Juxtaposition in “Bound Feet and Western Dress” by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang Love marriages often collapse, that is a fact. Similarly, even the best-planned arranged marriages can also falter, turning into abysmal failures. Consequently, it is difficult not to conclude that Yu-i and Hsii Chih-mo were incompatible from the start. While the author portrays Hsii as passionate, she shows Yu-i as the contrary: a dutiful and practical Chinese wife, taught and trained under the Confucian precepts of obedience she chooses to forgo and live a life she could call her own. Similarly, being Chinese-American, Pang-Mei, the author and Yu-i’s grandniece, lives between two waters. She feels torn, just like her great-aunt, between the ideals she was raised on, and the modern western values. Under that perspective Bound Feet and Western Dress presents a juxtaposition between the figures of the two women where their apparent differences are in, in fact, likenesses that depict the lives of modern Chinese women, struggling to get rid of their, real and …show more content…
figurative, feet binding. Bound Feet and Western Dress evokes a little-known part of China’s history: a moment where holding a personal identity was almost a political statement; a declaration against the old Confucian society that considered chastity, seclusion, and subordination as the basic tenets every woman had to follow.
The hideous image of bound feet serves as a metaphor meant to limit women and their ability to take part of their lives fully. Bound feet rendered women dependent on their families and, particularly, their husbands, restricting them to housewifery. In fact, Yu-I represents a window to that ancient China, a place where women had to comply with the Confucian laws, signaling obedience as one of the cardinal virtues in their agency. She even says that “in China, a woman is nothing” (Chang 6). Thus, a woman has to obey. Blind obedience is preferred to other qualities, even in a time where women were learning how to shake those bounds
off. On the other hand, Natasha seems, at least from an outsider’s perspective, a regular American girl. Nevertheless, her heritage marked her an other. Her scission is much more visible than her great-aunt’s since she has to struggle with racism, coping with what in another’s eyes was a difference. Even the fact that she has two names, Pang-Mei and Natasha is a signal of the duality within herself: a mark of her struggle to swim between two waters. Pang-Mei feels she does not fit in any context. She is American, but being Chinese separates her from the rest, exposing her to remarks about her ethnicity. However, despite these issues she does not relinquish her origins and attempts to honor her background, showing respect to her heritage while remaining American. Consequently, as the narrative progresses, the points of view become rather inconsistent. The narrative seems unbroken, and the sudden changes of perspective emphasize the juxtaposition between both women as in both cases women are constrained by traditions they choose to follow. Thus, one of the circumstances that help to juxtapose the characters is their filial piety. Filial piety for their parents, but, above all filial love for their traditions. Regarding this situation, Yu-I said, “I grew up with these traditional values; I could not discard them, no matter how Western I became” (Chang 204). It does not matter whether or not the woman turned into a Westerner; she would never become one: she was and will always be Chinese. From that perspective, it did not matter how much Yu-I wanted to change her ways, nor did it matter her feet were not bound. The bindingss were there, although her feet were intact; these figurative binds accompanied the woman, becoming her traditions and encompassing her entire life. Even if she wanted, her traditions are deeply ingrained within her behavior, and the structure that created her has been around for countless years. Even in the West her traditions still run through her veins. Unknowingly, Pang-Mei is also a product of traditions. Some traditions never die, and she is a living proof of that fact. In a way, that some traditions exist is proof that, sometimes, stories offer much more advice than whatever a single person can say. The weight of tradition should not be a burden; instead, the countless experiences of those who lived before her are a signal of the strength of the culture. In fact, Pang-Mei, in herself, is a representation of that duality. Sometimes she is Pang-Mei and others, Natasha. This situation becomes apparent in her wedding as she mentions two of them, a white, Western, American gown, and another, a red silk Chinese dress. The author said “My two wedding dresses. The first, a gown of white chiffon –the stuff of my American childhood fantasies-- … The second dress, a full-length silk sheath in bright red, the Chinese color for felicity (Chang 211). This rant about the dress is not casual as it reflects the two ideas she is trying to uphold. On one hand, the Western dress and on the other the Chinese gown. Both have their symbolism, and both are equally important in Pang-Mei’s life. She is choosing to live both lives, intertwining the East with the West. By the same token, her great-aunt, Yu-I had to find the courage to achieve what she wanted and deserved. Undoubtedly, it takes courage to stand up for your aspirations, but it also takes dedication to do it while