The Status of Women in China As Explained in Two Essays and A Film

Throughout time, women have often been referred to as the inferior gender. In China, women have had to go through dire circumstances in order to look good in the public eye. From foot binding, to enduring abusive husbands, to becoming concubines in a prison-like house, women have been through hell in order to please their men, and, most importantly, to please their society. There are a series of double standards and contradictions to how men and women are treated, and this is shown in both Lu Xun and Qiu Jun’s essays as well as in the film, Raise the Red Lantern.

Set the scene: it is China during the 1920s and women do not have a voice. Zoom in to a woman walking into a house that looks like a gray prison-zone. This is her new home. She is the Master’s fourth wife, and her name is Songlian. In the opening scene of the film, Songlian and her mother are speaking about marriage. After her mother asked what sort of man she would marry, Songlian replied, “What sort of man? Is it up to me? You always speak of money. Why shouldn’t I marry a rich man?... Let me be a concubine. Isn’t that a woman’s fate?” (Raise the Red Lantern). Raise the Red Lantern is a film that depicts how women were treated as objects instead of as human beings, but also shows how contradicting it was to be a concubine in a Master’s home. These women were under the control of the Master. They were fed, housed, and, every night, the Master would choose a wife with whom to sleep. The chosen wife’s red lantern would be lit, and she would be pampered. This contradicts with how the women act. The Master believes that he is in control, which, in many ways, is true; however, when the Master is not around, the women control the house. They fight and sabotage each other in...

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... Clothing retailers seem to be a female-dominated workforce, yet Rebecca makes twenty-five cents less than what a man makes. Rebecca does the same work that a man would be doing, yet the company chose to pay her less than him. Why? The only answer is because she is a woman. These types of companies claim to be for equality, both for gender and other forms of equality, yet these claims become worthless if they refuse to pay women and men equally. Of course, over the last century, many women’s rights have been secured. We are now able to vote, own property, divorce our spouses, and we can even run for President. We live in a world that is constantly changing and forming into something that can better suit the mentalities of the ages, but there is still so much that needs to be fixed.

Works Cited

Raise the Red Lantern

Lu Xun: My Views on Chastity

Qiu Jin: An Address