Inequality between men and women was still prevalent in the Chinese culture even in the republican era of China. The differences amongst the genders’ position in the society are more evident in the family which is the basic unit of the society. Marriage being the foundation of a family could therefore contribute to the inequality experienced by females. Several stories written by Lu Xun, a scholar in that era, illustrates in what way women, especially those who are married, suffers from discrimination.
Hu Shih, a writer against repressive sexual morality like Lu Hsun (Curtin 18), in his paper Women’s Place on Chinese History said that there is general notion that “Chinese woman has always occupied a very low place in Chinese society” (qtd. in Li 3). Since childhood, boys and girls were treated differently. On Lu Xun’s short story Soap, society’s view on girls was expressed through the father’s opinion:
“There’s no need for Xiu’er and her sister to attend any school. ‘What’s the good of girls studying?’ as Ninth Grandpa said. When he opposed girls’ schools I attacked him for it; but now I see the old folk were right after all.” (214)
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Even the opinions of those who were advocating education for girls like the father’s opinion were changed and influenced by the social order. Inequality of boys and girls does not only exist in ordinary family but also in the royal family. The sons in royal family are clothed in robes, put to sleep on couches, while daughters are clothed in wrappers and put to sleep on the ground (Chao 200). This oppression in which Chinese women in premodern China has been suffering was largely by men for the advantage of themselves (Li xvi). Principles in Confucianism, which is one of the dominant religion in china, reflects the objectification of women. Pan summarizes Confucians opinion on that
Shen Fu’s work doesn’t construe the treatment of women during this time, but provides a glimpse into an exception to the rule. Women were harshly treated and received little attention during the Qing Dynasty. They were regarded as property and not allowed to leave the house without a man to accompany them. It was highly discouraged that they learn to read or write and they were not allowed to lead fulfilling lives, as they were bound to their husbands. Shen Fu does express some of these characteristics, such as being with courtesans and other mistresses, but he truly had a heartfelt love
Daily life during the Yuan dynasty was not so enjoyable life for woman. This is because woman had a very difficult life and had no rights,they were to be bossed around by men and couldn't accomplish anything themselves unless they make dinner.As well as ,girls were forbidden to have an education and only wealthy boys were able to attend school and because boys were able to succeed greater in society.According to this article called Ancient China:Daily life mentions something really interesting about woman “They were considered much less valuable than men. Sometimes when a baby girl was born she was put outside to die if the family didn't want it. This was considered okay in their society. Women had no say in who they would marry.”.Girls were
Like the Analects, Ban Zhao's writings do not attempt to address what is right or wrong about society and the role of women within it (Ban Zhao, Lessons for a Woman, 1). Instead, she blames the lack of female education on the ignorance of men, and maintains that although men understand their own place in the society, they fail to realize that the complementary role of women is one that must also be taught (Ban Zhao, Lessons for a Woman, 3). Her writings serve to rectify this
She is significant in Chinese history because of her writings and teachings of the “Admonitions for Women” using a Confucian approach to define appropriate behavior (Gregory p. 123).
Liang the family’s only daughter says, “Because of her age, the wiry ancient lady was the one person Father could never permit for any of us to defy” (Choy 147). Even though the Grandma in the novel was following her ancient rules and regulations the Father of the Family and the son of the grandma never, let his kids with any opportunity to disobey the olden ways. He did not stop them from trying to be modern but also wanted them to be aware of their background and their cultural values. In an article written by Citizen's Compendium it was said that the elder people in the family played an important role because they were considered as people who would guide the family, during their dark times. This article supports how the elderly people were given all the authority to order the family, the way they wanted to. Because the children knew the elderly had gained a lot of wisdom and experience in the past that they could drive the family in the right direction, during hard times, they were assumed to give full respect to them. The Chinese culture is very strict about the relationship expectation of the family. The first wife of a husband was irreplaceable. Even if the husband remarried, the second wife would not be treated with the same respect and honour as the first wife. In the novel, the elderly people were teaching the kids how Stepmother was an appropriate way to describe the second wife. “’ Stepmother’ was a ranking
In Six Records of a Floating Life, Shen Fu writes of his wife, “Yün came to this world a woman, but she had the feelings and abilities of a man.” (Fu: 89) Shen Fu and Yün considered each other to be intellectual equals. However, their relationship was still constrained within the gender roles set by their society. They lived during the Qing dynasty, which was a prosperous time for China (“The Manchus”: 266) but also a time when, as Professor Scarlett states in the lecture Daily Life in Imperial China, “the outside world was for men and the inside world was for women.” Shen Fu and Yün’s relationship was pushing the bounds of their culture, but they still kept (mostly) within the lines of social acceptability.
