The Presence of Women in the Illustrated Magazine Liang You during the Second Sino-Japanese War through Photographs

Abstract

The photographic presence of women on war in journalism and the gender inequality suffered by women are often ignored in previous investigations. This study focuses on analyzing the photographic images of women published in the monthly illustrated magazine 'Liang You' during the Second Sino-Japanese War, with the aim of knowing the presence of Chinese women and verifying the existence of inequality of gender suffered during the war. To this end, the photographs published from 1937 to 1945 have been qualitatively studied following the theories of Vilches (1983) and Facio (2009). The quantity and regularity of the publication are analyzed in this study. The areas in which women enter, women’s identities and activities shown in photographs are investigated. We find that the presence of women on war is active in journalism. Chinese women appear in family, social, educational and work environments. They have diverse identities as social activists, nationalists and protestors. However, they are despised, subordinate and marginalized because they suffer the limitations built by a sexist society with a low level of development. We argue that it is necessary to maintain a vision of gender equality in the study of war to reveal the silent history of women and understand their submission in a purely masculine world.