Snow Flower And The Secret Fan By Lisa See

747 Words2 Pages

Being a woman is being a gold or silver girl. Wear either dainty or chunky jewelry depending on the outfit. Through jewelry, a person can see you and know something about you without even saying hello. They can learn your aesthetic and the way you express yourself to those around you. Self-expression is a privilege that often goes unnoticed. Women have often been forced to be a mold of societal expectations, whether it is in nineteenth-century China or modern western society. Women have had to live for what is expected of them instead of what they wish for themselves, not allowing women to explore self-identity. Strict gender roles and unwavering gender roles often halt a woman's ability to discover inner attributes through the necessity of …show more content…

Additionally, in the short story “Two Kinds,” the main character June has the pressure from her mother to become a prodigy and June begins to want to achieve her expected role when she says “I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect: My mother and father would adore me” (Tan 39). See and Tan's descriptions of being perfect exemplifies the rigid expectations regarding the actions and obedience of women, as it is imperative that these girls strive for perfection since it earns them the respect of others. Lily explicitly states the expectations of young girls and women by saying “To win their affection, I was obedient-the ideal characteristic for someone of my sex” (See 3). This theme is continued in “Two Kinds” when June begins to visualize what is expected of her and says “I pictured this prodigy part of me as many different images, trying each one on for size” (Tan …show more content…

Women in Chinese culture are favored based on their ability to bear sons, as seen when Lily said “my worth was based entirely on the child growing inside me” (See 144). Societal standards are also discussed in the short story “Woman Hollering Creek” when Cleófilas describes the town she has just moved to as a “ town of gossip.the murmur of talk is clear” (Cisneros 63). It is suggested that women only have a single job in society to bear children and the community will criticize and gossip about them if they do not fulfill this physically tolling job. Moreover, women have the pressure of being who they expect from them instead of who they want to be. One can see the societal hierarchy of gender through the abuse of Snowflower when her husband the butcher “proceeded to beat her so badly that she miscarried in a violent gush of black blood” (See 207). Cisnero demonstrates that women are not able to make independent decisions as “the towns are built so that you have to depend on husbands” (Cisneros

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