of the national crisis, reached its peak in 1934, known as the "Year of Women's Domestic Products". This year emerged after the "Year of Domestic Goods" in 1933, showing that all walks of life hope that women can share the country's difficulties and love to use domestic products. However, the general fashionable expression of women had a serious counterproductive effect on the domestic goods movement vigorously advocated by the government and the people at that time. At the end of 1934, the statistical report of the International Trade Bureau pointed out that the total import value from January to November, including perfumes, cosmetics, real and false jewelry, and lace clothing, reached 2155347 yuan. The cost is staggering. Some people use the poem "One look can topple the city, and then the country", which originally describes the peerless beauty of a beautiful woman, to apply it to the tragic situation where modern women love to use foreign goods until the national treasury is about to be depleted. Whether we look at the statistical data on imported domestic and foreign goods (especially women's products) or the rampant criticism of "modernity and ill-country" at that time, the results of the domestic goods movement tend to be thunderous and downright. People's aversion to modernity at that time also reached its peak. In the same year, a "modern sabotage iron and blood gang" appeared in Hangzhou, which specialized in "using water to sprinkle men's suits and women's pornographic costumes in various game venues" and declared that its actions were "promoting domestic products and undermining modernity." Although this incident has harmed people and has been criticized by public opinion as excessive, some people shout that it is enjoyable.

It is worth noting that although the name of modern and modern women is so notorious in China, many people do not give up the term, but instead strive to restore its original English meaning and take the opportunity to recreate a sound image of women of the times. The author signed the name "Yunshang" wrote an article analyzing that modern girls actually have two very different definitions. General secular negative terms refer to women who are well-dressed, fashionable, and play love games. However, its positive significance is "sufficient scientific common sense, ideas that are in line with the trend of modern revolution, perseverance and courage in actions to reform old systems and build new undertakings, a sound body, a habit and temperament of diligence, diligence and hard work, and a loving mother". These commentators who try to defend modernity emphasize that it means modern and contemporary, and contains "new" meaning; they must be completely modern to avoid being eliminated by a constantly improving world. In the same time and space, modernity is given a polarized meaning, which makes one can't help but ask: If so many people hate modernity, why don't they just abandon it and use it? Instead, many people are committed to vindicate it?

The possible explanation should be the result of the commentator's mentality of trying to "use a son as a spear and attack a son as a shield" for modern people. Since modern women are so well-known, rather than abandoning modern women and not using them, it is better to take them for their own use and give them a positive and enterprising meaning. These people hope to once again call on aspiring young women to participate in the grand event and become women of the modern era who combine the elements of production, hard work and knowledge of knowledge...

Here, Nora once again became a model for some people to create new female images. Some commentators advise that "fashionable women only make material requirements the condition of marriage, and satisfy life with luxury and entertainment." They must read "Nora". Chinese playwrights are also expected to follow Ibsen's example and compile other dramas that are more in line with the Chinese situation, such as advocating monogamy, equality between remarriage and remarriage, and breaking one-sided chastity, which will benefit Chinese society.

... The intention of those who advocate Nora's image is to use it to awaken them to become modern women who learn Nora and are still willing to be men's playthings, so that they will realize that they should not become social puppets after refusing to be family puppets. In 1932, the film "Three Modern Women" was released, further spreading the positive meaning of modernity. The film review said: "Real modern women are rational and heroic." Zhou Shuzhen, one of the female protagonists of the film, is regarded as the most modern in the film because of her petty-bourgeois background and full revolutionary qualities. Nora's spirit was invoked and given when people of the era were fighting against the unhealthy trend of modern forms, which reminded women not only to get out of traditional families, but also to abandon traditional lifestyles. Otherwise, they are just going between being dolls for one man (father or husband) and dolls for many men (lover, boss, society). It is not enough to call themselves new women.

Discussing the issue of modern women not only shows how people criticized their words and deeds at that time, or attempted to defend the true meaning of modern women, it seems that we should also think carefully about why women are the most criticized in this modern trend. What impact does this series of anti-modern women's discourse process have on the development of women in society?

At that time, this modern trend swept through Chinese society, and its targets were regardless of gender, age or class. Modern men are no less Europeanized than modern women. In addition to beautiful ladies, the campus and society are also full of beautiful young masters. In addition, on the streets of Shanghai in the 1930s, you can also see modern grandma with hair cut and powder, glasses and cheongsam, but with gray hair, wrinkled face and three-inch golden lotus. As for the countless middle and lower-class working women who are confused by environment and lured by personnel, and are wildly modern and even degenerate. In short, modern fashion is by no means limited to young women. But because young women dress up the most eye-catching, expensive, and have relatively large numbers of people, they are still much more notorious than modern men.

