ipl-logo

Symbolism In Bound Feet And Western Dress

444 Words2 Pages

“The front door must never line up with the back door, or you will never be able to save money” said my mother as she was giving me life advice and tips on buying a house. Irrational superstitions are passed down in each culture regardless of the absurdity, yet they continue to live on dutifully. Some of these traditions and superstitions alter core life decisions, for they seem so dependable. Asians are known for their particular superstitions because each action and movement may have some unnatural/spiritual explanation. For example, the Chinese would use horoscopes in order to measure one’s compatibility with another. In Pang-Mei Chang’s novel, Bound Feet and Western Dress, she explains these traditions through her great aunt’s perspective. …show more content…

In Chinese culture, names are very symbolic in a way that they will shape, mold a one's personality, and determine compatibility with a mate. Pang-Mei Natasha Chang has two first names. Her Chinese name is Pang-Mei whereas her American name is Natasha. Throughout the novel, the author …show more content…

Bound feet were a symbol of the past, of women who were uneducated and bound by the old philosophy “a woman is nothing”. Women did not have the same social standard as men when it came to education. Yu-i’s older sister, or First Sister as she was called, had bound feet and no patience for books and learning whereas Yu-i, the first child with unbound feet, was eager and hungry to learn. Except, these unbound feet did not free her from her filial piety or from her doomed

Show More
Related

  • Bound By Donna Jo Napoli Analysis

    882 Words  | 4 Pages

    I read the book, Bound, written by Donna Jo Napoli. The book is about a young chinese woman, who is bound to her father’s second wife. This is because he passed away and, back in 17th century china, young woman had very little power or say in situations. Also woman were thought to less value of worth then their livestock. Throughout the day’s of dealing with her step mom she, loves to do poetry and calligraphy.

    Read More

  • Traditions Subordinating Women Summary

    486 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the article “Traditions Subordinating Women”, Bonnie S. Anderson and Judith P. Zinsser explore the very strong opinions, theories and beliefs of female subordination within the eyes of various origin cultures through stories, passages and history itself. This article gives a vast understanding of a woman’s role, the purpose of her body, what is expected of her, society’s double standards and how literature and poems portray women. Before Christianity, there existed many old cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, Germanics and Celtics, who all came in agreement to preserving the subordination of women. A woman’s main duties were to remain faithful to her husband, to be fruitful and to preserve and nurture her home. A woman was incapable

    Read More

  • The Conjure Woman By Charll Chesnutt Analysis

    831 Words  | 4 Pages

    Superstitions and Folklore: Bibliography Essay on Superstitions And Folklore in Charles W. Chesnutt’s Stories Charles Waddell Chesnutt is an African American writer who writes many novels and short stories about African American superstitions and folklore of the south in The Conjure Woman. The Conjure Woman is a collection of folk tales that explore complex issues of racial and social identity in the post-Civil War. Chesnutt writes these stories in vernacular forms to represent the oral act of storytelling and express Chesnutt’s black identity and cultural heritage of African American people. Chesnutt 's folktales are narrated either to teach the readers lessons or to represent how African American people are treated by whites as second class citizens. The following essay concentrates on superstitions and folklore in Chesnutt’s stories, and how Chesnutt uses African American folklore to celebrate his black identity throughout telling these stories.

    Read More

  • Superstitions: How I Grow In Puerto Rico

    66 Words  | 1 Pages

    I grew in Puerto Rico where the superstitions are around the corner. It’s part of my culture and part of my life. As an adult and living in the US some of the superstitions has been lighty disappearing from my memories. When I go back to visit the beautiful memories comes back to me and as silly as some sounds it’s the way I grew

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

    844 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Novel “The Joy Luck Club” written by Amy Tan, is a story about how Chinese women were treated in China, and what lessons they learned about themselves and others. Due to the many cultural difference in China, these mothers have much experience with the way women were treated and have gained much wisdom as they grow older, and as the story goes the elderly mothers help their daughters with problems relating to marriage as they tell their stories and experiences that they went through in China both as a child and adult, so they can help their daughters make better decisions for themselves. ` When the daughters of Lindo Jong and An-Mei were kids, their mothers were best friends and also great competitors, so they had used their children as their chess pieces in their game. An-Mei’s daughter was named Rose, and she was an excellent piano player. Lindo’s daughter was named Waverly, and she was an excellent chess champion.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Full Moon Friday The 13th By Atul Gawande

    700 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the introduction, Gawande gives a couple examples of famous individuals that believe in superstitions. In his examples,

    Read More

  • A Brief Review Of The Confucian Four Books

    1443 Words  | 6 Pages

    For example, in Classics of Filial Piety for Women, Madam Cheng from Tang dynasty emphasizes female leadership role and argues that women could “govern the nine degrees of familial relations” with filial piety (826). Furthermore, Madam Cheng suggests that women also play an important role in supervising their husbands’ moral conducts. She reinforces women’s moral influence by comparing husband and wife to emperor and officials (827). Similarly, in Analects for Women, the female author Song Ruozhao also points out married woman’s responsibility of remonstrance, “If he [the husband] does something wrong, gently correct him (830).” Therefore, with an emphasis on women’s leadership role and moral influence on family members, these instructional texts elevate women’s social status in the domestic sphere to some degree.

