Essay The Woman Warrior

     The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston presents the story of a girl trapped between the cultures of her surrounding environment and that which her mother and family have forced upon her. Knowing only the Chinese way of life, this girl’s mother attempts to familiarize her daughter, whom is also the narrator, with the history of their family. The mother shares this heritage through the use of stories in hopes the narrator will be prepared for her ultimate return to China, which is a life completely foreign to her own. Through these stories and the strong influence of the surrounding American culture, the narrator’s life and imagination spin off in a new direction. She is confronted by

In The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston blurs fiction and reality using a poetic, singsong writing style, blending sentences together using sentence structure and diction. She also relies heavily on symbols to reveal inner conflict that she had while growing up Chinese American, trying to determine what was authentically Chinese and what was illusion.

The author argues the “combat masculine-warrior paradigm is the essence of military culture. This paradigm persists today even with the presence of “others” (e.g. women and gays) who do not fit the stereotypical image of combatant or masculine warrior.” In a 5-paragraph essay, discuss how the presence of women or gays will cause the military culture to change.

In the chapter , at “The Western Place” , Brave Orchid sends for her sister Moon Orchid to come to America and to confront her husband who is living another life and is remarried. However, conflict arises as the two sisters have complete opposite thoughts and personalities. Brave Orchids whose name completely describes her - urges her sister to visit her husband. However, while Moon Orchid is completely fine without her husband, she feels pressured by her sister to do what was asked of her. While Brave Orchid is the complete package of what a chinese woman and her traditions would represent while living the American lifestyle- Moon Orchid is rather surprised by the actions of her sister and nieces and nephews. For

In the novel The Woman Warrior Maxine Hong Kingston uses ghosts to represent a battle between American and Chinese cultures. The two cultures have different views of what a ghost is. The Chinese believe the ghost spirits may be of people dead or alive. Chinese culture recognizes foreigners and unfamiliar people as ghosts because, like American ghosts, they are mysterious creatures of the unknown. Americans view ghosts as spirits of the dead that either help or haunt people. American ghosts may or may not be real. There spirits are there but physical appearance is a mystery.

feels cut in half as if her new American world were to pull her apart

According to the book, this woman gave birth to a baby which was a symbol of embarrassment and humiliation not only for the villagers but for all the family. Even though this baby did not have any notion of what was going on, she was still a victim of Chinese norms. This baby also became forgotten being that she was not given the opportunity to be alive. Kingston’s aunt decision of killing the baby, had to do greatly with the fact that she was girl. As the book states “it was probably a girl; there is some hope for forgiveness for boys”. Without any doubt, if the baby was given the opportunity to live she would have been mistreated and condemned all her life. She would not have had the opportunity to developed her own identity or raise her “own voice”.

Ghosts - in any form - are far more prominent in Kingston's life than in ours. Perhaps this is because there are fantastic elements to the stories she tells, but it is difficult for we readers to separate fantasy and reality and we confuse the two. In some cases - such as with Brave Orchid's "Sitting Ghost", it never really becomes clear.

     Women have played a tremendous role in many countries' armed forces from the past to the present. Women have thoroughly integrated into the armed forces; all positions in the armed forces should be fully accessible to women who can compete with men intellectually and physically.

Since 1901, women have served in some form of the military, however, dating back to the American Revolution women have had an unofficial role. Women have had and will continue to have an important role in the military, the question is whether women should be allowed to occupy specific combat positions. Traditionally women have not been allowed in combat occupations, but recently these restrictions have been somewhat lifted, making certain occupations available to women. Despite the lift complications arise from women being in combat vocations and it’s not just because of the physical differences, there is also the increased risk of sexual assault. Due to the detrimental impact on the military, soldiers, and society, women should not

Maxine Hong Kingston’s novel The Woman Warrior is a series of narrations, vividly recalling stories she has heard throughout her life. These stories clearly depict the oppression of woman in Chinese society. Even though women in Chinese Society traditionally might be considered subservient to men, Kingston viewed them in a different light. She sees women as being equivalent to men, both strong and courageous.

When it comes to combat assignments and the needs of the military, men take precedence over all other considerations, including career prospects of female service members. Female military members have been encouraged to pursue opportunities and career enhancement within the armed forces, which limit them only to the needs and good of the service due to women being not as “similarly situated” as their male counterparts when it comes to strength or aggressiveness, and are not able to handle combat situations.

"When warring tribes fought over food or men during our first beginnings, those women were undoubtedly in combat…women warriors [later in history] were not considered so unusual…Joan of Arc and Bodecia fought as warriors. Women fought in the Civil War alongside their buddies, only to be found out once they were slain in battle" (Culture & Society)

It is worthwhile to reflect on the social and political advancements of women during the past one hundred years. Women now have the right to vote and to own property. They let their voices be heard instead of sitting silently in the kitchen. Women hold jobs previously restricted to men - police officer, firefighter, construction worker, doctor, truck driver and scientist. Obviously, this list is not all inclusive. Unfortunately, there is still one area that remains restricted to women. Women have assisted the military forces as far back as the Revolutionary War and yet there remains positions that women are excluded from. Female military personnel, having proven their ability to handle combat situations and having

Ninety percent of all military occupations in the military include all genders, but the top ten percent of roles are excluded to women. Women have already felt the misogyny with unequal pay and unfair treatment by men, now women have to face the discrimination for fighting for our country. Women should be able to serve in the front lines because it makes the military stronger as a whole with more diversity, women in other countries fight on the front lines and women have made significant contributions in the military so far.