In fact, modern women have become the target of criticism. In addition to attracting criticism for their actions, they also reveal the consistent sense of oppression and discrimination against women in male-based Chinese society. Scholars such as Li Oufan and Luo Suwen have thoroughly analyzed the role, function and meaning given to women and female bodies in the process of modern Chinese urban culture developing the commodity economy and moving towards modernization. The beauty month sign is very popular as a product advertisement, which fully reflects how merchants can leverage the "charm" of women to stimulate sales. Women play both the roles of consumers and commodities, demonstrating the transformation and transformation of modern Chinese society. The comprehensive publication "Good Friends Pictorial"(1926-1945), founded in 1926, uses large-scale color photos to present women's bodies in front of readers. The size pocket magazine "Linglong"(1931-1937) also featured pictures and texts of various women's portraits and expositions to reproduce the modern woman's posture. These two publications have left precious video records of China's urban culture, fashion trends and the development of modern urban women from the Northern Expedition to the Anti-Japanese War.

Looking at the overall conditions of the times, there are many elements that contributed to the birth of modern women. China's domestic problems include the serious gap in urban and rural development, the unbalanced geographical distribution and content of women's education, the difficulty for women to find employment, and social discrimination against women's professional performance. In addition, young men and women generally and excessively practice new Western thoughts and material culture such as male and female social intercourse, free marriage and consumerism. These practices have in turn led to the weakness of China's national capital economy. After the 1930s, rural areas in various places were declared bankrupt due to the invasion and exploitation of foreign forces, and many groups of rural women turned to cities to seek a living. However, urban working women are also forced to lay off workers due to the economic downturn and have lost their jobs. On the other hand, the expansion of Western economic forces in China has cultivated urban material civilization, but it has also promoted unhealthy tendencies such as high consumption, vanity, leisure and cheap labor. The growing tendency of society to use foreign goods has caused China's own national economy to develop smoothly, and its economy has exceeded itself every year. Even the officially promoted movement for domestic goods cannot stop its momentum. New women seem to be in a society where "the national treasury is in full swing, the trend of extravagance and extravagance is rampant day by day, and the productivity of the people is almost zero, and Westernization is meticulous and the country is difficult." At that time, Japanese critic Niigata Kaga once analyzed the reasons for the emergence of modern youth in Japan. The Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 had a huge impact on Japan's social economy and people's hearts. The aftermath of the earthquake triggered psychological changes in many people, causing young men and women to suddenly develop a carpe diem mentality, which led to a trend of advocating consumption and modernity. Xinju Gaga's perspective helps to understand why modern Chinese women appeared. It can be seen from the above that various difficulties in Chinese society have caused new women entering society to face serious challenges in terms of relationships, marriage, work and family. In order to survive in society, many women's thinking is becoming increasingly realistic and materialistic. The trend of looking at money is becoming more and more popular."At home, we rely on our parents as consumers. After getting married, he is still a dependent consumer." As a result, the modern woman is "at most nothing more than Nora in Ibsen's" The Family of Puppets "-being raised and played with as an impersonal plaything!"

To a considerable extent, modern women have become scapegoats who have been widely suppressed by public opinion to absolve their social responsibilities. Many of the accusations imposed on modern women also expose men's desire to excuse themselves and other women's self-preservation mentality of wanting to draw a line with them. From the mentality of Chinese society towards modern women at that time, many questions worth pondering can be unearthed. If it were not for the fact that many men were obsessed with modern women, or for non-modern men who also regarded modern women as typical women of the times, modern women would have existed without reason. Modern women's pursuit of trendy and fashionable looks may be superficial and wasteful. However, the actions of some men and women who intentionally or unintentionally dump all their responsibilities on these social playthings are equally questionable. What's more, the discussion about criticizing modern women only gives the conservative camp an opportunity to develop and spreads many ideas of reversing the trend. Including the rebirth of good wives and good motherhood, various laws restricting women's personal freedom during the New Life Movement, and various retro tricks. At that time, it was even reported that some passers-by were distracted by watching a modern woman with high heels, short cheongsam and flesh-colored stockings, but did not avoid coming to the car, causing a traffic accident, which led to criticism of the modern woman's dress. This kind of far-fetched suggestion can be said to be a crime that is wanted to add, and there is no reason to worry about it.

