How were women treated in the Chinese culture?
A recurring theme one frequently comes across while reading The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston is the role of women in the Chinese society. Women in this culture are silenced, slaves, and must obey men. In this society, men carry all the power and girls are raised to be slaves and wives. Women are not worth much and they are not equivalent to men.
Silence plays an immense role in this society. The females must keep quiet of the past mistakes someone before them had made, of their true identity, and of the way they were treated. Kingston's aunt made many mistakes which resulted to her death. The first sentence of the memoir starts with, “‘You must not tell anyone, what I am about to tell
Young girls were educated on how to maintain a house clean, how to nurture children, and how to bargain. Once a woman is married, the man’s family gets to decide what to do with the wife. Since the forgotten aunt committed adultery, “Her husband’s parents could have sold her, mortgaged her, stoned her” (Kingston, 8). Women were not allowed to be educated or fight in battles, “Chinese executed the women who disguised themselves as soldiers or students” (30).
Females were scolded harshly for stepping out of a “woman’s place”. A man says to Fa Mu Lan, “‘Everyone takes the girls when they can. The families are glad to be rid of them” (43). These quotes present the reader with knowledge on women are merely worthless and they are born to give birth to boys so that one day they become men and then warriors. According to the Chinese, it was “better to raise a geese than to raise a girl, from a geese one can earn profit” (43). The author states, she had to “do something important or else my parents would sell me”
Both do not want to follow the social norms their culture has built for them. “The swordswoman and I are not so dissimilar. What we have in common are the words at our backs” (53). Fa Mu Lan fought and killed men, in other words opposed the laws which were created by men. Kingston writes a memoir of her childhood memories although their parents prefer the idea of silence.
Generally speaking women are worth less than an American penny in the Chinese culture. Men mistreat them whenever they please and no one says anything to resist this regulation. In the Chinese culture women are brought up to be wives. Additionally they must keep quiet about what goes on around them, be submissive to the wishes of the opposite gender, and obey the ruling of men. Maxine Hong Kingston wished to stray away from her parents culture and develop her
Freedom for a Chinese woman was about being independent and to be considered equally important as a man in the Chinese society. The women in traditional China were seen as child-bearers and that was basically considered their main role in their marriages. The women must give birth to a male in order for the family name and traditions can be carried on. If the child was a female, then she’d be of no use to the family and would be married off to another family. It was very difficult for the women since they weren’t able to live life their way due to the old Chinese traditions that were established long ago.
Some of the more fascinating documents of the Han period in ancient China were arguably those written by women. The writings were at once contradictory due to the fact that they appeared to destroy the common perceptions of women as uneducated and subservient creatures while simultaneously delivering messages through the texts that demonstrated a strict adherence to traditional values. Those are the paradoxical characteristics of prominent female scholar Ban Zhou’s work called Lesson for a Woman. Because modern opinions on the roles of women in society likely cloud the clear analysis of Zhou’s work, it is necessary to closely examine the Han’s societal norms and popular beliefs that contributed to establishing the author’s perspective and intent.
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.
In the patriarchal, Confucian influenced, Han dynasty, a woman’s role and social status was far from equal to that of a man. In Ban Zhao’s work Lessons for a woman she depicted the role of a woman, as a lower-class member of society. Hidden beneath the stereotypes of what a woman was supposed to be, Ban Zhao was a rarity of her time as she excelled as a historian and teacher.
When one thinks about female traits or characteristics within the Asian culture you are likely to think of obedience and even docility. This can especially be true of Chinese women. Why is this? Where did this behavior and belief system originate? Many scholars and cultural behaviorists would argue that Ban Zhao and Confucius played a pivotal role in this behavioral construct. Confucian teachings are the foundation upon which much of Asian society and culture have been erected. Confucius’ teachings focused on the importance of family dynamics and the need for children to obey and serve their parental figures. Confucius also stressed the need to exercise restraint and to treat others as you would have them treat you. Ban Zhao was the
In a village left behind as the rest of the China is progressing, the fate of women remains in the hands of men. Old customs and traditions reign supreme, not because it is believed such ways of life are best, but rather because they have worked for many years despite harsh conditions. In response to Brother Gu’s suggestion of joining communist South China’s progress, Cuiqiao’s widower father put it best: “Farmer’s have their own rules.”
The use of conflict in the story assists readers in understanding the theme of the overall story. The author used “talk-stories” that her mother had told her to show the conflicts women had to endure in China. The first talk-story that was told to the narrator is that of her aunt, No-Name Woman. Her mother stressed on the fact that the story must be kept a secret because her aunt is suppose to be unmentioned, “as if she had never been born” (3). Her aunt committed adultery while her husband was in America and the villagers reacted to this in a cruel manner. “The villagers punished her for acting as if she could have a private life, secret and apart from them” (13). The aunt was simply trying to step out of the pigeonhole that the Chinese society has placed women in. The ...
