Portrayal Of Women In The Joy Luck Club

The portrayal of Amy Tan’s, The Joy Luck Club, justifies the women’s suffrage of life in a 1930’s China. A woman’s external role was solely based on the traditional responsibility of a female in a “male’s” household. Relationships between men and women were procured according to status and wealth. In Tan’s novel, the struggles faced between the four mother’s and their daughters helps in enhancing the depiction of women and acts as a basis for the story to be told.

During 1930’s China, women were hidden behind the facades of their external portrait. Traditionally, men were considered to hold the center of the household whilst they maintained the total income and relationship manner. Males preferred to have a son over a daughter where his wife could be subordinate to her companions. According to research, women generally kept her male entertained. “A good bride is considered to be a woman who can cook, look after her husband and give him sons and be willing to eat her own bitterness.” (Hayes) Based on social positions, men were threatened by a woman who no longer fulfilled the prototype idea of a female in a family household. Meaning that a woman who improved her education, spoke with her voice and used her power of knowledge would ultimately be undermined by her husband. Always taught to be quiet and discreet, a young woman could not simply open her mind to those who were around her. Women were subject to a stay at home life where they were pronounced as useless. Having no