Woman Warrior Part I

This novel by Kingston I have found thus far to be incredibly disturbing. I had always known that woman within the Chinese culture were considered very much second-class citizens. However, I had never realized the depth to which this culture opinion was ingrained, nor that it persisted in such a blatant way even in our "modern" global society. What struck as most particularly enraging was the fact that the narrator's mother seemed to agree with these cultural stigmas even as much as a man. She is portrayed as an extremely intelligent and scholarly woman: a successful medical doctor and midwife. She even comments on the extent to which she has fallen, having come to American. Yet still she persists in adhering to this backward philosophy that, "There's no profit in raising girls. Better to raise gees than girls." (43) Furthermore, she scolds her daughter, the narrator, for her inherent disagreement with these ideals. "Stop that crying! . . . I'm going to hit you if you don't stop. Bad girl!" Doing so quashing any hope the narrator could have at living an enlightened and  empowered life without alienating herself from her parents. In fact, later on in her life the narrator moves far away from her family, so as to distance herself from the hatred she received simply for being a female.

The narrator, however, refuses to allow her family or her culture's ideals of femininity to stifle or affect her. The only response she musters toward such views later in her life is hatred of her very people, and an abhorrence for anything traditionally feminine. "I refused to cook. When I had to wash dishes, I would crack one or two. 'Bad girl,' my mother yelled, and sometimes that made me gloat rather than cry. Isn't a bad girl almost a boy?" (45) As you can see, the hatred she carries for her family is also riddled with a certain jealousy for manhood. She hates the masculine figures surrounding her, such as her uncle, yet is envious of him and her brothers. As a young girl, she imagines that she is a swordswoman, one whom wins honor and glory for herself and family, yet still is allowed to retain her womanhood through wife/motherhood. The kind of annoyance her family employs in regard to her causes a subconscious self-loathing and a longing to break free from the bonds of her life. The traditional role of the female in the Chinese culture simply expects complacent obedience, yet Kingston refused to allow these views to define her. As such she feels she doesn't belong to any one group, neither truly American or Chinese. Yet the bravery and individuality she shows in defying this cultural order, while it does alienate her from culture and family, allows her the self-respect she was never given by another.

The ACTUAL Fa Mu Lan