Existing as a girl is not necessarily undemanding in general, but can you even begin to envision being a girl in China? At one time, girls were hobbling around with their feet squeezed into tight, painful shoes, generally in agony from the bruises and deep bloody cuts. In fact, foot binding was not the only downgrading act for women. Lensey Namioka gives an inside visual at what it is like to be a girl in China, with her novel Ties That Bind, Ties That Break. This novel follows the life of Ailin, a young girl in China, who struggles with following basic traditions and beliefs. Living life as a girl was not easy for Ailin and she faced an abundance of difficulties, which included, whether she will bind her feet, attend a public school, and what …show more content…
However, only boys were able to attend public schools and the chances of girls ever attending was virtually impossible at that time. Fortunately, her father announced that she was able to attend the public all girls western school called MacIntosh. Unfortunately,, only her father defended Ailin attending public school. For instance, when Alin’s father announced she was attending a public school, her grandmother replied, “You must have taken leave of your senses! Ailin will study for another year at the family school, and that’s all the education she will need. Too much studying is unhealthy for a girl!” (Namioka 45). Thus, her grandmother was devastated with the idea of Ailin attending a public school. She utterly disagreed with Alin’s father’s decision. This was difficult for Ailin to accept, because she wanted to learn about “useless subjects”, as her grandmother had called them. For example, Grandmother said, “I can’t imagine how a well-bred girl like Ailin could possibly find the history of the world useful!” (Namioka 47). As you can see, her grandmother's inability to conform with her father’s decisions, made it impossible for Ailin to go to
I will be explaining the role of women in society in Bound Feet and Western Dress. The Chinese have traditions that are generations old and are very serious in their culture. These Chinese traditions have been deeply established. In Bound feet and Western Dress, a dispute between Chinese traditions and Westernization of Chinese women begin to emerge. The women in traditional China were treated unequally and were basically looked upon as property for their husband. The women were taken in by the husband’s family and had to always obey their husband and also had to take orders from the husband’s family as well.
Before her first words she is already considered a disappointment, “a girl child is Mo Yung- useless” (32). From the time she is born, her grandmother, “the old one” (choy), relentlessly tells her how the world will treat her as a girl. She explains to Jook-Liang, ‘“If you want a place in this world… ‘do not be born a girl child’”(31). She is cast aside before she is given a chance and is never given the same opportunities as her brothers. Instead she is forced to help take care of her little brother (insert quote). The excitement surrounding a baby is always extreme, and it doubles in Chinese culture when that baby is a boy. When her little brother is born, she is truly considered to be nothing in the family. “ I recalled how Sekky had received twice the number of jade and gold bracelets that I had got as a baby, and how everyone at the baby banquet toasted his arrival and how only the woman noticed me in my new dress, and then only for a few minutes to compare Poh Poh and step mother’s embroidery”(32). She is a ghost in her own family, and treated as nothing from the moment she is born. It is because of her gender that she is looked upon as a burden and never given the same opportunities as her brothers so that she may excel in life. Through the shadowed life of Jook Liang one can see how gender roles are enforced by cultural
In the article titled “Pashtana’s Lesson” by Beth Murphy, she records the story of a 15 year-old Afghani girl who has a fiery passion for acquiring knowledge and pursuing education, but old traditions oppress her devotion to study. Pashtana is in the 7th grade at an all girls school which has been rejected by the elders in their community, asked to be torn down, or turned into an all boys school. Her mother strongly enforces studies on her children because she never went to school herself and she doesn’t want her children to end up blind to things in the world like her. In order to support her mother and three younger siblings financially, Pashtana is being forced by her uncle and father to marry her first cousin which is not uncommon, the
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.
Hulga has been to college for many years, earning a Ph.D. in Philosophy. Coming from such a rural background, she feels that her education raises her status in the intellectual world, and therefore life in general, above anyone not as educated as she is. "You poor baby…it’s just as well you don’t understand"(404). The young woman fails to see that there is much more to life than what you can learn in a book. Due to a heart condition, however, Hulga is forced to remain home on the farm, instead of being in an academic setting where her education would be recognized and encouraged. This attitude that she is above most other people isolates Hulga from everyone around her. Even her mother c...
Traditions in Chinese culture are long-rooted and are taken very seriously from generation to generation. However, there must always be room for modern change in order for society to grow and strive across the globe. In Bound Feet and Western Dress the conflict between Chinese traditions and modern change arises. With this conflict it is important to discuss the different meanings of liberation for men and women and they way in which Chang Yu-I was able to obtain liberation throughout her life.
