Sworn Spinsters In Contemporary Media

This paper studies sworn spinsters in contemporary media reports.The sworn spinsters are a group of working women who take vows of celibacy.They emerged in the Guangdong province in China as the silk industry boosted in the early 20 th century.From 1930 s to 1980 s,the sworn spinsters worked in Hong Kong,Macao,Singapore,and Malaysia as domestic maids.From 1980 s onwards,nearly all sworn spinsters retired.The mass media presented utterly different framings of sworn spinsters.Before 1949,the mass media presented a negative frame of sworn spinsters.After 1949,the mass media presented a positive frame of sworn spinsters.In contemporary media,Guangzhou and Hong Kong media present similar but slightly different frames.The frame presented by the sworn spinsters is determined by the corresponding economic,social,and cultural environments.