Double Standards in Different Generations
In the 1961 film Splendor in the Gras, Deanie Loomis has trouble deciding between being a "good girl" or "another kind of girl". She is torn between the two because "another kind of girl" aren 't respected and are a disgrace to the family. Her mother Frieda constantly reminds her that every man wants a good girl to marry. Deanie does what her mother tells her but she looses her boyfriend Bud Stamper after his father Ace tells him he needs "another kind of girl" to keep his mind on going to Yale and not marrying Deanie. Once Deanie sees what drove Bud to break up with her, she tries to become like classmate Juanita and Bud 's sister Ginny-- " a different kind of girl". But, it 's not very possible to
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In China if you were a "different kind of girl" your family would completely disown you. That 's what happened in Maxine Hong Kingston 's essay "No name Woman". Her aunt, whose name shall never be named violated the norm for women. The aunt 's husband was gone and when he was gone the aunt winded up pregnant and everyone in the village knew it wasn 't her husband 's child. The author believes that her aunt was forced to commit adultery because she writes, "My aunt could not have been the lone romantic who gave up everything for sex.Women in the old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil. I wonder whether he masked himself when he joined the raid on her family"(386). Women can be forced to have sex with a man but the women are still at fault. The women get the worse treatment in situations like this while men 's treatment subsides. Maxine Kingston quotes her mother, " Don 't let your father know that I told you. He denies her, Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her could happen to you. Don 't humiliate us. You wouldn 't like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful"(385). It sees as that the women are the only ones who have to carry this stress of "don’t humiliate the father by going against the standards for women" while men are free to do what they so choose and if they do anything wrong they are soon …show more content…
At the end Deanie ends or marrying a good man she met when she was in the psychiatric hospital. That 's exactly what she wanted but she wanted and thought it was going to be Bud, her lover of high school. Bud wanted a sweet girl to help him with his ranch and wanted and thought it would be Deanie. But, it ends up being someone else who he marries and has children with when Deanie was gone. They get what they wanted but it 's not with who they wanted to be
Ban Zhao wrote Lessons for a Woman around the end of the first century C.E. as social guide for (her daughters and other) women of Han society (Bulliet 167). Because Zhao aimed to educate women on their responsibilities and required attributes, one is left questioning what the existing attitudes and roles of women were to start with. Surprisingly, their positions were not automatically fixed at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Ban Zhao’s own status as an educated woman of high social rank exemplifies the “reality [that] a woman’s status depended on her “location” within various social institutions’ (167). This meant that women had different privileges and opportunities depending on their economic, social, or political background. Wealthier noble women would likely have access to an education and may have even been able to wield certain political power (167). Nevertheless, women relinquished this power within the family hierarchy to their fathers, husbands, and sons. Despite her own elevated social status, Ban Zhao still considered herself an “unworthy writer”, “unsophisticated”, “unenlightened’, “unintelligent”, and a frequent disgrace to her and her husband’s family (Zhao). Social custom was not, however, the only driving force behind Zhao’s desire to guide women towards proper behavior.
Men are more likely to be respected than women. That’s how it is in Kingston’s story. The man who impregnated the aunt was never sought out. The townspeople did not fight to figure out who he is, they automatically blamed the woman. Even if they did find out who the man was, there is a very small chance that the village people would have done to the man what they did to the aunt. The author stands by this when she wrote about the baby saying that “it was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness with boys” (Kingston 800). Perhaps if the baby was a boy the mother would have let it live, knowing that it would be treated fairly. Instead the aunt killed both herself and the child to rid themselves of the harsh criticism they were shown and going to be shown for the rest of their lives. The judgment from the townspeople and the harsh criticism women are shown is what led to a young mother to commit suicide and murder her newborn
When Lu Xun was born, Chinese society had been following the same traditions for generations. A pillar of these traditions, strict social hierarchies particularly oppressed women. Instead of having a say in their lives, they were subject to their father, their husbands, their husband’s family, and then even to their sons. Marriages were arranged, and in the event of the death of a husband, the woman would be expected to remain chaste even to the extent of choosing suicide over remarriage. Social hierarchies also restricted the intermingling of classes with strict social rituals separating the elite from the common. During Lu Xun’s early years, however, society had begun to get restless, and many pushed for change. At the forefront of the changing tides in Chinese society, Lu Xun advocated for change in the ancient social hierarchies that had directed Chinese society for generations in his stories “My Old Home” and “New Year’s Sacrifice” which specifically responded to the injustices of the traditional system against women and the arbitrariness of the separation between classes that the hierarchical system imposed.
