Gender Politics in a Global Market Place response
Please respond to "Marching from the Village" from Made in China and "A Lesbian Bar" from Sweet and Sour. What are the two types of working women represented in these two kinds of life stories? What are the similarities and differences? Pay attention to how the authors weave interviews into their critical analyses. Use quotes with page numbers to support your analyses. Due Wednesday April 23 by 8 pm, comments to two other responses due by 10 pm. I look forward to reading your last reading response for this semester!
One of the most interesting things from our readings this week was a mention at the end of the piece, "Lesbian Bar." The interview subject named "Sharon" reveals her thoughts on her own mother's reaction to her coming-out by saying that "she has to accept it [my homosexual lifestyle] because she is poor" (Simon, 94). The piece earlier talks about the idea of lesbianism as a means of fighting the patriarchal society in which these women find themselves 'trapped' - their sexuality is at odds with the social expectations of women to marry and have children. However, more profound to me is the idea that sexuality in this case manifests as a class issue at the same time as it manifests as an issue of gender and sex. "Sharon" says that because she gives her mother money and her mother has no inheritance for her daughter, the power to make her mother accept her lies in "Sharon's" hands: "I give her money, so she has to accept [my lesbianism]. […] She couldn't do anything about it, so she finally accepted it. It is because she is poor. I am realistic enough to know that" (Simon 94).
ReplyDeleteI think this is especially interesting because she is talking about a female relative. Their financial situations are different, their generational struggles are different, but more than that they both share in their identity as women. This identity is challenged in the other piece for Thursday, in which the "TB" identifying women actively try to disassociate themselves from things that are typically 'female.' On page 229, the author speaks of an incident in which two "TB" were witnessed fighting in a club, saying, "A young woman who is brutal and aggressive fundamentally challenges and redefines the meaning of women and femininity. This also provokes male anxiety, as these women have taken the supposedly male right and power to be violent and physical" (Chou, 229). In Taiwan, by being entrepreneurial and attaining financial independence, lesbian women have carved out a space for themselves. In Hong Kong, by passing as men and filling the "TB" role in their roleplaying dynamic, lesbian women have done exactly the same, although the space is not identical.
When I read the part about her mother accepting her because she was poor, I was shocked. Although still we have parents that do not accept their child's views on who they love, having a parent that only accepts you because of the money you can provide is degrading.
DeleteI also found it very interesting that her mother was in a way forced to accept her sexuality due to the fact that Sharon was making the money. This makes me think back onto other pieces and how the men had the most power in the families because they were bringing home the money. It seemed that money played a large role in many of the pieces that we have read in class including "A Lesbian Bar."
DeleteMingong Chao (peasan workers rush) is a very common phenomenon in China, the members of rural migrants who come annually, immediately after the Chinese New Year, to seek for jobs in the city. It might be easier for them to get a job in cities today because of the government changing some policies. In this article, it was not very easy to get job in the factories, only the person who passed three round of interview by different department leaders could get the job. More than 100 million rural laborers were searching for jobs in foreign enterprises in the Pearl River Delta area, and most of them were women. “There is thus little doubt that rural labor flows over the past fifteen years have launched a silent ‘social revolution’ in Chinese society that is challenging the existing rural urban divide, reconfiguring the state-society relationships, restructuring the patriarchal family, and remarking class and gender relations in particular.” (p.55) In this article, Pun analyzed the dagongmei phenomenon and many reasons for this phenomenon. Although the familial and community factors are important considerations when dagongmei make their decisions to leave their villages and look for jobs in the cities, perhaps their personal anticipation might be more important. “However, these studies seldom look into the lives of dagongmei to examine their personal struggles over the experience of migrating to the urban industrial world.” (Pun, p.55) For example, the author said that some women escaped their natal families or husband’s families to work in the factory without their father or husband’s agreement. An many of them “have relationships with factories, maybe sisters, relatives, fellow villagers of other workers” (Pun, p.50)
ReplyDeleteThe difference between these two types of working women is that: the first types of working women, dagongmei, mainly represented in the life story of rural women who wanted to get a job in cities and into urban life. The second types of working women, Taipei lesbian entrepreneurs, represented in the life story of the lesbians who wanted to be free and independent. Both of the dagongmei and lesbian entrepreneur wanted to be themselves and pursuit of their own hope without being limited by others. “I claimed nothing at my divorce. The most important thing was my independence. The best thing to do is never marry at all. When I set off on my own path, I didn’t get support from anyone.” (Simon, p.85) Bichhun opened up a noodle stand to support herself after she divorced. For Sharon, she said “I always wanted to be free, but I had no way to be free. … I only wanted to grow up quickly, in order to be free.” (Simon, p.87) Sharon didn’t really know what freedom meant, but she just wanted to be free and independent. The economic and financial factors also had important role for both of these two types working women. Simon has gathered important information that promoting lesbian entrepreneurs’ started doing their own business and transforming their conditions of life. Through reading these two articles, I think we can learn more about a country through reading stories of the life of actual people.
