"No Name Woman"

Paper Summary:

The writer of this paper details the not so subtle appearances of sexism throughout Maxine Hong Kingston's novel "No Name Woman." In one instance the author's primary vehicle for sexism is religion, in which the church uses the blind zeal of a devout woman as a tool of sexist repression. The writer contends that the women in Kingston's novel are perceived as property and are trapped in their traditional Asian roles. This paper also considers the possibility that the author as well as her characters are inundated with guilt and stripped of self-worth by their gender.

From the Paper:

"A facilitator of the first order, the primary vehicle of sexism is religion. Religion is a community 'force majuer' of the devout, 'The old woman from the next field swept a broom through the air and loosed the spirits-of-the-broom over our heads.' When the devout is a woman, the church uses her own blind zeal as a tool of sexist repression. It is by this avenue that a woman will now actively participate in the repression of all women, including herself, fearing no other role available in religious society for herself, 'As the villager closed in, we could see that, some of them, probably men and women we knew well, wore white masks." Women become perceived in the trapped roles as property; a controlled thing to exercise control over, 'After my grandparents gave their daughter away to her husband's family, they had dispensed all the adventure and all the property."

More papers on "No Name Woman" :

• Analytical Essay # 17039 : "No Name Woman"
• Comparison Essay # 123881 : "'No Name Woman' and 'Only Daughter'"
• Book Review # 118017 : "No Name Woman" and Chinese Culture"

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