    Read More

  • Kingston Essay Questions

    674 Words  | 3 Pages

    Quote: “She obeyed him; she always did as she was told.” Pg.326 Response: The story is getting really confusing, with Kingston’s scenarios about her aunt. Why is she thinking so much into her aunt, this story is a warning, and her thinking into it too much can be bad. I am getting more a sense of the Chinese culture by how then women must do whatever they are told.

    Read More

  • Mother Archetypes In Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

    614 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amy Tan’s autobiographical novel employs four different stories where mothers and their daughters retell in meetings their personal experiences on their relationships with one another. In this way, all mother characters are portrayed with their distinctive characteristics as the text follows. Suyuan Woo is one if the mothers and the most important one, as she created “The Joy Luck Club”, to which the tittle of the novel is attributed to. Tan depicts her typical human experiences of being good, terrible and a good-bad mother. Archetypical “characters display stereotypical personalities, behaviors and characteristics regardless of how unique they may appear at first glance as, character archetypes are used by many writers as devices to help present a story” .

    Read More

  • The Myth Of The Latin Woman Analysis

    1045 Words  | 5 Pages

    Therefore, the readers discern sympathy and sorrow because of her cultural barriers to other cultures, this including to develop efficient dress style. Proceeding, “The line I first heard… like other girls” (Cofer 8). This quote uses interesting, yet effective diction to inflict disgust or realization of the

    Read More

  • Lewes And Lecide's Letter To Melusina Fay Peirce

    775 Words  | 4 Pages

    The nature of womanhood, or what we perceive as the inherent proclivities that govern only those born as a woman, is often the base argument for the unequal treatment of the female sex. Women are weak, natural-born mothers, unfit to do much else beyond simple household chores and rearing children. This portrait of women seems almost comical in its antiquity; however, we cannot disregard the past, as it shapes the present. The question of the nature of womanhood is rarely allowed nuance, which is a shame, because womanhood can be many, often contradictory things. Instead, the traits we often associate with womanhood stem from society’s projection of what women should be, not necessarily what they are.

    Read More

  • Amy Tan A Pair Of Tickets Analysis

    1309 Words  | 6 Pages

    In the words of Jing-Mei in the last line of the story, “Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish” (Tan 159). Throughout her life, Suyuan, their mother, held onto the hope that she would see her daughters again. In this hope, she named Jing-Mei in connection to her sisters, keeping the “long-cherished wish” that someday her daughters would reconcile and complete their family circle. The occasion that

    Read More

  • Comparison Of Women In Mesopotamian Society

    1261 Words  | 6 Pages

    Different societies view women in different lights. Therefore, a woman’s position is greatly different from one society to the other. The societies in question do not necessarily have to exist at the same time. Even in the same time frame, two societies could exist, where one treat women as equals to men, and another that treats women differently than men, whether better or worse. The societies in question are: Mesopotamia, Greece, China, Rome & Europe, and this essay aims to study different societies’ viewpoints on women, and to compare and contrast them against each other.

    Read More

  • Essay On Role Of Women In Ancient Society

    981 Words  | 4 Pages

    Over generations, the role of women in society has shifted and changed immensely, improving upon many aspects of rights and values that women have. The changes occurred gave women opportunities to provide ideas, to have the same rights as men, giving women freedom, leading to many contributions of many significant and valuable events. But from current roles of women being equal to those of men, how women stood in ancient society significantly differs and contrast with ours today. Throughout history, the role and significance of women were always outweighed by the dominance and influence of men. The role of women in ancient times varied throughout, depending on the place and area in the world, in which women had different roles and impacts on their own society.

    Read More

  • Gender Role In Ramayana

    999 Words  | 4 Pages

    1.2 Background Females are an integral part of human civilization. No society or country can ever progress without an active participation of female in its general development. The status of female in society is directly linked with social and cultural traditions, stages of economic development achieved, educational levels, attitude of the society towards women, social and religious taboos, women's own awareness and political attainments. Through the centuries, the image and the role of female have been observed and studied in various ways, and the acquired knowledge has been recorded in literature, works of art, religious texts, mythology and codes of social behaviour.

    Read More

More about Symbolism In Bound Feet And Western Dress

Open Document