I liked that you correlated the desire for independence in the two types of women. Independence is obviously very important to both groups of women, even though they live in different places and operate under very different socioeconomic systems. In the case of the dagongmei, I think the desire to create equatable conditions for all is very prominent (the equalization of the urban and rural, in my reading), whereas the women in the Lesbian Bar piece seem to want to create their own kinds of spaces for themselves in order that they can own their own businesses and their own economic successes, but also their sexual identities.
DeleteThe desire for factory life ：
ReplyDeleteMany female peasant workers entered and hunted for a job in the city. Because “the government decided to open not only the national door to foreign capital but also the urban door to its rural people” (49). Where did the job seekers get the hiring news and who spread the news to them? Those people who are from provinces all over the country. They probably got the hiring news from their sister and relatives who are working for the factory. Women workers desired to leave home by choosing to sell their labor capitalists in the economic development zones .So where’s the desire from? Why they desire to escape home? They knew the factory boss would treat them good and rural life and industries are totally different but they were still willing to try to challenge the patriarchal family. They wanted to change their life situation and know more outside world. Moreover, the strong desire is derived from the desire for money. They need money for the future life. Married women need money for supporting their family.
Women’s struggles between work and family
Women’s earning capacities and their work skills grants them new power and freedom to balance their lives between work and family. They enjoyed the personal freedom and didn't want to quit the industry work. Young girls struggled because their parents wanted them to return back and then get married. “Middle-aged Chinese women struggled to live for herself not be tied to patriarchal family life in the village.”(70) As a married women, she escaped from her village without her husband’s permission that was treated at openly challenge the patriarchal relations that result in gender imbalance at the time of rapidly changing family life in reform china.
What are some reasons that caused china fail to fulfil its promise of women’s liberation?
The image of Chinese women are always submissive, repressed and even pitiful. Women in traditional china were deprived of the means of production and the right to land, and their personal autonomy was entirely submerged under male’s authority. The patri-local and patriarchal marriage system caused china fail to fulfil its promise of women’s liberation. Women still had to sacrifice their own wants and desires for the welfare of the family. One Child Policy designed to limit population growth that may have prevented numerous births, but it damaged many women and women’s right is ignored.
I thought it fascinating how the new spread although there employer only sent the new to only a few people. This showed how the women in the rural areas were seeking out jobs in the cities. Women not only were there for being a mother in the house, but also wanted to financially provide for their families as well.
DeleteThe role of Women in China
ReplyDeleteIn traditional china society, women were restricted to the home and not allowed to work. Modern Chinese society might be less patriarchal today but many women still play traditional roles in society .The roles of women played in modernizing china are in a transition period as many women are allowed to participate in production. Women had not always played a subordinate role in human society. Chinese women became more economically dependent on men that result in increasing women status in family.However, women’s power and status are really increased through contributions to their family income? The fact that women workers are from rural areas were still under the control and support of family. Many young women entered city and looked for job in order to escape the arranged marriage and live their own life.
