A Comparison of the Representation of Women in Contemporary Chinese Cinema: The Fifth Generation and the Sixth Generation

Under the context of globalization, Chinese culture increasingly absorbs Western theories of humanism and feminism, while the representation of women in Chinese cinema develops throughout times. Comparing the Fifth Generation’s filmmakers and the Sixth’s Generation’s filmmakers in China, the latter are prone to construct female characters in a more humanist approach. Not only depict transgressive women, the new generation also represent female viewpoints. Unlike the Fifth Generation’s filmmakers who produced films through male perspectives, the new generation promote the audiences to assimilate the sensations of female characters. However, both generations can still hardly escape traditional frameworks of gender ideologies. Without formulating truly subversive gender politics, Chinese cinema in the 21st century is still far from achieving progressive gender representation.