According to the Merriam Webster dictionary, feminism is stated as “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes.” In the memoir No Name Woman in The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston, there is a strong lack of feminism.
In the story Kingston is told by her mother “You must not tell anyone what I am about to tell you. In China your father had a sister who killed herself. She jumped into the family well. We say that your father has all brothers because it is as if she had never been born” (Kingston 3). The opening paragraph is Kingston learning that her aunt drowned herself. Her Aunt committed adultery with an abusive man and became pregnant. Shortly after giving birth, she committed suicide by jumping in the family well, also killing the baby. “The other man was, not after all, much different from her husband. They both gave orders: she followed. If you tell your family, I’ll beat you. I’ll kill you. Be here again next week”(7). Woman in old China were forced into marriage and were put into abusive situations. Kingston learns that her aunt was technically raped by a man in her village and when she became pregnant, the man organized a raid on her aunt. As a Chinese woman, her aunt cannot defend herself against the village because men are in control of the community. Woman are treated drastically different from the men. “Woman in old China did not choose. Some man had commanded her to lie with him and be his secret evil” (6). There is an absences of women’s rights throughout the memoir.
Kingston analyzes her own life in the memoir. She is torn between being a woman in American culture and Chinese culture. “I have tried to turn myself American-feminine” (11). Kingston does not know how to be a proper woman and she wants to be loved. “If I made myself American-pretty so that five or six Chinese boys in the class fell in love with me, everybody else-the caucasian Negros, and Japanese boys- would too. Sisterliness dignified and honorable, made much more sense” (12). This quote shows how Kingston wants to fit the stereotypical American woman standard. She is trying to understand her families past while attempting to balance life as Chinese American. She feels displaced between the two cultures.
Throughout the memoir, there is an underlining theme of what it takes to be a woman in Chinese culture. “Don’t Humiliate us. You wouldn’t like to be forgotten as if you had never been born. The villagers are watchful” (5). In Chinese culture, their is an expectation to never talk about sex, especially if you are a woman. “Among the very poor and the wealthy, brothers married their adopted sisters, like doves. Our family allowed for some romance, paying adults brides’ prices and providing dowries so that their sons and daughters could marry strangers. Marriage promises to turn strangers into friendly relatives- a nation of siblings” (12). Woman were expected to obey their families tradition and take part in arranged marriage. Another expectation of women was to get their feet bound. “my mother said we were lucky we didn’t have to have our feet bound when we were seven. Sisters used to sit on their beds and cry together, she said, as their mothers or their slaves removed the bandages for a few minutes each night and let the blood gush back into their veins” (9).
Kingston observes how different female influences adapted to the Chinese culture. Woman have a prestigious role to play which is influenced by culture and tradition.
What are ways in which men were treated differently than women in old Chinese culture?
Do you think there was a better solution for Kingston’s aunt instead of committing suicide?