Problems of unequal development
China became one of the most unequal countries in terms of rural-urban disparity in its region of the world. Unequal development between city and rural forced rural people enter into big city in order to look for an employment opportunity. China’s rural and urban gap is unusual large. “Real urban incomes are as much as four times rural incomes.”(73) China government used public security forces to drive out the influx of rural migrants and “exterminated” the mangliu wave in order to deal with the widespread rural-urban migration。Many rural people are motivated to migrate to urban areas. One of the problems faced by them is discrimination. We can see the conversation between the interviewer and candidate: The interviewer said, “sit straight. Don’t bend your back. You are not farming now, are you?”(53)
I thought it was important that you pointed out the rural-urban wage/earning disparity, because the wage gap between men and women is also sort of a hot-button issue. When I read this, I think about how difficult it must be to be part of both disadvantaged populations, to be earning less because of a rural background and also because you're female. It's like you're doubly cursed. I think it's highly admirable that these women are still working hard, in spite of the sacrifices of having to leave their families and to endure such harsh working conditions, all with the promise of earning much less than an urban male might earn.
DeleteI like that you point out the problems of unequal development and how there is a disparity in the rural and urban life. I think this disparity is to blame for the reason people want to move to the factory life and not be stuck in the village. I mentioned this a little in my response as well.
DeleteI agree with you about the unequal development in the rural life and the urban life.
DeleteAlthough longing for independence and freedom is an important reason, I agree that higher income is most important for people (women) in rural area to find jobs in cities in China.
Delete“There is thus little doubt that rural labor flows over the past fifteen years have launched a silent ‘social revolution’ in Chinese society that is challenging the existing rural urban divide, reconfiguring the state-society relationships, restructuring the patriarchal family, and remarking class and gender relations in particular.” (p.55) In the beginning of Marching From the Village, Pun begins with a story a woman’s personal experience in moving from a rural area to an urban. There were more opportunities that women could gain from working in the city. During the interview, the women were asked basic questions about language skills as well as background experience in their skill, but what was unusual was the intense circumstance that the employers put the women through to see if they were worthy of the position. Reading this, I concluded that during this time women in household as well as their jobs were pressured. They lead an intense and stressful life because of the immense responsibilities that they are given, in which they cannot back out from. The above quote was correct, because of the influx of women that traveled to the city, the women have gained more responsibilities in the work force as well as keeping the family together as well. Women are not only the women of the house but the caregiver as well.
ReplyDeleteThe similarities between the women in both our reading was that they want to become independent. They both have aspired to be something and societies rules will not deter them from achieving those goals. While women were supposed to stay at home, women began to travel to the cities to work to provide for the family. An lesbian that has a goal to become entrepreneur, showed bravery. Both women were courageous to walk outside of Chinese tradition and began to do what they want to do not what men or tradition say.
I agree with your comment that in both readings the women were striving for independence. I talked about this in my response about whether they are lesbian or not, women want the same things. Both types of women are courageous in what they work and strive for.
DeleteI agree with you on that both of these women want to become independent. Women want to go out of the house and enter the workforce and establish a life of their own
DeleteThe first lover that Sharon describes in "A Lesbian Bar" I believe embodies both aspects that you describe. She went to Hong Kong and became successful there but still continued to care for her three children. She wanted a free life but she understood her role as a mother as well, and nothing could come between that.
Deleteyou are right about women want to be independent, however, in China, it was very hard to do so, but there are more and more women have their own career now
DeleteI also think bothof the dagongmei and lesbian entrepreneur wanted to be themselves and pursuit of their own hope and independent life without being limited by others.
Delete“Marching From the Village” focuses on the desire of women working in the factory life. Women are being controlled by the one-child policy which not only controls their bodies and sexuality, but their personal autonomy too (p.61). It is mentioned that the reason women want to escape these controlling factor is, “Middle-aged Chinese women struggled to live for herself not be tied to patriarchal family in the village” (p.70). “Chinese women’s lives, and hence their fates, are said to be confined within the patriarchal family, which is organized my male kinship lines…” (60). I think women are using the factory life as an escape of their home life. Women want to go out and be more than their husband and/or family’s servant. Women want to prove that they can be more. I think the struggle they face is even when they work the factory or business life they are still controlled by their husband unless they completely escape and leave. This links to the next piece of reading, “A Lesbian Bar.”
