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Marriage traditions in different cultures
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Marriage traditions in different cultures
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In “Mountain Rites”, Ch’oe Chŏng-Hŭi defied the conventional marriage morality and revealed the indictment of the early and arranged marriage custom in Korea. In the story, Tchokkan is an innocent fourteen-year-old girl who is still attached to her parents. Even when her father, a poor farmer who is concerned of his family’s living sets an arranged marriage for her in exchange of some grains, Tchokkan seemed almost clueless about where she’s going, who she is marrying, or what marriage is even like. In the beginning of the story, Tchokkan was worried more about moving away from her parents, rather than marrying a stranger. Without knowing anything about marriage, Tchokkan was raped by her husband on the night of the wedding, which caused her an irreversible mental trauma. Tchokkan’s in-laws, including her husband are described as good-hearted by nature within the story, but the main reason for their kindness is to keep her from running away. Tchokkan’s mother-in-law, who is widowed at age forty, was only nice to her because she desperately needed Tchokkan to marry her son who has already passed the age for marriage. Although she seemed kind to Tchokkan, her kindness only derived from her wish for her son’s happiness and satisfaction. …show more content…
As Professor Kim mentioned in the introduction, she is one of the many “defenseless victims of patriarchal oppression” (42). And the author uses Tchokkan, who is still young, naive, and clueless about what marriage is like in the patriarchal society, to criticize the early marriage traditions in Korea, especially arranged early marriages. Rape, regardless of the relationship of the two parties shouldn’t be accepted for any reason. However, because women were viewed “as a biological instrument for patrilineal continuation” (41), marital rape was and still is a very unfamiliar term in
In her book, The House of Lim, author Margery Wolf observes the Lims, a large Chinese family living in a small village in Taiwan in the early 1960s (Wolf iv). She utilizes her book to portray the Lim family through multiple generations. She provides audiences with a firsthand account of the family life and structure within this specific region and offers information on various customs that the Lims and other families participate in. She particularly mentions and explains the marriage customs that are the norm within the society. Through Wolf’s ethnography it can be argued that parents should not dec5pide whom their children marry. This argument is obvious through the decline in marriage to simpua, or little girls taken in and raised as future daughter-in-laws, and the influence parents have over their children (Freedman xi).
The marriage between Stella and Stanley has become a very dysfunctional relationship. Stella being attracted to a man of forceful nature becomes blindly accustomed to the everyday routine of an abusive relationship. Many women in the 20th century and even today put up with household abuse, many who were unable or unwilling to leave. One case that appears time and time again is the high abuse in the traditional custom of child marriages. In rural areas, such as those of Afghanistan child marriages are common, even more common is the abusive and controlling nature towards the underage brides. Much like Stella’s marriage, these underage brides will live in abuse, unable to speak against their husbands, and be tormented and humiliated throughout their marriage.
In China, girls are seen as a possession or a “cheap commodity” (Yen Mah 100). Sons, especially the eldest, are given far more attention and praise. Families that are well off keep their daughters and marry them off to prominent families’ sons through a marriage broker (“mei-po”). Rich daughters often had their feet bound, a process by which the “four lateral toes of the foot are forced with a bandage under the sole so that only the big toe protruded. (It was) tightened daily for a number of years (so as to) permanently arrest the foot’s growth in order to achieve tiny feet so prized by Chinese men” (Yen Mah 11). Their inability to walk with ease is a symbol of submissiveness, weakness, and wealth. This tradition is becoming more rare, but still many older women bear its pain today. Adeline’s grandmother went against these traditions by not torturing her own daughter i...
The author starts the book with the story of her aunt. This story was a well-kept family secret being that her aunt’s actions were of great disappointment to the family. The “no name woman” as the story names her, was forgotten by all her family because she had a child that was not from her husband. This story gives a clear example of women role in Chinese culture. As the author states “Women in the old china did not choose” (pg 6).Women back then did not had authority so speak their wills and wishes. They were only allowed to obey orders from their parents, husbands and mother’s in law. In this culture, woman were not able to choose who they want to get married; instead their parents choose their significant others. This tradition is clearly reflected in the story of Maxine Kingston aunt as she was given away to her husband’s family.
However, this “ladder of success” was not as simple as it seemed. First of all, the class of both families will be a huge barrier. We are not even talking about freedom to love here, there is no such thing in late imperial China. Although we can’t say that love doesn’t exist even in such systems, such as Shen Fu and Chen Yun, but most marriages are not about love. Rather, it was about exchange of values. For example, when two families want to become business partners, the parents of the family will have their son and daughter married, so the two families will have closer bonding which made the business much easier. In this sense, we can see that the couple is simply a tool. In the same sense, the families which has not much “values” can only have marriages with the same class of families. Meaning for a women to climb up the ladder of success is not quite possible as the class of her family is a huge deciding factor for marriage in the
This investigation will explore the question: To what extent did the Japanese Imperial Army dehumanize and sexualize Korean Comfort Women by way of forced prostitution in the 1930’s and 1940’s? The limited 20 year time range allows for a focus on the development of comfort camps, procurement of women and the sexualization of the Korean women’s femininity.
