Gendering and Sexualising Opium Consumption in Manchukuo, 1932–1945
Journal article
Gao, M.. (2023). Gendering and Sexualising Opium Consumption in Manchukuo, 1932–1945. Asian Studies Review. pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2023.2279526
Authors | Gao, M. |
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Abstract | This article explores the sociocultural history of opium consumption and its popularisation through the beauty of female attendants in Manchukuo, which was a crucial part of the Japanese Empire and an important ‘contact zone’ of diverse cultures. It offers a glimpse into the opium–prostitution nexus by exploring the legal, commercial, social, and cultural dimensions of the gendered and sexualised practice of opium consumption, which reinforced a highly entangled triangulation of imperial consultants from Japan and Korea, Chinese opium shop-owners, and consumers of multiple nationalities. As such, the article highlights how this subculture developed at a time of increasingly pervasive surveillance of sex workers as well as deeply asymmetrical power relations between imperial subjects and the Chinese locals, and along class and gender lines. In examining how female attendants promoted opium within illegal establishments, I argue that the gendered and sexualised consumption of opium reshaped the culture and economy of the substance’s use and that this culture, its regulation, and imperialism damaged Manchukuo society. By doing so, the article reveals the subculture of gendered and sexualised opium consumption in Manchukuo and the Japanese Empire more broadly. |
Keywords | Gender; sexualisation; opium; contact zone; imperial subjects and consultants; Manchukuo; Japanese Empire |
Year | 01 Jan 2023 |
Journal | Asian Studies Review |
Journal citation | pp. 1-19 |
Publisher | Routledge |
ISSN | 1035-7823 |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2023.2279526 |
Web address (URL) | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10357823.2023.2279526 |
Open access | Published as ‘gold’ (paid) open access |
Research or scholarly | Research |
Page range | 1-19 |
Publisher's version | License File Access Level Open |
Output status | Published |
Publication dates | |
27 Nov 2023 | |
Publication process dates | |
Accepted | 26 Apr 2023 |
Deposited | 27 Aug 2024 |
Additional information | © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. |
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. | |
Place of publication | Australia |
https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/90x29/gendering-and-sexualising-opium-consumption-in-manchukuo-1932-1945
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Publisher's version
OA_Gao_2023_Gendering_and_Sexualising_Opium_Consumption_in.pdf | |
License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |
File access level: Open |
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