ReplyDeleteAt the beginning of “A Lesbian Bar” it is explained that even when women work they are controlled by their husband, “…a woman will work for free in her husband’s company and in the end the money is all his. The bank account, the house, everything, is in his name. You can use them, but you have no way to really own them yourself” (p.85). When the women leaves her family her husbands company falls apart and this proves that he couldn’t do it without the advice of work of his wife. This shows the importance of a women’s role in the business/work life. I think Sharon uses her money and “T” status to subvert patriarchy just like in “Marching From the Village.” Sharon uses her money, connections, and job market skills. She says, “Of course, I couldn’t accept being fired, so I fired my boss. I changed jobs” (pg. 50). It seems like she was constantly changing her life because she didn’t know what she wanted. When she was younger, she wanted to leave home to gain freedom, but once she did she realized it wasn’t that great since she didn’t have her mother. What she thought was freedom was not and this is why I think she doesn’t know what she wants. At the end she says, “only lesbians are real feminist” (pg. 93) but I think whether you are a lesbian or not, women are fighting for the same things.
I agree with you on that women use the factory life as an escape from their own life at home. They want to go out and have a life of their own and experience independence.
DeleteThe urban lifestyle is very appealing to most young adults born in the countryside of China. Although they might return to their rural home for holidays, most young adults are migrating to the cities causing a lack of farmers to produce food for the nation and crowding in the cities.
DeleteI agree that Sharon in "A Lesbian Bar" did seem to be confused as to what she wanted to do with her life. However, I do think that she was driven by the importance of money because her mother had to except her sexuality due to the fact that she was poor. Her changing jobs was due to her discrimination and her way of cheating the system to make more money.
Delete“Marching From the Village” is about women and the working life especially in factories. It talked about how women enter into the working force especially factories to escape their home life. Women want to find something more to do than just stay at home and watch the children. It also talked about how women are leaving the rural areas and entering into the urban areas so that they can work and earn more money in the rural areas of China. “At the turn of the century a common estimate holds that between 80 million to 120 million rural laborers were searching for jobs in cities or in urban economic development zones” (54). This shows that the Chinese are starting to move away from the rural areas and enter into the urban areas so that they can earn more income than they would if they stayed in the rural areas. There were some struggles for the women in that the families wanted them to return but most wanted to get married and stay in the family life. Middle-aged Chinese women struggled to live for herself not be tied to patriarchal family life in the village.”(70).
ReplyDelete“Lesbian Bar” is about this woman “Sharon” who is a lesbian in the work force. She received much discrimination in the job market when she was trying to get a job. “Lesbians face considerably more discrimination than gay men, since the main problem is discrimination against visible is gender radicals rather than against sexual behavior itself” (95). Homosexuality is a big thing in Taiwan and homosexuals receive much discrimination. They are sometimes not accepted by their family, but in Sharon’s case her family accepts her for who she is. “For women, lesbian relationships can be used as strategies to subvert patriarchy or to escape some of its more oppressive dimensions” (93).
I think the discrimination in the job market in the US against gays and lesbians has more to do with sexual behavior than appearance. So I am surprised that it is the other way around in China.
DeleteThroughout these last few weeks we have done a lot of talking about women and work. Recently, it has made me think in terms of my final project in regards to this job of prostitution for women. This is very interesting taking all of the reading from the past couple of weeks, saying basically that "women, then, were born into a system that structurally placed them in a vulnerable position where they were essentially powerless" (Pun, 60). While also not giving them much of a chance of any other life. This being said, it makes prostitution seem like its the only way out for some women because no matter how long they must wait to get an interview there is always NO guarantee of getting a job. Also, interestingly, our readings recently never say that prostitution was an option for these women that could not find a job. There are a lot of other jobs in factories and shops maybe even food service that they mention, but never prostitution. It had to have been around, and people must have known about it, at least I would think! Women in this way were very bound to the life they were born into and couldn't ever leave, unless you were a lucky one. In Simon's article, the story of Sharon she says,"I only wanted to grow up quickly, in order to be free" (Simon, 87). I think this is very true for many women of this time period, there was no other was for them to get away from their life rather than to just run away and never come back. "Women in traditional China were thus deprived of the means of production and the right to land, and their personal autonomy was entirely submerged under male authority, whether that of their father or their husband" (Pun, 60). These quote alone would make me want to work really hard to be able to obtain something, anything in my life, especially if everyone around me was suppressing me and my abilities as a woman.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you expose the silent ghost of prostitution here. This seems like an option that may not be open to lesbians the same way it could have been to those seeking to be dagongmei. I think about Sharon's quote about how her face was 'only good enough' for sales, to paraphrase. Maybe that had a factor?