The time period from “Girl” portrays how women were treated and forced to act when they were raised as oppose of young boys. Through out the story we understand that young ladies were forced to learn how do domestic duties from a very young age. An example of this is” this is how you sew on a button…this
This is the root of the cause of the gender stratification among males and females in China. Since women are viewed as unequal and baby girls are often unwanted by parents there is a sort of stigma that surrounds the Chinese woman in her society. They are not seen as equals to men and they are often socially unequal as well. The men have all the power and prestige in their society. Baby girls are often abandoned or killed so that they can have another child in the hopes that there is going to be a baby boy. We see this unequal access to power evident in the scene where the Chinese woman talks about how her husband threatened to send her away if she did not give him a baby boy. Gender stratification is a very large problem in China and has recently been decreased in level. New ideas about women’s right and worth have sprung up in China are spreading
At age 15 she had studied the topics of mathematics, literature, medicine, and physics. She wanted to excel mainly in literature and mathematics and pursue college career. But ever since 1863, Russian universities had been closed to women. If you were an unmarried Russian woman at this time, you were not allowed to travel freely. Sonya wanted to study mathematics abroad, but her father would not let her. His extent was to allow her to study calculus under a private tutor at the naval school of St.
could not and did not want to: ski, play tennis, or go to gym class: attend to any subject in school other than English and biology: write papers in any assigned topics ([she] wrote poems instead of papers for English; [she] got F’s): plan to go or apply to any college; give any reasonable explanation for these refusals. [Her] self-image was not unstable. [She] saw [herself] quite correctly, as unfit for the educational and social system (Kaysen 54-55).
The early part of the novel shows women’s place in Chinese culture. Women had no say or position in society. They were viewed as objects, and were used as concubines and treated with disparagement in society. The status of women’s social rank in the 20th century in China is a definite positive change. As the development of Communism continued, women were allowed to be involved in not only protests, but attended universities and more opportunities outside “house” work. Communism established gender equality and legimated free marriage, instead of concunbinage. Mao’s slogan, “Women hold half of the sky”, became extremely popular. Women did almost any job a man performed. Women were victims by being compared to objects and treated as sex slaves. This was compared to the human acts right, because it was an issue of inhumane treatment.
In her article "The body as attire," Dorothy Ko (1997) reviewed the history about foot binding in seventeenth-century China, and expressed a creative viewpoint. Foot binding began in Song Dynasty, and was just popular in upper social society. With the gradually popularization of foot binding, in the end of Song Dynasty, it became generally popular. In Qing Dynasty, foot binding was endowed deeper meaning that was termed into a tool to against Manchu rule. The author, Dorothy Ko, studied from another aspect which was women themselves to understand and explained her shifting meaning of foot binding. Dorothy Ko contends that “Chinese Elite males in the seventeenth century regarded foot binding in three ways: as an expression of Chinese wen civility,
Many scholars believe his accounts of the city are exaggerated and Marco Polo even states himself “that it is not easy to even put it in writing.” (317). Furthermore his accounts of the women in China seem to be exaggerated as well as missing some information of the society: “These women are extremely accomplished in the arts of allurement, and readily adapt their conversation to all sorts of persons, insomuch that strangers who have once tasted their attractions seems to get bewitched, and are so taken with their blandishments and their fascinating ways that they never seem to get these out of their heads.” (317). While women in China experienced fewer restraints, there were still many patriarchal rules put in place that made women subordinate to men. The act of foot-binding was one such rule which placed an emphasis on “small size, frailty, and deference and served to keep women restricted to the ‘inner quarters’ (331). For reasons unknown, Marco Polo leaves this excruciating detail out of his tales completely, leaving some scholars to question whether he really did make it to
Education for women in the 1800s was far different from what we know today. During her life, a girl was taught more necessary skills around the home than the information out of school books. A woman’s formal education was limited because her job opportunities were limited—and vice versa. Society could not conceive of a woman entering a profession such as medicine or the law and therefore did not offer her the chance to do so. It was much more important to be considered 'accomplished' than thoroughly educated. Elizabeth Bennet indicated to her sisters that she would continue to learn through reading, describing education for herself as being unstructured but accessible. If a woman desired to further he education past what her classes would teach her, she would have to do so independently, and that is what most women did.
From this moment on, Appa refuses to let his son play with the girls. Appa is a man who is completely caught up in the idea of having a good reputation within the community. If the village ever finds out that Arjie is "funny," the Chelvaratnam family will be rejected and left out by others. Appa decides to treat this matter very seriously, He sends Arjie to a school where he will be forced to become a real man'- The Victoria Academy School (Selvadurai 210). Although Arjie completely disagrees with this idea, he feels he has no choice but to obey his father's commands.