女性消費與消費女性:月份牌廣告畫與近代中國「摩登女」形象的塑造

Abstract

First appeared in the late nineteenth century, calendar posters became a popular form of advertisement in 1920s China when merchants found it an effective means to sale products. To attract attention from consumers, the painters of calendar poster employed a variety of techniques to create images of 'the modern girl.' In some of the images, they projected women as objects of consumption in order to evoke a culture of leisure and opulence. In other images, they presented women as insatiable consumers in order to lure more female buyers. Hence, calendar posters often conveyed conflicting messages about women identity. Depending on the situations and the perspectives of the viewers, calendar posters could expand patriarchy by promoting 'the consumption of women,' and they could also boost women liberation by promoting “the consumption by women.” The purpose of this paper is to examine the ambiguity and tension that embedded in the images of “the modern girl.” Based on a study of 284 calendar posters of tobacco industry, this paper will discuss the process by which the images of “the modern girl” were created and disseminated. It will also explain how these images helped to construct a new woman identity in fast changing China. To draw attention to the complexity of the Chinese consumer market in the 1920s, this paper will focus on the relationship between “the consumption of women” and “the consumption by women.” I will argue that although seemingly contradictory, the two types of consumption jointly transformed the social and economic landscape of Republican China.

中國自五四運動以來，社會上普遍出現追求現代化的呼聲。一般人都認為中國的女性應給予更高的地位和在社會上扮演更重要的角色，因而在不同的媒體裏，包括小說、漫畫、報章、雜誌、電影，甚至廣告，都出現以現代女性為主題的討論，而在這些討論之中，都不難見到從不同立場和角度來塑造的女性形象。 月份牌廣告畫起源於十九世紀末，到了1920 年代大行其道，由於廣告畫可幫助推銷商品，受到中國民族工業和外資企業家的垂青。廣告畫師為了吸引消費者的注意，不惜利用各種技巧，大量繪畫「摩登女」圖像，為廣告畫添加了「性別化」元素的同時，也為出現於1920 至30 年代的中國婦女運動推波助瀾。 目前，學界對從媒體所見的女性形象研究甚多，包括從漫畫、畫報、電影，也有從消費文化角度來看女性在社會可扮演的角色。有關月份牌廣告畫的研究不斷，其中以討論中國社會現代性和婦女地位、婦女社會生活問題最多。本文嘗試從目前已刊的各種月份牌廣告畫圖冊中篩選二百八十四種沒有重複的香煙廣告畫，討論「摩登女」的形象是如何被塑造的？而所謂「女性消費」和「消費女性」的效果，在廣告畫設計師筆下又是如何做到的？