This paper addresses the historical context of the book Disappearing Moon Caf by the author Sky Lee. In this book, the lives of several generations of Chinesewomen living in Canada are torn apart by a refusal to accept the customs of their new country.
1,650 words (approx. 6.6 pages), 2 sources, 2002, $ 62.95
Abstract This paper addresses the historical context of the book Disappearing Moon Cat by the author Sky Lee. In this book, the lives of several generations of Chinesewomen living in Canada are torn apart by a refusal to accept the customs of their new country. While this book is Lee's demonstration of how separate cultures must blend together in order for those living within them to survive, this novel also demonstrates how this concept is not a clear- cut situation. The historical setting of Disappearing Moon Cat is found in the turmoil that was found among the peoples of Canada at the turn of the Twentieth Century.
Tags: LITERATURE / WOMEN IN LITERATURE, roles chinesewomen
A paper which discusses that despite the severe limits placed on Chinesewomen throughout their history, they still managed to demonstrate tenacity and courage and the power of decision within these restrictions.
Abstract The paper discusses how women throughout Chinesehistory have experienced the oppression their tradition and culture exert as well as the power only members of their sex can attain in their chosen domains. It shows that although readers have been exposed to historical anecdotes relating foot binding and Man's superiority to women, there are also many stories relating their freedom and tenacity, whether they are wives, concubines, courtesans or prostitutes. The paper discusses how the history of Chinesewomen is not necessarily limited to persecution and being dominated, it is also peppered with inspirational stories of women who have been able to find happiness, success and fulfillment within the parameters Chinese tradition and culture dictate.
From the Paper "The girl split from her first family with the understanding that she was never going back to them nor even allowed to communicate with them unless she had the permission of the man. On the surface the procedure is very much like a father marrying off his daughter, making the same arrangements as if it was a legal marriage. However there were a few things that distinguished the wife's status over that of the concubine. Legally, a Chinese man can only have one wife but could possess innumerable concubines. So the status of wife was more special than that of the concubines. Wives were also allocated property upon their marriage while concubines were not. Concubines did not have dowries and their first family did not receive any presents from the man upon losing their daughter."
Abstract This study attempts to investigate career development among Chinesewomen in the banking sector in New Zealand. It discusses career, not only in terms of the relationship between the organization and occupation, but it also looks beyond to factors such as family and religion. The paper then discusses how culture and religion influence an individual in the way they dress and eat as well as many other customs.
Table of Contents:
Abstract
Chapter 1
Introduction
Chapter 2 - Women and Career Development
Career Theories
Career Planning
Differences Between Men & Women In Career Development
Barriers for Women Career Development For Non-White Women Chapter 3 - Minority Women in Careers
African-American Women as Minority
Remuneration Issues for Minority Women Bi-culturalism
Family and Education Issues
Immigrants in Workforce
Chapter 4 - ChineseWomen ChineseWomen In History First Generation Chinese Second Generation Chinese Chinese in New Zealand - Current Situation
Chapter 5 - Banking Industry
Climate in the Banking Industry
Barriers for Women Current Situation for Women in Banking
Chapter 6 - New Zealand Labor Market
Employment in New Zealand
The Effects of Immigrants
Women in the Labor Force
Other Issues
Chapter 7 - Methodology
Qualitative Research
Face To Face Interview
Participants
Sampling
Reason For Choice Of Method
Advantages and Limitations
Data Analysis
Chapter 8 - Findings
Education
The Predicaments Of ChineseWomen In The Banking Industry In New Zealand
Glass Ceiling for ChineseWomen Negative Social Stereotyping
Issues In Future Career Development
Chapter 9 - Conclusion
From the Paper "The changes in the immigration policy of New Zealand are serving as tools to increase the country's human capital which is necessary for the nation's economic growth and development (Trlin & Henderson, 2000). However, with the increase in New Zealand's number of participants in the labour market, issues regarding the immigration policies have surfaced. Among the problems that trigger issues on immigration policy are the apparent rate of unemployment among the nation's locals as well as the unemployment of some migrants."
Abstract This paper relates that the international headlines, especially in the West, often refer to the one-child policy in China, can give the impression that women in China experience great discrimination; however, it can be shown that such a perception is incorrect. The author points out that anthropological research contradicts this assumption. The paper reveals that the transformation has mainly been apparent in the areas of education, marriage, employment and the family.