taking care of others, maintaining bonds of loyalty to people. That loyalty prevented her from self-discovery, not permitting her to explore her individuality. She even says that “It did not occur to me that I could have been independent” (Chang 105). That lack of independence represents the binding she subjected herself to; a bound her great-niece tries to understand as she discovers through her great-aunt’s eyes the hardships of being Chinese in a Western world where every single one of your behaviors is put under scrutiny. Under this light, Yu-I earns the respect of everybody by maintaining a Western attitude without forgetting her roots. It takes sheer strength to straddle between to worldviews, but Yu-i shows a finesse that is, without a doubt, an inspiration to her grandniece. Yu-i embraces the positive and the negative aspects of the East and the West, showing how women can live within two worlds even with figuratively bound feet. In fact, she, albeit unbound, had to shake the bindings, casting them away from herself in her pursuit to become the woman she had always wanted, a Western-educated, traditional Chinese woman. She maintained her honor until the end; despite the Western influences, she kept her word. Ultimately, Pang-Mei Natasha employed the figure of her great-aunt as a cultural anchor to understand the role she played in society, understanding that it was possible being Chinese in the Western world. In a way, it is not a matter of success or failure; it is more a situation of understanding the cultural values that come with birth and finding a way to keep them even when the host culture’s values seem contrary. Yu-i’s unbound feet served as a guide in her life, signaling that her road was not to be a traditional wife; instead, her progressiveness functioned as a beacon on which her great-niece was able to reflect her own particular circumstances, finding strength to uphold her identity and confidently become a single person rather than two individuals living in the same body.
I will be explaining the role of women in society in Bound Feet and Western Dress. The Chinese have traditions that are generations old and are very serious in their culture. These Chinese traditions have been deeply established. In Bound feet and Western Dress, a dispute between Chinese traditions and Westernization of Chinese women begin to emerge. The women in traditional China were treated unequally and were basically looked upon as property for their husband. The women were taken in by the husband’s family and had to always obey their husband and also had to take orders from the husband’s family as well.
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).
Thru-out the centuries, regardless of race or age, there has been dilemmas that identify a family’s thru union. In “Hangzhou” (1925), author Lang Samantha Chang illustrates the story of a Japanese family whose mother is trapped in her believes. While Alice Walker in her story of “Everyday Use” (1944) presents the readers with an African American family whose dilemma is mainly rotating around Dee’s ego, the narrator’s daughter. Although differing ethnicity, both families commonly share the attachment of a legacy, a tradition and the adaptation to a new generation. In desperation of surviving as a united family there are changes that they must submit to.
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 beginning of the story, the author describes the Chin Yuen's as American in appearance yet Chinese in customs. Throughout the story she continues to describe the deterioration of the Chinese customs by American ideal. This is pinpointed when Mr. Chin Yuen decides to let his daughter marry the boy that she loves. The conversation that Mr. Spring Fragrance has with Young Carman explains that only in American culture is it customary to find love before marriage; in the Chinese tradition, all marriages are arranged. This clearly exemplifies the manner in which the Chinese characters are more and more disregarding their Chinese culture and taking on this new American standard of living. Ironically, Sui Sin Far conveys the notion that the American tradition is not necessarily better than the Chinese tradition. More so she demonstrates the struggle of identity between two worlds that both make sense. Though Laura and Kai Tzu have found their happiness in the American tradition of marriage, the reader discovers that Mr. and Mrs. Spring Fragrance are equally as happy even through the Chinese tradition of marriage.
In the beginning paragraphs of Mrs. Spring Fragrance, Sui Sin Far introduces readers to the Chin Yeuns and their beautiful 18-year-old daughter, Mai Fwi Fan, who goes by her American name, Laura. Sui Sin Far describes the Chin Yeuns as living “in a house furnished in American style, and wore American clothes, yet they religiously observed many Chinese customs, and their ideals of life were the ideals of their Chinese forefathers” (865). Abiding by Chinese tradition, Laura’s parents have “betrothed their daughter” (865) to the son of the Chinese Government school-teacher. Laura confesses to Mrs. Spring Fragrance that she is actually in love with Kai Tzu. Mrs. Spring Fragrance is the only person who knows about the relationship between Laura and Kai Tzu. Unfortunately, for Laura, her betrothal is quickly approaching. Mrs. Spring Fragrance, trying to cheer up her young friend, quotes the famous l...
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.
