I quote " there is a Chinese word for the female I- which is slave!" here what she is trying to say is that in the Chinese culture, women were merely slaves to the men. In fact, married women were slaves to their mother in laws and husbands. Girl children were despised and they were looked upon as worthless and not worth raising
Another point that she is trying to get across here is that, her mother was still stuck on old traditions. Most of the time she talks about her mother she does so in a rather detached way like she never really spoke to her, like they were strangers to each other. in a specific part of the book she talks about how she was never good enough for her mother, that her mother was never satisfied with her.
I feel bad for her because, to not be close to your mother, the one you're supposed to be closest too, is very sad. I don't even think she had very much support or love from her father either. another was another occasion is when her great uncle went shopping and when she wanted to go he said "No Girls!!" when the boys came back, they had toye and candy, and she felt left out.
TKAM Post 6
14 years ago
Janie,
ReplyDeleteI agree that women are not treated equal to men in Chinese culture, however, that does not necessarily mean that they are slaves. Chinese parents value their daughters as less worth than their sons because when a girl marries, they have to pay money to the husbands family, as well as she will leave to live with another village and may never see her family again. But if it was a son, the boy would care for his parents when they got old throughout his life. In Chinese culture, it is much more useful to have a son than a daughter, but that does not mean they have to make their daughters slaves. They simply do not appreciate them as much.
I also agree that it is sad that the mother and daughter do not have much of a relationship, and I pity that it has to be so. Since she grew up in America, I do not think she understood that girls are not treated equal to boys in China, which explains why she always used to throw temper tantrums. I could understand how she could feel left out when her grandpa did not want to buy her (a girl) any presents or candy.
Just to remind you, you need two quotes and two question. You should check out Ms. Ganesan's blog to get more information on the format of the posts. Your content is good. Nice job!
-Matty
Hey Janie,
ReplyDeleteGreat start to your first post. Remember ,to follow the format, be sure that your quote connects to one of the questions on by blog, and analyze it. Finally you want to follow this format twice, choose two quotes.
-Mrs. Ganesan