From the Paper "International headlines, especially in the West, often refer to the one-child policy in China. These headlines can give the impression that women in China experience great discrimination. However, it can be shown that such a perception is incorrect, and is in fact contradicted by the facts, once we undertake some anthropological research. In fact, such research shows that there has been a very beneficial transformation in the status of Chinese women in recent years. This transformation has mainly been apparent in the areas of education, marriage, employment and the family."
Abstract This research paper looks at the continued oppression of Chinesewomen throughout the culture's history. It refers specifically to the ancient times of the dynasties and looks at the traditions and practices on which this culture was based in an attempt to understand their treatment and attitude towards their female population. It looks at how this image developed over time and how finally with the emergence of Communism, relative equality was granted to women.
From the Paper "It is difficult for Westerners to understand China. While there are always analogies to be drawn between different civilizations, Europe has few parallels to Chinese history. The unbroken continuity of culture, the unique socio-political structures, and the amazing revolutionary experiment of the 20th century set the Chinese into a category by themselves, especially from the Western perspective.
While our Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, scientific-industrial, imperialist-capitalist heritage has transformed the entire world, we have nothing resembling Taoism, Buddhism, Confucianism, or communism. Our nuclear families and weak kinship contrasts with their extended families and clans, while their collectivism and our individualism are polar opposites. Western women have only recently emancipated themselves from the yoke of male domination and achieved equality, yet nothing in the long history of sexism can compare with the oppression of Chinese women, unless it be the Indian civilization from which some of its worst features were derived. "Few societies in history have prescribed for women a more lowly status, or treated them in a more routinely brutal way, than traditional Confucian China" (Johnson, 1983, 1)."
Abstract The paper discusses the premise that regardless of the efforts of the Chinese media to exclude Western themes from the media, public demand has allowed some Westernized female images to creep into the media of mainland China. The research explores the presence and prevalence of westernized female images in Chinese advertising media.
The paper offers a background of Chinese cultural ideals and provides a literature review. The paper shows how a new image of Chinesewomen is emerging in the media that is accepted more readily by the women than the men.
Outline:
Background of the Problem
Literature Review
Methodology
Results and Discussion
From the Paper "China is a country steeped in tradition. Historically, it has been resistant to change and the introduction of foreign influences. For many years, China had an isolationist policy towards any type of foreign influence. China wanted to prove that they were self-sufficient. This exclusion of foreign influence isolated them culturally as well. Chinese cultural ideals were reinforced. Traditional female and male roles were predetermined before a child's birth, and the child dare not try to break them."
Abstract The paper attempts to explore the historiography of Chinese-Americans and the impact that the Exclusion Act had on shaping the course of Chinese-American culture. The paper examines why so many Chinese immigrants continued to flock to America in droves if they knew of the hardships and discrimination they would face in America. The paper discovers several historical myths that are not based on primary sources or quantitative data. The paper presents a new approach to Chinese-American history and claims that it will have a dramatic impact on future perceptions of Chinese-Americans.
Outline:
History and Impact of the Exclusion Act
Identity Crisis
A New Generation of Historiographers
Location Specific Works
On Primary Sources
From the Paper "Erik Lee explored the impact and motive behind the actions of Chinese immigrants in his book At America's Gates. Lee relates the experiences of Chinese Americans to the immigration story of his Grandfather. In this case, he has first had knowledge of the events and their impact on Chinese Americans. This personal experience apparently sparked his interest in the topic of how the Exclusion act impacted other Chinese American Immigrants and their families. Lee uses primary sources to draw his conclusions and support his thesis. He relied exclusively on the documents of immigrants and those that were deported as his data source. This gives his work an incredible air of reliability."
Abstract This paper looks at how women have made long strides in society from their ancient counterparts. The example of Chinesewomen are looked at and how there roles have changed and how Americanized their modern counterparts have become. One true fact continues according to this paper, that the oppression of women continues.
Abstract The book analyzes and reviews Patricia Buckley Ebrey's book, "The Inner Quarters: Marriage and Lives of ChineseWomen in the Sung Period" which examines the lives of Sung women in relationship to their interactions with their own blood families, their husbands, their husband's families and their own children. The paper also raises several inadequacies of the book.
From the Paper "Another problem, or perhaps more an inadequacy of the book, is contained within what could be taken as Ebrey's thesis statement. She says in the Introduction that she intends to focus on, "the intersection of women and marriage" (7). While it can be clearly seen from the text that marriage or widowhood was the usual status of women, the book's decision to exclude accounts of single women is disappointing. However small a percentage, society would have contained women without dowries, divorced women, and women who remain single for religious reasons, such as Buddhist nuns. An exploration into their place in society would have been an interesting contrast."