Curley’s wife, is the only one in the story that is given no actual name, she is just known as “Curley’s wife.” She is the only female on the ranch. The book speaks of how she is fare and beautiful, but is a bit of a tease. Throughout the whole novel she is always looking for Curley, all the men on the ranch view her as Curley’s property. Candy describes her to George and Lennie as a tart (Miller).This term “a tart” is just a way of saying that she is unfaithful to her marriage, and has a sexual way about her. She is always seeking for attention from all the other men. Towards the end of the story she sees Lennie in the barn sitting on the ground leaning over what was his puppy, so she goes in and sits next to him; she leans over and begins telling him about how her life would have been if she wasn’t on the ranch. She spoke highly of herself, telling how she would have been in movies and wore nice clothes (Steinbeck 89). Lennie had been mesmerized by her from the start; she began teasing him by describing how soft her hair was, only because she knew that he loved soft things, she takes Lennie’s hand and says “Here, feel right here.”(Steinbeck 90) At this point Lennie got carried away and wouldn’t let go of her hair, she began to scream telling him to let go. Lennie panics, He tries to tell her not to scream but all she does is gets louder; he had no clue what to do at this point, he ends up holding her down and killing her by snapping her neck. George told Lennie at the very beginning of the story that if anything happens and he gets in trouble to go and hide near the bushes at the pond until he arrives. Lennie in fear runs away from the scene to that exact
Although Curley’s wife appears to be troublesome to every man on the ranch, her conversation with Lennie indicates that she has a dream too. Before Lennie strangles her to death, Curley’s wife’s dream is to be a movie star. However, being the young carless girl she is, she takes the wrong road and gets married young and traps herself in the ranch, instead of Hollywood’s flash. "I tell you I ain't used to livin' like this. I coulda made somethin' of myself." She said darkly, "Maybe I will yet." And then her words tumble out in a passion of communication, as though she hurried before her listener could be taken away. "I lived right in Salinas," she said. "C...
First, the movie demonstrates the unilateral understanding of filial piety from the female’s perspective of view in Chinese feudal society. In terms of the main protagonist of the movie, Qiuju is a representative of the majority female’s state in the Mid-20th century. “There was a striking continuity of ritual practice, especially an ancestor worship”(Zito, 336). In China, ancestor worship is very important to a Chinese family because Chinese people believe their ancestors can bless their family line can be inherited, and people hope their next generation is a son. At that time, because of the daughter, who had married with the son, does not belong to the original family but becomes a family member of her husband’s family, the only male can heir their family line. Therefore, people’s feudal thinking tends to be
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
Chinese victims of rape were treated with complete disrespect and disbelief. As with the one mother in The Joy Luck Club, she was kicked away by her own family for making such a claim. These rape victims were seen as disrespectful to their families and themselves. One social consequence of claiming rape is that their families shun the women and force them to leave their homes. Secondly, the community shuns them as well. As with the woman in the film, she was denied work and abandoned by her neighbors. She was eventually forced to marry her assailant in order to save her child.
Since the beginning of early Confucianism, women in early China suffered oppression. Unfortunately, the religion holds much responsibility for the sexism. Confucius’s answers for the Chinese people’s way of living consisted of sexual discrimination and segregation towards females. Women in China were urged to meet the expectations outlined in Confucian ideals. Such concepts were mainly limited to the men. Thus, Confucianism defined gender expectations. Confucianism stimulated the inequality of women in Chinese culture.