While this sounds plausible today, during Kyonghui’s time, it was nearly impossible to consider due to the stigma surrounding New Women and the double standard regarding gender. When the women returned home with their new knowledge, society had anticipated them to act according to social norms and expectations. At the same time, New Women expected their peers, especially their family and friends, to accept their differences. But New Woman or not, women in colonial Korea were expected to get married, have children, and housekeep, just as the in-law lady previously nags Kyonghui. Meanwhile, men who were equally educated abroad, were not faced with the same obstacles women faced when “their lives did not conform to the traditional molds… many of them had painful personal lives marked by divorce, scandal, exile, and ostracization” (Jeong, 6). When considering that Kyonghui is an extension of the author herself, one can assume that it is possible that Kyonghui would have faced a similar outcome as Na Hyesok, who also believed that her motives and actions would be understood. Infamously, she published her confession of having an extramarital affair, which not only turned society against her, but also her family and friends. Eventually, she becomes socially and financially estranged and “died a homeless vagrant” (Jeong 9). As a
Growing up in China, Lindo Jong was steeped in the traditions of that culture. It was a common tradition for wealthy families to assign their son a wife that best suits his future. Arranged marriages are predetermined prior to the child’s birth and they are chosen by their desirable features. Lindo Jong knew about her destiny from a young age. One day, when a terrible flood ruined her home, she was sent to live with her future husband. On the day of her marriage, she promises herself that “ underneath the scarf I still knew who I was. I made a promise to myself: I would always remember my parents’ wishes, but I would never forget myself” (53). A marriage is an impactful event and even then, she does not allow herself to compromise with the
The first Memoir of 1795 was addressed to the heir of her natal family and took the form of a public appeal in her effort to reestablish her family’s moral legitimacy and honorable family tradition. Before we explore her memoir, it is important to note that she felt responsible for her family’s downfall – believing that her marriage into the royal house had led to directly their suffering and decline. Beyond the scholarly merit of her stories, they are important in the view Lady Hyegyong provides of the court life and the strict Confucian beliefs that stress filial piety, loyalty and virtue. To being with, the move from
Susan Mann investigated widowhood during Qing Dynasty of China from three aspects. From an article on the history of the concept of chastity in China published by a feminist Liu Jihua, and the introduction of different ways rewarding the widows, especially the commendation(jingbiao), she believed that the elite discourse on female chastity shows not only the competition for social position between common family, but also the struggle between scholar-commoner(lower gentry she called) and commoner families. Then by analyzing the family of the chastity widows she considered the emotional bonds between mother and son a significant reason on commitment of the widows . And in the last section, she uses the class and regional difference to help explain the discrepancies between the behaviour of real woman in history and the recorded normative widows during Qing Dynasty.
“I’m getting married” the young girl exclaimed to her friends as she hung up the phone with her mother. This statement led to a line of questions from her friends such as “Who? When? Where? How?” and to all of these questions the young girl responded “I don’t know.” She goes into further detail as she sees the quizzical look on her friends’ faces. Explaining the factors of an arranged marriage, the girl’s friends cannot help but be concerned for her. She knows nothing of this man she is supposedly going to marry. She does not know what he looks like, his profession, the way he was raised, his likes, his dislikes, his personality, or even his favorite color. How can a young girl be so excited to marry a man she does not even know? Culture and religion has set a path for millions of women to find an arranged marriage acceptable.
The family's personal encounters with the destructive nature of the traditional family have forced them to think in modern ways so they will not follow the same destructive path that they've seen so many before they get lost. In this new age struggle for happiness within the Kao family, a cultural barrier is constructed between the modern youth and the traditional adults, with Chueh-hsin teeter tottering on the edge, lost between them both. While the traditional family seems to be cracking and falling apart much like an iceberg in warm ocean waters, the bond between Chueh-min, Chueh-hui, Chin and their friends becomes as strong as the ocean itself. While traditional Confucianism plays a large role in the problems faced by the Kao family, it is the combination of both Confucianism and modernization that brings the family to its knees. Chueh-hsin is a huge factor in the novel for many reasons.
A crucial part of East Asian culture, the ideas of family and filial respect for parents obliged high esteem. The family carried the role of the elemental social unit in China (Welty 198). “To be obedient and respectful in all cases to their parents” is a stipulation in Asian culture (Welty 253). Mother and daughter relationships exhibit an especially intriguing dynamic because, in the traditional cultures, women often held second class positions that did not hold considerable authority . The Joy Luck Club’s Ying-Ying St. Clair explores this notion when she says, “I know this because I was raised the Chinese way: I was taught to desire nothing, to swallow other people’s misery, to eat my own bitterness” (Tan 241). Due to this inherent cultural sexism, mothers often could only find respect from their daughters. To try to retain some dignity, mothers used this sovereignty over their daughters. Haunted by the clout of her mother, Waverly Jong complains, “I used to believe everything my mother said . . . The power of her words was that strong” (Tan 206). In the United States, mothers still tried to hold on to this stalwart dynamic of
1. The films A Female Boss and My Sassy Girl both convey the masculinity of the post-modern Korean women. Haejoang Cho delineates three ideas to describe the changing of women’s role as Korea modernized. One idea that is depicted in A Female Boss is the “mother’s generation”. As Korea was experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization, women were affected by getting higher education and working in white-collar or blue-collar jobs. This is clearly shown in the film when Joanna is the director of the magazine Modern Women (A Female Boss). When Joanna hires Yong-ho, we can perceive that women had a stronger role than men during the modern era. Moreover, Cho explains that women in a mother’s generation were exposed to Western culture and became modernized women (172). In the film, Joanna dresses as Western women and speaks English when addressing other people; for instance, Joanna calls Yong-ho as “Mr. Kim” (A Female Boss). Many Korean women in this period believed that they could become modern women by dressing, speaking, and acting as Western women. However, even though these wo...
The Portrayal of Indian Marriages in the Stories The Old Woman and The Bhorwani Marriage