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Beyond the homefront: Chinese women's agency, familial love, and sisterhood during the Second Sino-Japanese War.

The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) transformed the lives of Chinese women, challenging and reinforcing traditional gender norms. This paper examines their resilience, agency, familial bonds, and sisterhood amid war, using testimonies and historical accounts from Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanj...

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Published in:Women's History Review Vol. 34; no. 7; pp. 1213 - 1232
Main Author: Gawrinauth, Kavita
Format: Article
Published: Taylor & Francis Ltd Dec2025
Subjects:
Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945
Chinese women
Sisterhoods
Gender studies
Historiography
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        atl: Beyond the homefront: Chinese women's agency, familial love, and sisterhood during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
      aug:
        au: Gawrinauth, Kavita
        affil: Adelphi University, USA
      su:
        Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945
        Chinese women
        Sisterhoods
        Gender studies
        Historiography
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          Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945
          Chinese women
          Sisterhoods
          Gender studies
          Historiography
      keyword:
        agency
        Anglophone historiography
        brutality
        familial love
        Minnie Vautrin
        sisterhood
        the Chinese recorder
        World War II
      ab: The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) transformed the lives of Chinese women, challenging and reinforcing traditional gender norms. This paper examines their resilience, agency, familial bonds, and sisterhood amid war, using testimonies and historical accounts from Terror in Minnie Vautrin's Nanjing and The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal. Through a gender-focused lens, it explores how Chinese women moved from domestic roles to resistance efforts, confronted sexual violence, and defied wartime limitations. By analyzing English-language sources, this study critiques male-centric narratives and highlights overlooked contributions of women. It emphasizes the importance of integrating these perspectives into broader historical and policy discussions, enhancing public understanding of gendered histories and contributing to scholarship in gender studies, historiography, and conflict resolution.
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    language: English
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