The Role Of Women In Maxine Hong Kingston's No Name Woman?

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

Society is often seen to have different biases or perspectives on topics such as the role and perception of women. The short story, “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, consists primarily of a catalog of commands and instructions, the purpose of which is to make sure that the mother’s daughter is constantly in check and not getting into any trouble. Jamaica Kincaid utilizes a wide range of techniques such as symbolism and diction in order to showcase the theme of how the depiction of women rely mainly on how they present themselves in the public and how they are so easily described as impure or filthy.

All throughout history women of all race have been portrayed as creatures whose opinions, feelings, and goals never mattered in this androcentric world. Although women have moved up in the equality ladder to some extended, women still have a longs ways to go when it comes down to real equal rights. So what is equal right to be exact? Well in a feminist perspective equal rights means both men and women have equal access within the workplace, freedom from oppressive gender stereotyping. Many might say that women have equal rights, given the fact that after the

The solidification of the gender hierarchy through stories cemented women into a position below men of which women were and still are unable to escape or to improve on. The gender hierarchy is commonly demonstrated through the objectification of women. This has been exemplified through these stories, which has kept women from advancing in society, due to both society’s disapproval and the views that these ideas give women of

Being an author of several praised works, Maxine Hong Kingston has been deemed a noteworthy American writer since her first book debuted. Her unique style and interesting blend of myth and truth in memoir form garnered her international attention and won her several awards. Kingston’s works have put heavy emphasis on her family history and her experiences as a Chinese-American, so it is no surprise that she has been received well by many and misunderstood by others at the same time. A discussion on one of her most popular works, “No Name Woman”, and a look at the different ways Kingston’s works have been interpreted should reveal how literature can have different meanings depending on what one is looking for.

Woman deserve to be treated with respect, they deserve equal rights. In this paper, I will provide evidence that gender roles have not changed over the period of time between the writing of The Death of Woman Wang and the dragon’s village. The Death of Woman Wang was written by Jonathan Spence; it was published in 1978. The dragon’s village was written by Yuan-Tsung Chen, it was published in 1980.

In the novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Juniot Diaz you start to notice a cultural gender role and how there is certain expectations of them. The novel is based on a young boy named Oscar Wao and the hardships that one event has caused to an entire family. Even though the novel is focused on Oscar the author always went back to his sister and his mother. The author described the women as “real, strong women, even though they were being filtered through a somewhat distorted male point of view” (Stevenson 1). These two women play an important roll in this novel, they ultimately don't show the cultural gender role and what is expected from them. All the important female rolls in Oscars life are independent and strong women but they all have one thing in common, being mistreated by men.

In Ihara Saikaku’s story, Life of a Sensuous Woman, and Mary Wollstonecraft’s work, “Vindication of the Rights of Woman”, the issue of double standards in gender are examined. Both pieces offer a perspective into the lives of women during their respective times and show how some standards that are considered favorable for men, are looked down upon for women. In particular, the two works examine how women were treated differently based on their education, their social status and even their sexual history. Saikaku looks at these issues in a different lens from Wollstonecraft, based on his experiences as a man living in Japan in the 17th century. Their experiences shape their works and show how the issue of double standards of gender span culture, time and geography.

“When Men are oppressed it’s a tragedy; when Women are oppressed, it’s a tradition” (Pogrebin). A tradition so universal that it has spawned a multitude of anthropological theories concerning its origin. Social anthropologist Gayle Rubin identifies “a systematic social apparatus which takes up females as raw materials and fashions domesticated women as products” and notes that “the exchange of women is a profound perception of a system in which women do not have full rights to themselves” (Rubin). This tradition represents such an ubiquitous phenomenon that the narrative women exists throughout the Western canon. Historically and in literature, the oppression of women, particularly the sexual repression, often results in symptoms viewed as

Strangely though, I identify more with Kingston’s mother than Kingston. Being in the same position, I, a Chinese American, see the mother’s side has a more solid rationale. Mothers love their children and are willing to do anything to prevent their children from any harm. Kingston’s mother overcame her shame to reveal this story to Kingston because she valued Kingston over her shame. Kingston’s mother wanted Kingston to learn the lesson, so she would not be harmed in the same way as her aunt. In a similar way, Kingston’s aunt loved her child. The aunt was not able to confess her true opinions throughout her entire life. Committing suicide with her child was one of the few decisions that she could make regarding her own life. Her child “was probably a girl; there is some hope of forgiveness for boys” (Kingston 143). Taking her daughter with her was the aunt’s way of showing her love.

She did not want her child to turn out and be like her family or the villagers. If the child was a boy, he might have turned as every other man in the village and if the child was a girl, she might have had to face the consequences of her mother’s problems. No Name Woman killed her child because she was worried that the child might have to face the same destiny as her “She had taken the child with her into wastes” (32). She decided that the best thing for the child is to die with her, instead of living and facing what the mother could not go through. No Name Woman’s fear affected her decisions and destroyed her life.

Throughout history and today, we women are constant victims of stereotyping from our society. Certain “rules” have to be followed and certain “ideal” women images have to be kept. We are raised in a way to fill certain position where the society wants us to be and as a result, the opportunities are always limited for us and ideas of our importance in the society are diminishing. Even though women gained some independence, where women can work and take various position in society, the society’s idea of typical role of women never seem to change.

To be feminine is to be pretty, sexualized, and passive. “Marked Women” by Deborah Tannen, “Sexism in English: Embodiment and Language” by Alleen Nilsen, and “A Woman’s Beauty: Put Down or Power Source?” by Susan Sontag are three essays that show these negative connotations of femininity. Together, they exemplify that females are “marked” as pretty, sexualized, and passive.

Many people today feel insecure about their bodies. They feel that people will judge them more if they have a crooked nose or eyes that are too close to each other. Some get liposuction if they feel too fat or breast implants because they think it will make them more attractive to the opposite sex. These people who do not feel happy about the way their

be a simple, proper lady of the time period who indifferently does her job as a wife and mother.