The main characters in this story are a generation of mothers and their daughters. This story is told in sections as a narrative, where each chapter is recounted by a different woman. The mothers speak of their experiences growing up under the strict conditions in China. They told of how their marriages were predetermined and how they had to do as any male ordered. The daughters, on the other hand, being raised under American ways, told of their hardships with pressure given to them by their mothers. They spoke of American husbands, equality between both sexes, and how they’d rather believe that their futures could indeed be controlled.
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 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...
Kingston’s mother takes many different approaches to reach out to her daughter and explain how important it is to remain abstinent. First, she tells the story of the “No Name Woman”, who is Maxine’s forgotten aunt, “’ Now that you have started to menstruate, what happened to her can happen to you. Don’t humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born”’ (5), said Maxine’s mother. Kingston’s aunt was murdered for being involved in this situation. The shame of what Kingston’s aunt brought to the family led them to forget about her. This particular talk-story is a cautionary tale to deter Kingston from having premarital sex and to instill in her fear of death and humiliation if she violates the lesson her mother explained to her. Kingston is able to get pregnant but with the lecture her mother advises her with keeps her obedient. Brave Orchid tells her this story to open her eyes to the ways of Chinese culture. The entire family is affected by one’s actions. She says, “‘Don’t humiliate us’” (5) because the whole village knew about the pregnant aunt and ravaged the family’s land and home because of it. Maxine tries asking her mother in-depth questions about this situation, but her m...
Ann-Mei's mother is forced into concubinage because of her lack of power as a women. She becomes the third wife. As a third wife she maintains very little status in the home of Wu Tsing. Ann-Mei's family disowns her mother because by becoming a third wife she has brought shame to her family. "When I was a young girl in China, my grandmother told me my mother was a ghost". Ann-Mei is told to forget about her mother and move on in her life. The fact that Ann-Mei is told to forget her mother because she has become something she could not control, is preposterous. She was raped and forced into concubinage. The lack of appreciation for a female causes this feeling of shame for the Mei family. Since rape and polygamy is accepted in China, it makes it appear that what Ann-Mei's mother has done is wrong, and what Wu Tsing did was right or normal.
Is it fair to judge someone by their sex? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments were made about a person just by observing their sex. The woman was looked upon as an inferior being. They had little or no status in society, and little was expected from them. They were discriminated against when they tried to stand up for themselves. Chinese culture was customarily male dominated. The male was expected to do most of the work, and the woman was expected to stay at home with their mouth shut. This custom leaves an unwelcome feeling in a woman's heart. They feel like no one cares, and it makes it much harder to live with an optimistic view on life. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, reviews the lives of three Chinese women, Ann-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair. These women grow up in traditional Chinese homes, where there is sexism. They deal with serious problems that corrupt their lives. Through perseverance and the passing of time their lives return to normal. Ann-Mei, Lindo, and Ying Ying are subjugated by males because of their sex, and Chinese tradition. Ann-Mei was oppressed in many ways. Her mother was invited to spend time at the home of a wealthy merchant named Wu Tsing. At night he would come into Ann-Mei's mother's room and rape her. Despite emotionally scaring Ann-Mei this demonstrates the lack of respect for a women in China. Ann-Mei's mother is forced into concubinage because of her lack of power as a women. She becomes the third wife. As a third wife she maintains very little status in the home of Wu Tsing. Ann-Mei's family disowns her mother because by becoming a third wife she has brought shame to her family. "When I was a young girl in China, my grandmother told me my mother was a ghost". Ann-Mei is told to forget about her mother and move on in her life. The fact that Ann-Mei is told to forget her mother because she has become something she could not control, is preposterous. She was raped and forced into concubinage. The lack of appreciation for a female causes this feeling of shame for the Mei family. Since rape and polygamy is accepted in China, it makes it appear that what Ann-Mei's mother has done is wrong, and what Wu Tsing did was right and normal.