[3] From 1926 and 1931 the topics covered in Funü zazhi were again modified radically, and the magazine included articles which supported traditional values similar to its initial period.
Even the language in the published columns was very scientific, suggesting to women how they could increase or decrease quantities of various scents in their homes to produce the optimal reactions in the olfactory senses of their husbands, in order to foster a stronger relationship with them.
As Historian Sylvia Li-Chun Lin writes, there had always been a discussion of scientific and health development in the public sphere in China as early as the seventeenth century.
These ads were mainly promoted in women’s magazines like Funü Zazhi, depicting an ideal lifestyle and use of products that was only accessible to the urban woman who had disposable income to spend on these goods.
[18] In reality, Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People were made of iron oxide and epsom salt, and were originally marketed to American Civil War veterans for diseases like malaria, PTSD, and indigestion.
Pink Pills ads were published in Funü zazhi during the early Republican Period, alongside testimonials of women who had success with the medicine.
[22] As Sylvia Li-Chun Lin writes, although the 1910s began to see a dismantling of traditional Confucian values in China, it would have still been taboo to see a non-family male be seen comforting a woman in the bedroom.
Historian Sylvia Li-Chun Lin argues that these magazines were well-aware of their largely female audience, and tailored their ads to publicize the emotional well-being they could provide women with their product.
[27] He would even provide options for women who could not afford expensive hair products at the Shanghai markets, suggesting that instead they could use flowers, or other easily sourced materials from home.
[28] Historian Eugenia Lean argues that this impetus of male editors and writers composing how-to guides for women was a product of its time in early Republican China.
There were several male feminists and activists who viewed the domestic sphere as a place where policy could be reformed and amended to further the goals of the nation, which resulted in the frenzy to control and police the behavior and actions of women.
[29] The domestic manufacturing standards set for these women, which was outlined by men through magazines like Funü Zazhi, was simply an extension of this desire, as Lang argues.
[31] Additionally, he published a recurring column condemning the idea of female chastity, writing that these values have never been historically present in society and only work to oppress women.