These strong attacks accusing women of biased performance in society expose the gender bias of China's male-centered values. Otherwise, if men perform poorly in the workplace, why is there no public opinion that requires men to go home and only be good husbands and fathers? Men have dominated society for a long time. When women appear in society, they are always regarded as outsiders. Therefore, when certain problems occur in society that involve space and opportunities for gender development, women will always be called to leave society and return to the family. Women are often forced to give up their right to choose or make choices within limited choices for grand reasons such as national unity, national strength, and social harmony. If we look at it from a female-oriented perspective, the question is not "which contributes more to society, in the family or in society", but that women are more likely than men to be deprived of their freedom of choice. If women in the Republic of China were not forced to act in line with mainstream needs, they would have to be soldiers written by Lu Xun, daring to sacrifice to work hard to create their own world.

From the wave of criticism of modern women in society at that time, we can see the expression of public opinion, men and other women blaming them for perfection, and also the difficult situation of women in society. It is human nature to love beauty. As some commentators admit frankly, it is overkill to ask women not to love beauty. Liu Yazi (1887-1958) also defended the performance of modern women:

... The surge in imports of cosmetics by customs and the willingness of women to regard themselves as toys and commodities is not their sin. It is just a sign that the disease at the end of the century has festered out of control. When men are depressed, they use mellow women to persuade them. Can't women adopt the same attitude? Therefore, we advocate a new female virtue and a new virtuous wife. If our intentions are not bad, I am afraid the medicine will not be right!

Some scholars once pointed out that the role model for many young women in the 1920s (especially in Shanghai) was still Nora, a woman who refused to be a husband's doll but was determined to fight in the unknown world. From this point of view, career Nora could indeed be regarded as a certain ideal for young women at that time. But apart from serving as teaching posts in women's schools or working as female workers in factories, there were very few decent jobs available to women at that time. Women who want financial independence can only look for actresses, entertainment, housework, and services that are more or less related to sex (attraction). Not all women are willing to become victims of society, so some people have begun to use their sexual attraction to achieve economic self-sufficiency. The modern women who gradually appeared at this time did indeed have many people who liked leisure, hated labor and did not want to do anything about production. Most of them are female students, with the mentality of "wanting to be concubines for warlords and bureaucrats, going out in a car, and taking guards", and expecting to gain something without effort. Women with this mentality cannot escape the blame, but they should not shoulder the burden of the general environment that is unfavorable to women's employment. They are also not responsible for a gender culture that discriminates against or suppresses working women.

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What is worth pondering here is why Chinese society always demands women with the ideal new women created by contemporary theories, and uses this to review and criticize women's actual words and deeds? Compared with Western society, women's own words and deeds bring together the new female characteristics of the times, in China, educated men obviously control the right to shape the image of new women. The new female image in modern China is nothing more than a projection of an ideal personality that men attempt to solve their own or social problems, rather than a model that is truly created based on understanding or meeting women's needs. The new feminine qualities with Nora's spirit are constantly described through intellectuals 'expositions, being abstracted and idealized. As if as long as men (or a few women) can say it, all women can do it.

In fact, except for a very small number of new women who are famous in the media and real life, most of China's absences from Nora not only stumbled on the road to marriage, but also went on a career path. In 1938, Mao Dun reviewed China's Nora's path out since the May 4th Movement and concluded: "Nora did not succeed.

We have seen with our own eyes how many tragedies Chinese 'Nora-type' women have performed. Where are the Nora type women in China fifteen years ago now? We also saw it with our own eyes. Didn't you return to your family and be depressed for the rest of your life?" What are the reasons for China's Nora's failure? Mao Dun tried to comment fairly: "This is by no means that Chinese women are too weak, but because Chinese society has not yet prepared the environment for Nora to 'be a dignified person' after leaving. But naturally, Nora's enthusiasm for resistance but not correct political and social thoughts is also a big reason."

Although this comment is short, it points out two key points: first, Chinese society must be responsible for the failure or degeneration of new women; second, if "Nora" wants to continue to develop in China, it must transform. That is, they should no longer seek personal freedom or enjoyment, but should join the camp of social revolution.

On the whole, China's Nora's job search and social career prospects from the May 4th Movement to the Anti-Japanese War can be said to be full of thorns. Institutional problems such as lack of skills training and supporting measures, to male-centered workplace concepts and mentality, all constitute obstacles to their development. Women's careers do not equate with economic independence; and women's economic independence is quite far from living truly independently of men's power. Because at that time, despite their efforts to get out of their families and get rid of patriarchal rule, new women still had to face male dominance by capitalists and various workplaces in society. In addition, in the first half of the 1930s, a wave of conservatism emerged at home and abroad that hindered the development of women's society. The idea of reviving motherhood spread eastward in Europe and the United States, together with the revival of traditions led by domestic rulers, has created a retro style.