Lessons for Women was written by Ban Zhao, the leading female Confucian scholar of classical China, in 100 C.E. It was written to apply Confucian principles to the moral instruction of women, and was particularly addressed to Ban Zhao’s own daughters. As her best remembered work, it allows the reader insight into the common role of a woman during this fascinating time-period. The work starts off by Ban Zhao unconvincingly berating herself, and claiming how she once lived with the constant fear of disgracing her family. This argument is rather implausible, for the reader already knows the credibility of Ban Zhao, and how important her role was in ancient China.
Firstly, the relationship expectations in Chinese customs and traditions were strongly held onto. The daughters of the Chinese family were considered as a shame for the family. The sons of the family were given more honour than the daughters. In addition, some daughters were even discriminated. “If you want a place in this world ... do not be born as a girl child” (Choy 27). The girls from the Chinese family were considered useless. They were always looked down upon in a family; they felt as if the girls cannot provide a family with wealth. Chinese society is throwing away its little girls at an astounding rate. For every 100 girls registered at birth, there are 118 little boys in other words, nearly one seventh of Chinese girl babies are going missing (Baldwin 40). The parents from Chinese family had a preference for boys as they thought; boys could work and provide the family income. Due to Chinese culture preference to having boys, girls often did not have the right to live. In the Chinese ethnicity, the family always obeyed the elder’s decision. When the family was trying to adapt to the new country and they were tryin...
Kingston shows the social view towards girls by stating “You know how girls are. There’s no profit in raising girls. Better to raise geese than girls” (Kingston 46). Reminding the reader the constant sexist comments Kingston experienced throughout her childhood. More importantly, Kingston’s imagination of Fa Mu Lan adapts a gender role of a man. Kingston states, “I put on men’s clothes and armor and tied my hair in a man’s fashion” (Kingston 36). As a warrior in battle, Kingston takes the role of a traditional man. In fact, this ideology was used to show Kingston’s frustration towards the place of a women in the Chinese American society. A society where one’s abilities were identified only if they were boys. Moreover, after recalling an encounter with a villager, Kingston states, “I’m not a bad girl, I would scream. I’m not a bad girl….I might as well have said I’m not a girl” (Kingston 46). Showcasing her infuriation towards gender inequalities which made her feel that things would be easier if she was a boy. More importantly, throughout the text, Kingston was not only resisting beliefs of her society towards women but also of her own
Kazuko, Ono. "Chinese Women in a Century of Revolution, 1850-1950." edited by Joshua A. Fogel, Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
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.
Kingston uses the story of her aunt to show the gender roles in China. Women had to take and respect gender roles that they were given. Women roles they had to follow were getting married, obey men, be a mother, and provide food. Women had to get married. Kingston states, “When the family found a young man in the next village to be her husband…she would be the first wife, an advantage secure now” (623). This quote shows how women had to get married, which is a role women in China had to follow. Moreover, marriage is a very important step in women lives. The marriage of a couple in the village where Kingston’s aunt lived was very important because any thing an individual would do would affect the village and create social disorder. Men dominated women physically and mentally. In paragraph eighteen, “they both gav...
Examples of cultural constructions can be seen throughout history in several forms such as gender, relationships, and marriage. “Cultural construction of gender emphasizes that different cultures have distinctive ideas about males and females and use these ideas to define manhood/masculinity and womanhood/femininity.” (Humanity, 239) In many cultures gender roles are a great way to gain an understanding of just how different the construction of gender can be amongst individual cultures. The video The Women’s Kingdom provides an example of an uncommon gender role, which is seen in the Wujiao Village where the Mosuo women are the last matriarchy in the country and have been around for over one thousand years. Unlike other rural Chinese villages where many girls are degraded and abandoned at birth, Mosuo woman are proud and run the households where the men simply assist in what they need. The view of gender as a cultural construct ...
Women usually worked as secretaries or on the assembly line because “bosses felt that young women were more diligent and easier to manage” (p. 56). Men, however, were either in a high managing position in the factory or worked in the lowest of jobs available, such as a security guard or driver. It was interesting to learn that about one-third of all of China’s migrants are women. These women go to the factory towns to work, but also, a majority of them leave their homes to see the world and experience life on their own for the first time. Chang makes a point that “to some extent, this deep-rooted sexism worked in a woman’s favor” (p. 57). The statement is supported by the idea that women are less treasured in their families; therefore, they had more freedom to do what they wanted with little care from the family. Shockingly, Chang noticed that no woman ever complained about unfair treatment. “They took all of these injustices in stride” (p.58). The women were grateful for the opportunity leave home and gain a sense of freedom; injustice was not a prominent