DeleteDuring this semester we have seen the role of women shift. Traditionally Chinese women were expected to stay at home and perform housework and bear and take care of their children. During the revolution women were expected to enter the work force, often in positions traditionally held by men, such as welding. Then the culture moved toward designating “weaker” careers for women such as a nursery teacher. In this weeks reading homosexual females were introduced into society and the struggled with their sexuality since society expected them to marry a man and rear children. I think lesbian women today in the United States struggle with the same expectations. Women in general began to strive for independence, which is key to both women in the readings. Whether it’s moving from the countryside to the city or becoming an entrepreneur to support yourself, both had goals of gaining independence from family expectations. The following quote from “Marching from the Village” supports this by stating, “Middle-aged Chinese women struggled to live for herself not be tied to patriarchal family in the village,” (pg. 70). No matter your situation or sexuality, I think all women are striving for independence.
ReplyDeleteThe reading for Thursday, “The Cultural Politics of TB/G in Hong Kong,” addresses the lesbians who choose to take on a more masculine image and abandon many feminine characteristics. This occurrence reminded me of the female students who would dress up as males in order to attend school as well as the heroine, Mulan who neglects her feminine appearance in order to join the army in her dad’s place. As the article states, “A young women who is brutal and aggressive fundamentally challenges and redefines the meaning of women and femininity. This also provokes male anxiety, as these women have taken the supposedly male right and power to be violent and physical,” (pg. 229). I had not thought about men feeling threatened by Tomboy’s until reading this article.
I think your statement above "no matter your situation or sexuality, I think all women are striving for independence" is very much on point. We have talked a lot about women this semester but I think it's important to look at not just females but males in this perspective as well. But I think this is a very accurate statement in not only Chinese society but our own as well
DeleteI think it's very interesting to look at what else the women presented in these readings challenge about men. The dagongmei is more productive and progressive than the men they support, and taken from a heavily sexualized view, that would be emasculating, in a similar vein as the masculine behavior of the TBs.
DeleteIn "Marching from the Village" we are given insight into the lives of migrant workers. In the article we are exposed to factors that would contribute to the increase of workers leaving their rural farming villages such as job opportunities in non-farm activities, family economic situations in terms of household income, assets, and the amount and quality of land holdings, the development cycle of the family; and the patriarchal culture of the rural community in general (55). What I found really interesting throughout the 'Marching from the Village' article is the significant role that these migrant women played by taking these factory jobs. They were really segways for other village females to venture out and take factory jobs. Woman factory workers in many ways questioned the patriarchal system. There was often times married women who left their husbands for the factories and showed the change that was happening in the reformation within Chinese families. "By escaping to dagong in the city without her husband's permission, she openly challenged the patriarchal relations and gender imbalance at a time of rapidly changing family life" (70).
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting too that women always challenge the way society wants them to be, whether in China or in America or other parts of the world. I think this aspect is what makes women women. Also, the factory jobs were a way for them to escape their other lives, in some cases, I would think that this factory life would have been much worse than the life they left behind.
Delete“Marching from the Village” describes the migration of women to the cities from the rural areas in order to work in factories. The primary reason for women to leave their homes is because “Chinese women’s lives, and hence their fates, are said to be confined within the patriarchal family” (page. 60). It seems as if these women use their professional lives in order to escape societal pressures of marriage. During this time, there were many reforms and thus, China renewing itself in a sense. Women were trying to do revolutionary things such as working instead of finding a husband and getting married. Earlier in the reading, the author wrote that some women would return home for the Chinese New Year’s celebration and would not return. This exemplifies that even though women have progressed and are able to work, they have still not completely gained control of their destiny. It is likely that these women were either forced to get married due to familial pressure or simply chose to get married (which is not a negative thing). The one type of working woman represented in this story is a worker from the rural regions.
