Inculcating a Gendered Christian Internationalism: The Chinese Student YWCA

Abstract:Taking the little-studied Student Young Women’s Christian Associations of China as a case study, this article dissects how gendered Christian international identities were inculcated in Chinese girls at a variety of scales—local, national, and international—in the interwar years. This article highlights how Christianity, for Chinese Student YWCA members in the 1920s, provided a key tool for constructing internationalism. The Christian, patriotic, and gendered rhetoric of “duty,” “service,” and “sacrifice” enabled Chinese girls to salve tensions between their national and international identities in an era of mounting antiforeign hostility. YWCA members also drew on women’s peacemaking roles to step into the international public sphere. The YWCA provided students with training in leadership, organizational skills, and, in some cases, international diplomacy. While they drew on the rhetorical devices, skills, tactics, and training provided by entry into international women’s networks, YWCA members adapted the message to suit their own needs and objectives.