Abstract In this article, the writer examines the history of foreign intervention in Mexico, to the present. The writer looks at power relationships and the impact of poverty. The writer also discusses the changing position of women in modern Mexican history.
Abstract A book report on the recent historical study "Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate". The book chronicles the position of women in Islamic society from the first marriage of Muhammad to the present day. It is steeped in the traditions of women's studies, but it draws heavily upon historical accounts of Islam as a religion and a socio-cultural system.
Abstract This paper considers the status of women as a reflection of their sexuality and race. It looks at the social status of women in the period of slavery in the southern U.S., and highlights the differences between slaves and slaveholders. Women of the Victorian era, Colonial times, American Revolution and Native American women are also discussed.
From the Paper "Women have always maintained a different social position than men, and it has usually been based on their gender and sexuality. Women attain these positions in a wide variety of ways, from using marriage as a stepping-stone, to creating their own roles defined by their sexuality. "For example, Mary Jenkins Chambers, the mistress of a planter household, had worked her way into the highest echelons of southern society through the time-honored fashion of 'marrying up.' In 1831, while still a teenager, she married Joseph Hart, only to become widowed before her twenty-first birthday. In 1834, she married Elijah Barnett, whom she also outlived, and she married her final husband, Asa Chambers, of Montgomery County, at the age of forty-one in 1856. As the owner of twenty-one slaves and eight hundred acres of land, Chambers was one of Montgomery County's wealthiest men" (Bynum 16).
In the South, being a white woman in Southern society meant confronting the issue of slavery sometime during your life. "Because the institutions of the family and slavery were interlocked, white women occupied an important place in the cultural and economic life of southern society. Wives of slaveholders served as conduits for the transmission of power and property from one generation to the next. As caretakers of the family, they also oversaw much of the daily workings of the slave system. Finally, as the repository of a southern code of honor that regarded them as symbols of racial and sexual purity, white women maintained the racial distinctions that were crucial to the continued hegemony of white men" (Bynum 64). The planter's wives served as a beacon of gentility, and looked the other way when their husbands sired mulatto children with the slave women. Their place in society was accepted and secure, as long as they kept their mouths shut."
Abstract This paper examines how Vietnam was traditionally a society in which women occupied a lowly position relative to men in the family and in society. It looks at how the war years changed this a great deal as women took on jobs hitherto considered the sole province of men. It also discusses how since the Marxist socialist government took power in 1954 there have been many government sponsored attempts to improve the position of women.
Abstract The paper discusses the limited rights of women in archaic Athens regarding ownership of property. The paper looks at Frederick Engels belief that women's oppression was an unnatural consequence of property relations and was essential for the survival and the privileges of men. The paper therefore shows how Engels' theory on the oppression of women confirms the formal and legal position of women in archaic and classical Athens.
From the Paper "Law in ancient Athens forbade a woman from engaging in business transactions with money value in excess of five or six days' food for her family (Thompson 2005). Buying anything beyond that required the approval of a male guardian. Ownership of property was likewise complicated and frustrating to her. She might have owned and used a slave, clothing, furniture and jewelry every day but she could not sell or give any of them. She might have claim over land but had no right either to use or sell it. Her rights over property did not mean or include ownership (Thompson)."
Abstract In this paper, two books by Japanese author Fukuzawa Yukichi, "The Waiting Years" and "The River Ki", are reviewed and discussed in terms of how they address the oppression of women during the Meiji period in Japan. The main characters of both stories are analyzed and the plots reviewed in an effort to illustrate Yukichi's beliefs about the position of women in society and his opposition to the subordination of women.
From the Paper "Fukuzawa Yukichi's ideas about women and their rights were unusual for his time. He wrote his essays on women during the Meiji Period, when women were still considered to be subordinate to men and were sometimes treated as mere instruments for producing children. Fukuzawa claimed that these beliefs about women were especially prevalent in the upper middle class. Although The Waiting Years, by Fumiko Enchi, and The River Ki, by Sawako Ariyoshi, were written after World War II, both focused on upper middle class women living in the Meiji period. In fact, the principal characters in both stories, Tomo and Hana, were based on the authors? maternal grandmothers, with some of the material for the books coming from information given to the authors from their mothers. Therefore, both books could be considered to be fairly accurate portraits of upper middle class women's lives during that time period. The main characters in both works suffered because of their patriarchal society, and much of this suffering was caused by customs that Fukuzawa criticized in his writings for that very reason."
Tags: ariyoshi, enchi, feminism, fukuzawa, fumiko, japan, rights, river, sawako, waiting, women, years, yukichi