ReplyDelete“A Lesbian Bar” discusses the story of a lesbian woman trying to find a job. This piece describes a worker that is an entrepreneur a lesbian rights activist. She undergoes through a lot of discrimination, not just as a woman, but as a lesbian. “Women in Taiwan are frequently selected for positions as receptionists, secretaries and even accountants on the basis of personal appearances” (page. 89). This quote exemplifies that society could not focus on a woman’s merits but were rather concerned with her appearance. I’m sure that this is something that still occurs today.
The interesting thing is that women have progressed far in both of the readings. We began the semester discussing feminists like Qiu Jin that could not escape getting an arranged marriage and had to have their feet bound. Towards the end, we are discussing women that are able to leave the home to get a job and have some autonomy over their lives. Of course, in a perfect world they would have complete autonomy, but that is something we are still working towards today. At the very least, there was some progress in the role of a woman in society. It is fascinating to see how far women have progressed in less than a century.
I like how you conclude your post. It is important to note not just the discrimination that modern Chinese women face, but also the progress that they have made. Of course progress still needs to be made, but looking back on other stories that we have read shows how much women have accomplished.
DeleteWhile you point to the progress, I feel compelled to also demonstrate the difference of the voices we're hearing. The hard lives we see are very different from the more scholarly tone of Gu Ruopu, but I wonder how different they are in terms of difficulty than a female peasant during that time? Perhaps the only difference is the patriarchal structure that they've escaped through migration.
DeleteI'm really glad that the 'Lesbian Bar' piece addressed the discrimination in the workplace. I agree with you in saying that both readings have progressed and it turns over to our own societies. We are definitely reaching that pointing where women and men are being treated slightly more equally but there is definitely still that 'glass elevator' where there is potential for equal genders in the work place but the 'glass elevator' is the unspoken blockade that remains
DeleteThroughout the first piece we had to read this week titled, “Marching from the Village,” many of the women were trying to fight for equality. The men during this time in China were still considered to be in charge within the family setting. Women decided to go out and find jobs in order to give themselves some sort of importance and power. This story was interesting because as long as the women had some sort of education, they were getting hired. There is one quote that says, "I won't waste time asking questions. I judge them more on attitude. It is politeness, honesty, and obedience that I value most, and it is their readiness to be a dagongmei that matters (53). I found this interesting because many times, the women attempting to get jobs weren’t judged based on where they came from or what their gender was. The important thing during this time within interviews was their personality and education.
ReplyDelete“A Lesbian Bar” was a piece that was rather different from all the other stories we have read in class thus far. Throughout this piece by Scott Simon, the main theme that was reoccurring from beginning to end was discrimination. However, the discrimination didn’t just come because of gender, but because of sexuality. What I found to be most interesting was that the workforce at this time wanted women who were more feminine. One quote says, “Companies want beautiful woman to translate English and type. But the bosses didn’t want me (90).” Sharon, one of the women discussed in this piece, was considered to be a “T” lesbian which meant she was more masculine. As the quote suggests, women at this time were supposed to be feminine and simply be a pretty face for working men. However, Sharon was someone who didn’t want to get rid of her masculine identity to please men in the workforce. This was all interesting to me because many of the women in the propaganda posters as well as in the readings prior to this one wanted women to shed their femininity. The women in earlier pieces, women wanting to participate in the military were told to cut their hair and get rid of practically any trace of being a female. “A Lesbian Bar” proved that there was more than just discrimination against women, but women and men whom were gay. This story also showed signs of love, empowerment of women, and more importantly change. At the end of this piece, it states, “”The government shall protect the rights of homosexuals, and homosexuals shall be allowed, in accordance with the law, to establish families and adopt children (97).”” Even though this piece may be a biased point of view, it still portrays a small glimpse that Taiwan may be changing traditional standards. Discrimination may still be prevalent, but the fact that Sharon made her own job path proves that it was possible. She set an example not only for homosexuals, but for all women trying to get jobs.
