Cultural pressures for women to follow their heritages can be a form of prison, but if they are brave enough to break tradition, their freedom awaits. Maxine Hong Kingston, Sandra Cisneros, and Alice Walker give us a glimpse into three different families where women are oppressed by the traditions of their male dominated cultures. The common theme connecting “No Name Woman,” “Woman Hollering Creek,” and “Every Day Use,” is that overbearing men are the reason that women cannot have absolute independence in cultures other than America.
“No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston begins with a story about Kingston’s aunt and the woman’s place in her Chinese culture.From this story, Kingston is expected to learn about loyalty and obedience. Relating the story to Kingston, her mother says “you must not tell anyone” because her aunt is a disgrace to the family and it is as if “she [has] never been born” (1568).This line signifies that because of the aunt’s actions, she is obliterated from their family history except from this one story that is unsurprisingly told by a woman …show more content…
Arranged marriages were not enjoyed by either spouse, but the line, “to make sure they responsibly came home” hints that men had a way out or could escape the responsibility of marriage. While women were punished for practicing infidelity at home, men were privileged with opportunities of traveling the world and being unfaithful in other countries, as well as taking second wives at home (Fulton, 36). The practice of foot binding was also a torture that Chinese women endured, and Kingston’s mother said that “[Kingston] was lucky that [she] didn’t have to have [her] feet bound when [she] was seven (1572). These unjust rulesand traditions prove just how subjugated these women were in this male domineering
“No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston begins with a story about Kingston’s aunt and the woman’s place in her Chinese culture.From this story, Kingston is expected to learn about loyalty and obedience. Relating the story to Kingston, her mother says “you must not tell anyone” because her aunt is a disgrace to the family and it is as if “she [has] never been born” (1568).This line signifies that because of the aunt’s actions, she is obliterated from their family history except from this one story that is unsurprisingly told by a woman …show more content…
Arranged marriages were not enjoyed by either spouse, but the line, “to make sure they responsibly came home” hints that men had a way out or could escape the responsibility of marriage. While women were punished for practicing infidelity at home, men were privileged with opportunities of traveling the world and being unfaithful in other countries, as well as taking second wives at home (Fulton, 36). The practice of foot binding was also a torture that Chinese women endured, and Kingston’s mother said that “[Kingston] was lucky that [she] didn’t have to have [her] feet bound when [she] was seven (1572). These unjust rulesand traditions prove just how subjugated these women were in this male domineering