women in chinese culture
Studies verify that in China for every 100 females born, there are 130 males; in 2020 it is estimated that there will be more than 35 million “surplus males” in China. The book Dreams of Joy by Lisa See is about a 19 year old girl, Joy, who ventures out on a journey in the late 1950’s from the United States to China to reunite with her biological father, and to participate in the great rise of communism in China. As a result of the constricting nature of Chinese culture that Joy is confronted with, women are put at a lower status than men where daughters are thought of as a disgrace to the family and women are confined to obligations within the household. Overall, Joy is suppressed by the dominantly negative Chinese culture.
The Chinese culture has an adverse effect on women who get accustomed to the ways of life in a male dominated system. Men are thought of as the important beings because they are physically stronger than women. Chinese elders still believe that “A woman is like a vine needing the support from a tree…women are like water; men are like the mountains.”(See 264). The tree is the support through the vine’s journey up the tree; without the tree, the vine would not be able to survive. Likewise, the mountain is the support and the foundation, while the water flows freely on top of it; without the mountain the water will cease to flow. The tree and the mountain are both stronger than the vine and the water respectively, similarly, to a typical Chinese couple, the man is stronger than the woman. The man has the physical strength to labor all day and provides means of sustenance for the family, while the woman stays at home and takes care of the children. Since men are the breadwinners of the family, women tend to depend on the men’s providence for their survival; thereby, men are thought of as the more superior ones. Keeping this in mind, in the feudal days “women have to follow their husbands no matter what their lot… husbands say a wife is like a
The Chinese culture has an adverse effect on women who get accustomed to the ways of life in a male dominated system. Men are thought of as the important beings because they are physically stronger than women. Chinese elders still believe that “A woman is like a vine needing the support from a tree…women are like water; men are like the mountains.”(See 264). The tree is the support through the vine’s journey up the tree; without the tree, the vine would not be able to survive. Likewise, the mountain is the support and the foundation, while the water flows freely on top of it; without the mountain the water will cease to flow. The tree and the mountain are both stronger than the vine and the water respectively, similarly, to a typical Chinese couple, the man is stronger than the woman. The man has the physical strength to labor all day and provides means of sustenance for the family, while the woman stays at home and takes care of the children. Since men are the breadwinners of the family, women tend to depend on the men’s providence for their survival; thereby, men are thought of as the more superior ones. Keeping this in mind, in the feudal days “women have to follow their husbands no matter what their lot… husbands say a wife is like a