Traditions in Chinese culture are long-rooted and are taken very seriously from generation to generation. However, there must always be room for modern change in order for society to grow and strive across the globe. In Bound Feet and Western Dress the conflict between Chinese traditions and modern change arises. With this conflict it is important to discuss the different meanings of liberation for men and women and they way in which Chang Yu-I was able to obtain liberation throughout her life.
“Whenever she had to warn us about life, my mother told stories that ran like this one, a story to grow up on. She tested our strengths to establish realities”(5). In the book “The Woman Warrior,” Maxine Kingston is most interested in finding out about Chinese culture and history and relating them to her emerging American sense of self. One of the main ways she does so is listening to her mother’s talk-stories about the family’s Chinese past and applying them to her life.
One type of effect the Chinese mothers’ expectations has in their relationship with their “Americanized” daughter is negative since the mothers are unable to achieve anything. An-Mei Hsu expects her daughter to listen and obey as the young ones do in Chinese culture, but instead receives a rebellious and stubborn daughter, “‘You only have to listen to me.’ And I cried, ‘But Old Mr. Chou listens to you too.’ More than thirty years later, my mother was still trying to make me listen’” (186-187). Instead of the circumstances improving, the mother is never able to achieve anything; her forcing and pushing her daughter to the Chinese culture goes to a waste. They are both similar in this sense because both are stubborn; the daughter learns to be stubborn through American culture and wants to keep herself the way she is, whereas the mother wants to remove this teaching from American culture and does not give u...
O-lan's physical appearance showed her as a very modest woman. When Wang Lung sees her, he stares at O-lan seeing that, "plain though her face was and rough the skin upon her hands the flesh of her big body was soft and untouched . . . her body was beautiful, spare, and big boned yet rounded and soft" (26). From her physical qualities, it is clear that O-lan isn't a spoiled woman who sits around all day, but a hard worker. She is described as an ugly, flat-footed, stolid-faced woman. Many times, Wang Lung secretly wishes that O-lan didn't have such big feet. During the time of this book, women's feet were bound so they would be smaller. O-lan had big feet because they were never bound. This was another aspect of Chinese life that seemed designed to make women suffer was the practice of altering the feet of girls so they could barely walk. The Chinese custom of foot binding was meant to please men esthetically and to enhance a man's status by showing he was wealthy enough for his wife or concubine not to work.
Lindo Jong provides the reader with a summary of her difficulty in passing along the Chinese culture to her daughter: “I wanted my children to have the best combination: American circumstances and Chinese character. How could I know these two things do not mix? I taught her how American circumstances work. If you are born poor here, it's no lasting shame . . . You do not have to sit like a Buddha under a tree letting pigeons drop their dirty business on your head . . . In America, nobody says you have to keep the circumstances somebody else gives you. . . . but I couldn't teach her about Chinese character . . . How to know your own worth and polish it, never flashing it around like a cheap ring. Why Chinese thinking is best”(Tan 289).
...ime. Majority of the women in the novel overcame the tough traditions of women treatment in ancient Chinese culture. The ancient Chinese culture believed that women should fall under patriarchy and strict ethics. This gave women no opportunity to move up the social class ladder. Being treated poorly effected would often affect women. Women like Lindo represent the power of escaping the oppressive atmosphere. Lindo decided to leave when she saw the Huang couldn’t control her anymore. Women had to be able to find their own independent identity. Ying-Ying is an example of this since she always wished to be found by someone, but inevitably she realized that she was her solution to finding her wholeness. Today modern women can express their thoughts, independence, and creativity. Aid should be continually provided for liberating women from oppression and discrimination.
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...
A need for both socialization and a sense of identity forge tight community bonds that many maintain throughout their life. Their life may center on religion, race, or even the socioeconomic class to which they belong. Communities reflect these aspects by grouping together individuals in similar situations and beliefs. Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress expresses the importance of tradition and culture in community identification by detailing the life of the conventional Chang Yu-i and her relationship with a westernized Hsü Chih-mo. Susanna Kaysen depicts her personal struggles with finding the community that she belongs to in Girl, Interrupted. Both Yu-i and Kaysen learn that community is not assigned, rather it is chosen by a self motivated individual wanting inclusion. Community is formed from a group of people with similar goals and beliefs who obtain identity and strength in numbers. The member is forever bound to his or her community thus preserving the ideals in association which makes finding a new identity is impossible. The effect a community has on its constituents is profound in that it governs the way one looks at the world.