Women have had changing roles in every society for centuries. Depending on the country, some women have had a harder time achieving equality. One of these countries is China. These women have faced such obstacles as foot binding to concubines. Until the twentieth century women were not considered equals in their society.
Based on Lessons for Women, women in the China were taught that they were unworthy, unsophisticated, unenlightened and by nature unintelligent. (Strayer
Part One- What I found interesting in The Talented Women of the Zhang Family is the cultural and gender differences the Han and the Hakka during the Taiping Rebellion. The Hakka people considered everyone as equal, while the Han has very different expectations and standards for male and female. For instance, footbinding serves a standard of beauty for the Han women, while “Hakka female leaders forcibly unbound the feet of captive Han Chinese women” (Mann, 7). The Han people hold traditional culture doesn’t allow female to continue study after they entered their teen years. For example Zhang Qi, forbidden his daughter to every make a poem in public because he believes one of women’s virtue is to not have a talent since a lady has no saying
Furthermore, instead of arranged marriages that only benefited the patriarchal head, intellectuals pushed for marriages based on love which would create happy and productive citizens . In addition, based on her mother’s experience, Bao Qin rejects arranged marriages and intends to only marry for love . After hearing of two concubines who drug Cousin Hu’s mother to feign adultery and gain the favour of her husband, Bao Qin is enraged by the historic “powerlessness of women, [the] barbarity of age-old customs, cloaked in tradition .” With the broad shift from tradition as well as her own personal experience, Bao Qin rejects traditional gender roles and seeks to create her own. Furthermore, as China became divided into separate spheres of influence and opened to international markets, British and American industrialization brought new ideas of opportunities for women, challenging established gender relations . With new economic opportunities and education, women could become self-reliant, broadening their choices and their role in society. Consequently, after disobeying her parents’ command to attend Mr. Liu’s funeral, Bao Qin was able to support herself by enrolling in a new teacher training department . Reducing patriarchal control, industrialization allowed children to head to schools and factories, no longer needing to rely on their parents for education and work . As a result, while foreign
Women in Ancient China during the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty lived in oppressed lives. Society perceived them as inferior to their husbands and parents-in-law. Their role in the family were to be housewives taking care of their family and maintaining the household chores. They were always under the instructions of their husbands and parents-in-law in they were treated like servants. They also had no control in their personal decisions because they were not allowed to decide who they were going to marry and what they wanted to do in their careers. Parents of daughters would also force their daughters to foot-binding because it would attract potential wealthy husbands. This paper argues that although the Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty were known as the golden periods for China, nevertheless, it was overlooked by historians that women during the time were victims of gender inequality because they lived with no control over their personal lives and were expected to be submissive to their husbands.
Lessons for Women is a book of conduct written during the Han Dynasty by Ban Zhao (C. 45-120) to advise the women of her family on the proper conduct of a wife. Ancient China around this time was a Confucian state in which the society was control by the belief in order and harmony. The book contains seven chapters that talks about: humility, husband and wife, respect and caution, womanly qualifications, wholehearted devotion, implicit obedience, and harmony with younger brothers- and sisters- in law. This work of literature reflects on how a proper women was to behave obediently to the husband, by being devoted and respectful to avoid humility to herself, her parents and her clan. It gives the readers an idea of the power that men had over women during this time period and the exceptions for both roles of husband and wife. Lessons of women informs the readers that women during the Han Dynasty had no control over their own lives and the philosophy of Confucian had a huge influence on the society’s everyday life. Ban Zhao emphasizes the importance of distinctions between men and women, and their separate natures.
From the film The Joy Luck Club, Chinese girls were supposed to act obedient and respectful to their parents and elders. This included the girls having to abide by each and every Chinese tradition that their parents instilled in them. Girls were also expected to be quiet and considerate to their parents and elders. They were only supposed to speak when spoken to at all times. Acting out against anything their parents enforced upon them was completely unacceptable.
In the 21st century, many people believe that we have overcome the obstacle of gender inequality and evolved into a society of fairness and righteousness. As many know, females can be just as proficient and qualified as males at any task. Though some efforts to off-set this gender imbalance is in place, it is still commonly acknowledged that many careers are stated to be a male job such as lawyers, and female jobs such as secretaries. Gender inequality is a visible fact in our society and in this essay, I hypothesize that gender inequality still exists as a result of factors such as post-secondary education differences of the two genders, role of females in families, female objectification, career choice differences of the two genders, and
It is only recently that sociology has begun to explore the topic of gender. Before this, inequalities within society were based primarily on factors such as social class and status. This paper will discuss gender itself: what makes us who we are and how we are represented. It will also explore discrimination towards women throughout history, focusing mainly on women and the right to vote, inequalities between males and females in the work place and how gender is represented in the media.