Maxine Hong Kingston's No Name Woman

From an external viewpoint, most men are physically stronger than women. As shown throughout history, this factor directed men to assume superiority and domination on women, treating them no more valuable than slaves. From a very young age, girls are taught to be feminine – nurturing, modest, and virtuous – while boys are raised to be masculine – independent, strong, and stoic. Gender discrimination has continued to widen with these early teachings. In our society, young women continue to face the central issue of being inferior to men through social prejudice, stereotypical obligations to the home, and scientific assurance. In Maxine Hong Kingston’s “No Name Woman,” Kingston shows that disgraceful women are better off having “never been born” (Kingston 190). Kingston’s aunt, who had been long separated from her husband, was cast out by her small village for her mysterious pregnancy. The act of adultery itself is considered shameful; the fact that the aunt physically carried the product of shame

With developments in education, men are perceived as more intelligent than women. To prove that this as a fact, a “scientific certitude,” is needed to set the point in stone. Professor Paul Broca found that women “had smaller brains than men” and correlated that to women’s lack of intelligence (Gould 131). This suggests predetermination and the inevitability that women would ever be equivalent to men. However, Maria Montessori established that women actually “had slightly larger brains than men” (Gould 136). Women are mentally competent of being just as knowledgeable as, if not more than, men. Still, the deprivation of an education puts men at an advantage over women. The need to verify that women had smaller brains justifies that society wants women to remain