Gender inequality is one of the central themes in the novel The Kitchen God’s Wife by Amy Tan. I think that the title “The Kitchen God’s Wife” itself recognizes that many individuals believe that a woman's role in society pertains to completing domestic chores. Her husband, the God, dominates over her actions in the kitchen. Basically, woman have no position, neither outside or inside the sphere of their home. It is revealed that social divisions between males and females in China continue from early childhood and last until late adulthood. To begin with, Winnie Louie is taught the importance of obeying others, putting others ahead of herself, and maintaining healthy relationships. When she first gets her period, her aunt tells her that a …show more content…
They despise her so much that they cannot wait for her to die, so they can bury her. Generations can only be passed on from father to son, which she is unable to deliver. Therefore, while Winnie is pregnant, her husband attempts to have sex with her again, in order to get enough sperm inside of her, through this, he will be assured that she will give birth to a boy. Wen Fu makes her apologize to him for trying to prevent him from employing such actions. In reality, he despises a baby girl because she will have to get married and sent off to their in-laws home to serve them, not her own family due to the fact that it is not the custom to keep your unmarried daughter in your house forever. Females are not considered the breadwinners or a part of the elderly support system, unlike the males. Moving on, at dinner, her husband and father-in-law get to their meals first. Winnie is only allowed to eat after she picks the food out of her father in law’s beard. Winnie blames mother-in-law for tending her son’s desires as if she is his servant because a woman has no right to be angry at her husband. She then thinks that it is wrong of her to blame her mother in law for her miseries, but that is how she is raised, to never criticize men or the society they rule or Confucius, who made the society. According to Confucius, a virtuous woman is one who entirely submits herself to the service of her husband. In regards to this, it is best for a
Publication of books and periodical revealed to the public the problems that women endured within their homes, education, labor, and health. In a male dominant society, men premeditated what roles women should play at home. Women were perceived as weaker than men, unable to think for themselves and their opinions were view as useless. Male dominating view of a woman’s role was to have no other aspirations but to take care of her husband, family and home.
Women have been downgraded and mistreated because of their gender. From birth, Women and Men grew up with very different rules to follow. Men were raised to be the head of the house and do work for a living. Growing up as little girls, women were taught to raise their kids and make food for their families. “Strong family structures were necessary because the family was the basis for all other institutions. The government, church, and community all worked through the nuclear family unit.”(“Gender and
For the longest time, women’s role in society was very narrow and set in stone. Women weren’t given the chance to decide life for their own, and there was a very sharp distinction of gender roles. Women were viewed as inferior, weak, and dependant. They were expected to be responsible for the family and maintainance of the house. But as the 19th century began, so did a drastic change in society. Women started voicing their opinions and seeking change. Trying to break away from this ideology called “cult of domesticity” was a lengthy, burdensome, and demanding struggle.
Winnie's next hardship came when she was forced to live with her aunt, uncle, and spoiled cousins. Winnie felt unwanted and unloved. Winnie is older than her cousin Peanut, but because she is a "bad" child, soiled by her mother's bad name, she is looked down on. When she became the right age, the family gave her to the family of Wen Fu, who was to become her new husband. At first, Wen Fu was loving and gentle. But as time went on, he became increasingly aggressive with Winnie. The first example of this is shortly after their new union, when they are in bed together. Winnie tells Pearl that Wen Fu was "kissing my nose, my cheeks and shoulders, telling me how beautiful I was, how happy I made him." Within the next ten minutes, Wen Fu has turned into a tyrant. "He whispered for me to say dirty words, words for women's body parts--not any woman's body parts....the kind (of woman) who would give her body to foreign sailors." From this point on, Wen Fu's abuse becomes more extensive and frequent.
My experience, or “biography” with gender and gender inequality can be attributed to what C. Wright Mills’s calls “history”, or the social world. According to Mills, our individual lives interact with society to formulate our experiences. This perspective “enables us to grasp history and biography and the relations between the two within society” (C. Wright Mills 3). As discussed in Module Twelve: Gender, Work, and Family, women and men are placed into two separate spheres; the private sphere and the public sphere. My life experiences relate to the private sphere, which is associated with femininity and domestic work. Society reserves the public sphere for men only, in which they are dominant and “breadwinners”. This is the sphere that I have been conditioned by society to not pursue.
