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Reconfiguring a New Tradition of Ideal Family Size: A Case Study of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, 1977–1982

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The Disappearance of Hong Kong in Comics, Advertising and Graphic Design

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Abstract

In the late 1960s, the ethnic Chinese who made up 98 percent of Hong Kong’s population were reconsidering their traditional preference for a large family and fertility rates were declining, mirroring the trend in Western European countries. At this time there were increased employment opportunities for women, while the cost of raising and educating children was escalating. In the 1970s, during the first golden age of Hong Kong television, advertisers recognized an opportunity to increase product sales, but public service agencies also saw television’s potential for socialization of the population. This chapter examines advertising campaigns launched by the Family Planning Association (FPA) at the cusp of this period of social transition. The FPA campaign challenging traditional Chinese values in the areas of family size and gender dominance is documentary evidence of the clash of Eastern and Western cultures and ideologies that reshaped society in Hong Kong.

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Wong, W.S. (2018). Reconfiguring a New Tradition of Ideal Family Size: A Case Study of the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong, 1977–1982. In: The Disappearance of Hong Kong in Comics, Advertising and Graphic Design. East Asian Popular Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92096-2_6

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