Gender Roles In The Jade Peony

The united States Declaration of independence states that all men are equal, but aren’t all women as well? Nowadays, the numbers for the population are at an increase for the support in gender equality, with the capture of feminist labels. The seek for equality between men and women, and criticize the privileges that arouse by gender differences. However in Old China, males control almost everything due to a patriarchal society. At that time, not only men, but also women are influenced by male chauvinism. In the Jade Peony, written by Wayson Choy, female characters are affected by an unequal perspective despite their age group.

Poh-Poh is a symbolic character within the elderly group. She embodies a traditional description due to her perspective.

This huge discrepancy illustrates gender inequality. Secondly Poh-Poh’s opinion is securely indulged that girls are useless. When Jook Liang was six, once she was learning knots from Poh-Poh, but her six-year; old fingers are too clumsy to follow Poh-Poh’s skilled fingers, essentially reasoning for her failure. After the fact, Poh-Poh refused to teach Liang anymore: “all her [Poh-Poh] womanly skills she would keep away from me [Jook Liang], keep to herself until she died: ‘job too good for mo yung girl’”(Choy 32). Clearly, Poh-Poh believes girls are underdeveloped, and too slow to perform womanly skills, providing a girl with good things is a waste. Lastly, although Poh-Poh treats her granddaughter poorly, and looks down upon girls. She herself is also a victim of the perspective that a girl-child is inferior to a boy-child. When Poh-Poh first came to the world “‘Too ugly’ the midwife has pronounced at Grandmother’s [Poh-Poh’s] birth. And her father, an old farmer wishing for a son, spat at his wife and left them forever” (Choy 38). Obviously, Poh-Poh’s father abandons Poh-Poh’s mother and Poh-Poh just because Poh-Poh is born a girl-child. However, this ridiculous incident is common in Old China; a woman has no existing value except for being a tool of

They have no power to choose for themselves and are considered to have a lack of ability to be independant, forcing the need to rely on men in their lives like fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons. As a representing character, Stepmother did not control her life. Bandits killed most of her family when she was young, but she survived by hiding between two trunks of clothes. Then she was taken away from a Mission House and “reclaimed by the village clan, eventually being sold to her Father’s Canton merchant family” (Choy 6). So clearly, Stepmother has no right to choose for herself like an individual; she is just an article that belongs to others and a good that can be sold. In addition, in this family, Stepmother has a very low position even though she gave birth to two kids. Stepmother is Jook Liang and Sek Lung’s birth mother, but she can only be called “Stepmother”. Third Uncle explained, “Stepmother” was a ranking much more respectable than a “family servant,” more honourable than “concubine,” but never equal in honour or respect to the title of First Wife or Mother, Stepmother remained silent (Choy 147). This illustrates Old Chinese Seniority Rules; no matter what a female dedicates to the family, if she is not the first wife, she will never get the respect that she deserves to have. Normally, in Old China, women cannot get fair treatments. They must follow the rules without any doubt, even if they are unequal. Also, Stepmother