Your right by saying that the third stage of their interview for a job was based on personality and education, but the first stage of the interview was focused on marital status and age. This situation for female migrant workers was still severe in the case of the Meteors company.
DeleteI like how you compared how the women were being treated in these readings compared to the women in earlier readings. Between being told to cut our hair or to grow it out in order to look beautiful, it seems that society can never be happy.
DeleteBoth “Marching from the Village” and “A Lesbian Bar” describe the gender politics of marginalized women. “Marching from the Village” describes the difficulties of female migrant works while “A Lesbian Bar” discusses the discrimination that lesbians in Taiwan face. Both authors also use interviews and personal accounts as evidence for their writing. Even though these personal stories take up a significant portion of the writing, both authors effectively place these stories in the larger context of gender politics and social theories. I thought Scott Simon made an interesting distinction in “A Lesbian Bar” when he talked about sexual orientation versus gender performance. He writes, “The discrimination is against gender performance rather than sexual behavior” (96). Regardless of orientation, as long as homosexuals act as they are supposed to (within their gender categories), then there isn’t a problem.
ReplyDeletePun Ngai in “Marching from the Village” makes an interesting use of Marxian theory to discuss why women feel alienated at home and not at work in the city. Because doing housework is not essential to a women’s being (as Marx says it), being a housewife or being confined to the countryside feels like coerced labor because women feel outside themselves. This could be compared to situation of lesbians in Taiwan. Lesbians feel outside themselves “at home” and “at work” due to the discrimination they face. Because they feel outside themselves in both these environments, they form their own sphere where they do feel comfortable. The situation of lesbian bars (like Sharon’s story), or lesbian entrepreneurs in general, is very similar to the situation of female migrant workers because they have striven to find a place where they can feel “at home”.
"A Lesbian Bar" uses Sharon's experiences to point us to the problems that women still face in the work field. She didn't fit the criteria for the secretary that companies wanted. She also was a woman who wasn't afraid to voice her opinions but faced consequences for it, which I believe many women all over the world still face.
DeleteWomen have been oppressed in the work environment in China’s history, from traditional times to modern times. However, there is a shift during the Cultural Revolution when Mao hands over the farming tool to the women of China. That time period opened a new window for women to explore. Yes, they were given the opportunity to work and to be seen as equals of men, but they still faced challenges that men did not have.
ReplyDeleteThe married woman in “Made in China” wanted to escape her marriage which she felt was tying her down and causing her to suffocate in her own home (Made in China, pg. 70). She saw going into the city to work as a way out of the rural home life that she was in. Although she was a lot older than other girls who had left their villages in order to make more money in the city she was able to continue working. Her age was a drawback for her in the work field but she didn’t care for the higher paying jobs. She wanted the freedom.
Chun is a little different than the older woman in “A Lesbian Bar”. This older woman was Sharon’s first lesbian lover. She also wanted to escape from her life in marriage (A Lesbian Bar, pg. 88). Sharon’s foreign lover wanted to earn a lot of money, and so she did by going to Hong Kong. She wanted more than just freedom; she wanted a lifestyle that she could have never dreamed of if she continued living under her poor family and husband.
Both women were given divorces from their husbands. Before the Cultural Revolution this would not have been possible for either woman. They would have been stuck. The modern age allowed them to be free of their husbands, where they felt oppressed in the home and to strive for success in the cities.
This notion of freedom that you mention is very important in both of these readings. I think that all women wanted freedom by just really wanting to get out of their current oppressive situations, however, I dont really think the women even obtained what we would see as true freedom.
DeleteAfter reading the article-Marching from the village, the first thing about China that comes into my mind is that the huge bury between the country-sides and the cities in China and how does it affect the women's lives, most of the families in the countryside have more than one kid, and the girl in the family is always great, but pitty, they are great because they started doing houseworks for the family since they are very young, and they are pitty because they have to drop out of the school because their families are so poor, and the girls have to give the chances to their brothers if they have any. it shows the huge difference between the different social classes.
