Women In The Theth Of Pandora's Box And The Dark Road

Throughout history and spanning over several cultures, women have been mistreated and oppressed based solely on the fact that they were born the wrong gender. In ancient Greece, women were considered an evil object that brought sin into the world and this is seen illustrated in the myth of Pandora’s Box. Also, within this culture, women were considered mindless creatures who had to be locked within a house for their own wellbeing. Women were burned alive in India because when a man passed away he had the right to take his property with him, even if his property was still alive. Even in countries that were perceived to be civilized, such as England, women were still shown ambivalent sexism and treated as second class citizens when compared to their male counterparts.

Unfortunately, China was not an exception when it came to the issue of mistreatment of its female citizens. The Dark Road highlighted how China criminalized being a mother of more than one child, by forcing women to be fugitives

Although Jian does not state a reason as to why Meili was unable to give birth to the child, he does leave hints as to what might be causing the delay. In Heaven Township, the city where Meili and Kongzi eventually arrive in, is extremely polluted due to the lack of environmental and health regulations. Individuals would disassemble electronic goods, such as circuit boards, in order to extract the small bit of gold or other metal left behind. By melting down the hardware shipped from all over the world , workers would be exposed to toxic fumes and other harmful substances since there was no workers protection. The workers were dispensable and their health was not a concern for a government who wanted nothing more than to ensure progress kept increasing. Since the child remained in Meili’s womb for such an extensive period of time, it also passed away like its two siblings before