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May
25
Wednesday
May
25
Wed
Education :: Lecture
Brown Bag Lunch: The Chinese Woman’s Power Dress
12:00 PM
Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives
Brown Bag Lunch: The Chinese Woman’s Power Dress Description:
The Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives will continue its Brown Bag Lunch series on Wednesday, May 25 12, with a presentation by Pat Munday titled “In the Mood for Love: Margaret Woo and the Chinese Woman’s ‘Power Dress’ of the 1930s.” Attendees were first introduced to Margaret Woo’s story in Munday’s January Brown Bag Lunch talk.

Margaret Woo, who married Howard L. Chinn of Butte’s Chinn family, had a collection of elegant and beautiful qipao (or cheongsam) dresses made for her while living in China with her family 1935 to 1937. In America, we often view the qipao dress in sexualized terms. This meaning stems from movie depictions of qipao dresses in films such as The World of Suzie Wong (1960), The Flowers of War (2011), and In the Mood for Love (2000). This depiction is historically wrong. In early 20th century China, the qipao dress was a social and political statement that marked Chinese women’s entry into the modern world and, with that, a kind of feminism. Through Margaret Woo’s eyes, as a young transnational woman, we gain some appreciation for and understanding of this Chinese power dress of the 1930s.

Pat Munday has been with Montana Tech in Butte since 1990 and is a Professor of Science & Technology Studies with the Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences Department. In addition to Montana Tech, Professor Munday was awarded two Fulbrights to China and held two additional visiting professor appointments.

The presentation will begin at noon and run about an hour at the Archives, 17 W. Quartz Street. The Archives recommends masks for the safety of our patrons. Guests may bring a sack lunch, however, the archives will not provide coffee and water at this time.

For more information, contact the Archives at 782-3280.
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Age Group: All Ages
Venue: Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives
Address: 17 W. Quartz Butte, Montana 59701
Phone: 4067823280

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