Author ｜
Jin-chu Huang
Abstract ｜
In traditional marriages, family is the primary concern and the relationship between husband and wife is only a by-product. During the “May Fourth Movement” period, free love became a usual topic in women’s magazines, due to new inspirations and the gradual openness of the society. However, the traditional concept between males and females was still deeply rooted among the people. How could young men and women gain support from their parents and the society for pursuing free love? This issue, in fact, is complex. By analyzing the texts drawn from women’s magazines that appeared during the May Fourth period, including editorial articles, literary works and other news reports, this article delves into the implications, rationales and contexts of those pro-free love augments in which some of them hold different perspectives on tradition. It also illustrates how the concept of free love obtained justification.
keywords ｜
free love, reserved affairs, women’s magazines, the May Fourth period, emotion autonomy