ReplyDeleteI remember this TV program from Hunan TV station that I watched a couple of weeks ago, it is called Bianxing JI(Change), actually, this program started about 6 years ago, the director finds a kid who was born in the city with terrible behavior, and another kid who was born in country-side with great behavior, and have them switch for a week, at last, the bad kid always becomes so good after the week of switching. In the episode I watched, there is a girl from the countryside, she decided to drop out of school and work to pay her dad's debt when she was 16, I can tell that she does not want to, but she has no other choice.
And Lesbian Bar tells about the story about a lesbian girl caled Sharon, who gets discriminated when working, “Lesbians face considerably more discrimination than gay men, since the main problem is discrimination against visible is gender radicals rather than against sexual behavior itself”P50. I think it is rediculous, it is worse than discriminate someone by the person's race. because for race, we might not understand their culture, so we might have some different react or views about one same thing. but for lesbians and gays, its not like this, in my opinion, if the samesex marriage is allowed since long time ago, nobody would be having problem with it.
In "Marching from the Village" I immediately got the feel that in this period of time, money was the only key to happiness. These people were fighting over these factory jobs like rabid dogs even though I personally could not ever imagine going anywhere near a factory job, regardless how poor. And for a factory job, it was awfully strict and competitive, overly so even.... the women were interviewed as if it were some position in a prestigious law firm or something. Page 53, "Sit straight. Don't bend your back. You're not farming now, are you?" -- even though Siu Hua had previously said she was not a farmer.
ReplyDeleteIn "A Lesbian Bar", what really caught my attention was toward the end on page 93, "hetereosexuality as an institution supports patriarchal power ... lesbianism is a strategy of resistance". This blew my mind and is nothing more than another example of people refusing to accept diversity -- that not just 'straight' people discriminate other sexualities but homosexuals as well. While I do see how 'lesbianism' could be used to challenge patriarchy, at the end of the day it isn't the method that will be effective, since no where in the definition of lesbian is it stated that the woman is/must be masculine--just as many women are very feminine and stereotypically 'womanly and straight' as those who take a masculine physique.
Between these two readings I saw the similarity that I also saw in Korea while studying there: appearance has a LOT to do with your competition in the job market, which is something here in America almost unheard of. A masculine female, or a feminine male, or in general just a not-so-attractive person face heavy discrimination since they don't fit into these perfect, 'normative' boxes that society thinks must be the guideline for a good job.
I feel as if it is important to point out that while being materialistic is frowned upon, making money in order to place food on the table is important. As for a factory job, for many women during the time, it was extremely unlikely that they would have the opportunity to work at a prestigious law firm. They saw the factory job as an opportunity to gain financial independence. If i was in their position, I would do the same.
DeleteI too was flabbergasted seeing the line about lesbianism as a form of challenge. While not wrong, it reeks of simply trying to impose a new order, where heterosexuality is the discriminated against relationship.
DeleteWhat strikes me most about the two types of women presented, the dagongmei and the lesbian entrepreneur is that they're both brought about as a result of a desire to escape patriarchal oppression. As written in Lesbian Bar, "One response to the reality of discrimination has been the emergence of lesbian and gay entrepreneurship..." (Simon 96) and in Marching from the Village, "there seemed to be a chance that women workers might be able to transgress their individual 'fate' (A term used often in the workplace) of rural family life." (Ngai 65) Their struggle for freedom, and recreation of personal identity is in reaction to the conditions they came from.
ReplyDeleteOne result of this drive to escape is the zeal with which they pursue new identities. In fact, in Marching form the Villages, that zeal is what they are judged on for employment. "Ms. Tang turned to me and said, "I won't waste time asking questions... it is their readiness to be a dagongmei that matters." (Ngai 53) In reference to the external reading, about Tomboy/Girl in Hong Kong, "...TBs feel the need to amplify their masculinity and toughness." (234) They need to either become more 'manly' than the men they reject. In the case of dagongmei, it's about their productivity and drive, in the case of the TBG, it's their masculinity and position in societal role-play.
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