The Woman Warrior By Maxine Hong Kingston

In the memoir The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston writes about her experiences as a Chinese American growing up in the United States. Although the value of women differ in China and America, they are still seen as inferior in both counties. Kingston shows her enmity toward the way females are viewed in Chinese culture through the use of talk stories, comparison, and personal experiences. Kingston incorporates the use of talk-stories into her writing as a technique to show how society views females as worthless. In one of her talk stories, a young daughter named Fa Mu Lan joins the army in the place of her father due to his old age. However, only men were allowed a place in the army because women were seen as incapable and weak. As a result, she dresses up as a man by putting “on [her] men’s clothes and armor and tied [her] hair in a man’s fashion” (36). Kingston realizes that women are perceived as less than men, and places the talk-story of Fa Mu Lan into her memoir to show that females are just as capable as males. …show more content…
Both she and Mu Lan are seen as inferior to men in society due to their gender. Kingston shared a similar experience with gender inequality when her great-uncle, “roared, “No girls!” (47), leaving the author and her sisters behind. The similarity found in both situations is the discrimination toward women. Mu Lan’s preclusion of a place in the army and Kingston’s experience with her great-uncle’s rejection were both based on their gender, which demonstrates the restrictions placed upon women in society. Discrimination against women does not only happen in talk stories. Her personal experiences are effective along with her talk stories because they assist in creating more realistic situations regarding female