East Of West Femininity

Maternity and Femininity East of West
Representations of femininity in literature, of the Western variety in particular, tend to be at least slightly inclined towards either breaking the stereotypes of feminine characters or assisting in their anchoring. The women of East of West both break the mould and toe the line. Feminine characteristics and latent maternal instincts remain intact in the form of birthing imagery during the arrival of the Four Horsemen on Earth and Xiaolian’s anguish when she realizes the fate of her son. At the same time, however, the idea of women being nurturing caretakers of the weak and young, is dismantled with the introduction of the cold, looming, imperial new President as well as Xiaolian’s slaying of her father …show more content…
Her vitriol for Death developed as a result of him abandoning her and leaving their son to be killed. She originally hated him because he abandoned his paternal obligations to protect his family, which is a very traditional reason for a Southern bride to resent the father of her child (Lindqvist). But of course, “things have changed,” as Xiaolian says. And Death responds with “you look different,” the meaning of which remains ambiguous. On one hand, she does indeed look different in the sense that she has evolved into a loving maternal figure who is so concerned with the wellbeing of her son that she is willing to drop everything to devote herself to finding and saving him. But she also looks different in the sense that she has usurped her father’s power, and she is taking matters under her own control rather than being in constant competition with her father. In a story that seemed to be well down the path of having a very nuanced and unusual relationship with femininity and maternity, a main moral pillar is rooted in the ancient stereotype that women are unable to shed their maternal instinct under any circumstances …show more content…
Women are not seen as secondary, they just seem to not be present in the story. In the same way that the desert landscape in the beginning is bereft of life and reproduction, so too seems the entire world in East of West. If anything, the seemingly fascist government of New Shanghai and the other countries contributed to leveling the playing field that are gender roles by removing that lense through with society sees. Xiaolian’s transition from regretfully asking Death to leave to demanding that he find their son and return him safely is sort of her character taking the best of both worlds—her violent, determined, pragmatic self that flourished when she was younger was fused with the new maternal self that wished to ensure the safety of her kin. Perhaps said best in the words of the text itself: “Xiaolian, no longer a Death Dealer. Death himself, no longer