In addition to women becoming a housewife there has been a “direct denunciation”(Doc B Sheg) because they are becoming disrespectful towards their husbands. This is because with them learning about earning their rights they tend to fight for themselves, which just ruins the mindset of how good it is to be a housewife. When the “more fortunate women”(Doc B Sheg) help with the “round of toil”(Doc B Sheg) women they feel as though it will bring them “respect and consideration which form the basis upon, which we more fortunate women build our lives.” (Doc B Sheg) Within this need to become grateful for having such an easy life to the point that they become lazy, all of the other women that need to actually work to make a living can clearly see that it is not as luxurious to have certain rights because then that requires harder
In this society, women are treated as servants; consequently, stereotypes are progressing to label women as maids. Wives are expected to clean, nurture
What the role of a women should be was another point of conflict between the mothers and daughters. In the first anecdote on page 17, Tan tells the story of a Chinese women coming to America who dreams that “over there nobody will say her [daughter’s] worth is measured by the loudness of her husband’s belch.” This quote shows that the traditional view of women in China is that they should serve their husbands and families, and that they don’t deserve freedom. Ying-Ying St. Clair found herself conforming to this stereotype, saying that “[she] was pretty for [her husband].” (Tan 247). Not only did Ying-Ying have to listen to her husband, she began to embrace it and only serve her husband, without any regard for herself. When he left her to marry a younger women, she realized that she had been wasting away her life. She waited four years, until she was able to run away to America, where she gained her freedom. However, her daughter, Lena, was born with these rights that she had worked hard to gain. Lena talks about her husband, saying, “really, we’re equals, except that Harold makes about seven times more than what I make.” Harold is also her boss, despite the fact that they originally started their company together. Ying-Ying realizes that Lena is becoming submissive to her husband, much the way she did. Ying-Ying wants to “cut [Lena’s} tiger spirit loose” (Tan 252), but Lena refuses to listen, not realizing that her
In the 1800’s, the women responsibilities were to maintain order in the house, protect and discipline the students. In the 21st century, now women are not just responsible for cleaning, cooking and discipling children, instead women can now work and impose some of those tasks on their husbands. In the story “Our Deportment, or the Manners, Conduct, and Dress of Refined Society”, as the home is considered the “woman’s kingdom” and that it is the women responsibility to “make the lives of her husband and the dear ones committed to her trust, is the honored task which it is the wife’s province” (Gutenberg 1), most of their time is spent in the home making sure the home is kept under control and ready to serve her husbands and children. In reference to the speech by Emma Watson, she states that “we need to end gender inequality” (Watson 1), which in the 21st century it is coming closer to reality. Women now don’t have to remain at home all day, they can now work just like men and provide for their families the same way men do.
Gender roles is a problem that takes place in both the workplace, domestic conditions, and society. Often signified through the age-old stereotype. That men are required of the more "challenging" or more "advanced" jobs, while women restrict themselves to the less grueling and less beneficial positions. Terms such as "that 's a man 's job" is a leading cause of inequality in the workplace. Not to mention, gender roles and standards are set in the homes of many families everywhere. The so-called "picture perfect family" situation; the husband goes to work while the wife stays home to tend to the children. While romanticized as ideal, this concept is the very essence of a patriarchal society. Meanwhile, the brutally vicious society we live in often berates women 's self-esteems in more way than one. Stereotypes of beauty, or who are skinny, pretty, white, and wealthy, are unfortunately the ideal standard of women and
Institution, ones traditions, and everyday lives are filled with examples of men in positions of authority over women” (Kay, 2012). Inequalities in gender can be seen in marriage as well as parenting. It is believed that by many that a man should have a higher income than a female. In some cases women are being paid less than men in their work place and yet they hold the same credentials as men, this is where secondary status comes in. In most households it’s the female who cooks and clean look after the kids while the men work but roles can be divided when faced with certain duties, to accommodate one another. “Gender inequality forms the basis of sexism, misogynist and the prejudiced beliefs that males overpower females” (Anon. 2016).
The definition of gender roles is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behavior is generally considered acceptable based on the gender of a person. Additionally, if you don’t seem to accept this standard, there can be huge consequences. For example, in India, women are viewed as a burden and a “extra mouth to feed.” Her status promotes the idea that men can treat them in a subdued manner. If they don’t comply to these requirements, then a woman is murdered by her husband or his family by being set alight by a flammable liquid, which is usually known as bride burning. Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, also uncovers the harsh inequality of women. Gender roles shouldn’t be real and they were forced on us by society.
Gender inequality is a social problem that is widespread in society. It is referred to as the unfair treatment of individuals based on one 's gender. Historically, laws have opposed women to go to school, access certain jobs, and purchase property. Gender inequality has been experience through culture – honor-killing, sex-selective abortion, and society – occupation, gender roles, and education. The social expectations of men and women differ between cultures that are constructed socially and culturally. These expectations are displayed in roles, and behavior believed both by men and women and their interdependent relationships. Gender inequality can be further understood through the structure of sexism. Discrimination takes place in gender inequality for the reason that men and women are treated on the basis of gender alone (Amjad, R., Ashfaq, M., Kousar, R., Saghir, A., 2010).
Social status and structures have definitely shaped the construction and experience of gender inequality. Men and women are constantly analyzed, compared, and grouped together in society. The result of this yields discrepancies in how sexes are viewed by society. Throughout my examination and explanation of gender inequality, I concluded both men and women are victims to gender inequality.
Conventionally, females played a very insignificant role in the paid work force of a society as many times they were expected to be home taking care of their family. Their roles at home can often include grocery shopping, meeting all the needs of her children and husband. As time moved on, our society became more accepted of sharing housework between the couples, but even so, the traditionally more feminine housework such as cooking, caring for sick children, and shopping for the entire family are mostly done by the females of the house. It is argued in a research journal Work and Occupations (Witkowski & Leicht, 1995) that in an average North American family, females take on roughly three-quarters of the housework. Even though we are in a democratic society, parenting roles in the household are assigned based on gender rather than in a democratic fashion (Winslow-Bowe, 2009). Because of the many responsibilities and obligations that are associated with the female gender, their career paths are eventually affected for the worse. According to Statistics Canada (2001), for every dollar a man earns, a single woman earns 93 cents and a married woman earns 69 cents. These statistics