World literature
Abstract
Different literary works have displayed women in different contexts and status. Woman’s obligation and responsibility in social life has been shown in poetical expressiveness. Different poets have often moved from their present observation to the past reflection. The essay compares and discusses the two poems “Mang” and Tu Fu’s “Recruiting Officer of Shi-Hao.” Women and girls in families have often faced discrimination and denied basic human rights. The Chinese community has always considered women to be different and inferior to men. The two poems display the suffering of a woman, whether she becomes a wife or a mother. As a mother, she is dependent on her sons and a wife on her husband. Her life is dependent on the fate of her husband and children. She feels betrayed by the men in her life and her fate, and can do nothing but ponder over her misery in silence.
Introduction
There are several factors that lie behind the gendered subjectivities touched by the Chinese poets’ in their work. China is a nation that has been naturalized by the sermons of nationalism, marriage, revolution, and industrialization. There are poets who have been inspired by the Daoist philosophy on one hand and the Western feminist thoughts on the other. Poetry enjoyed a special status during the seventies and eighties because of the intimate relationship between politics and literati-officials as reported by Meng (2010). The essay discusses the social position of women depicted in two poems, “Mang” and Tu Fu’s “Recruiting Officer of Shi-Hao.” The essay looks at western perspective of feminism is discussed as well as the social responsibility of obligation in western feminism by comparing these two poems. It offers an insight into the analysis of women's social role on real grounds, drawing attention to the gap between the feminism and liberalism in reality. Are women in the Western culture enjoying the true liberty? Or, there are differences in their social roles and family roles?
“Mang” poem begins with the lines “It takes a very stupid dolt to bring cloth to trade for silk.” In the poem, the woman is made to believe that her husband is like the brave knight, whose every folly is to be overlooked, and only his virtues are to be praised. “For three years. I was your wife, without tiring of household chores”. (41-42) The woman in the poem has lived in poverty for three years and have never complained or uttered a word. Tu Fu’s “Recruiting Officer of Shi-Hao” is a sad reflection of the status of women in a patriarchal society where their position and services are taken for granted. The poet is also referred at as Du Fu (Du Fu (Literature), 2016), and is considered one of the greatest poets in China’s literary history. The poem,”Recruiting Officer of Shihao,” offers a sorrowful picture of an old woman whose” three sons have left for garrison duty at Yeh”. (8) Tu Fu’s poems often showed sympathy for ordinary people and shed light on the wrong-doings of the rulers. According to Lavrač (2009), Tu Fu’s poems display his concern for the people around him and expose the social injustice. Both poems show the male-centered society that was risen with patriarchic oppression. While one poem is from the perspective of a wife, the other sheds light on the feelings of a mother. The traditional gender hierarchy offers insightful critiques of the gender inequality. The Chinese society has been considered to be least favorable toward women and those poems emphasize on the emotional isolation of a woman, whether she is a mother or a wife. Guo (2010) explores how Confucian philosophical system influenced the culture and society of China tremendously. There were strict womanly virtues to adhere to and moral parameters that established a ritual education of all women before marriage. Both poems offer a comprehensive overview of the social realities and status of women.
It is not only in China, but other parts of the world where women have been treated with inferiority. The identity of a female is different in various culture and regions. However, looking at the past, most cultures worldwide carry a patriarchal past and men have always enjoyed more power and freedom as compared to women. Western women too have struggled against those stereotypes and fought for their equality. Still, the perspective of feminism from the western world doesn’t apply to women globally. There are women who enjoy the equal rights guaranteed to them because of Western feminism. However, their roles and responsibilities do not end with their own rights and freedom. Rather, they should support other women who are suppressed by the society they live in and are seeking to achieve the same status. The model should protect the goals and identities of all women and contribute the efforts in this direction. The feminist power should create a realm in every culture and society, bringing women closer. The women should get support and motivation to fight for their issues and reject violence and suppression.
Western feminism can play an important role here by promoting the right messages of acceptance and love. Being a feminist also means to get the priorities right. The socio-economical divide between women from developing countries and the Western needs to be dissolve (Dixon, 2011). Being a woman has nothing to do with beauty, good looks or being wealthy. Equal rights and shared responsibilities are the essences of modern feminism. The social responsibility and status of women should be given the recognition it deserves. The western culture that is gaining worldwide recognition encourages positive feminist ideals and promotes equal footing for women in all areas. Imperial China carries a long history of repressing women, giving them a relatively subordinate position to men. The power granted to the women did not extend beyond the familial affairs. Women today may not be repressed to that level, but they do feel certain social pressures and afferent limitations, just because they are a female. They often face prejudice in higher education and when building careers at workplace. The position of women is changing for the better, but still a lot more needs to be done in this direction.
The two poems discussed here show women have been suppressed and given the lower social order. Modern feminists advocate that men and women be treated as equal members of the society and be given equal responsibilities, whether at home or work. Still, in many societies, it is felt that the women are still bound by familial obligations and face the primary responsibility of child care and household chores (Gray, 2014). There is an emotional and intellectual block when it comes to offering the women an equal status in the society. Feminism has its roots in liberalism which implies equal right and laws, equal opportunities and personal autonomy granted to an individual in the society irrespective of his gender and social status as reported by Abbey (2014). The western feminists believed that the society as a whole would benefit if women were given equal rights in the higher education, property, higher professions and voting rights.
In practice, there is the significant divergence between the liberal theory and feminism in practice. Women are often trapped by their sexual and maternal roles, their mental capacity ignored altogether. Perhaps men would feel alarmed and threatened at a larger percentage of women embracing liberty and total feminism. Most of them are unsure about how they would react or feel when they see women at an equal footing. Perhaps they are not emotionally and mentally prepared to handle the freedom of woman and their choices to make independent decisions in their lie. Even today, there is lower participation from women in formal politics. Is it because they are not encouraged to join politics or do not want to get into this field, as enquired by Kaplan (2012). The lower participation by women in politics has often aroused interest and encouraged studies.
Still, women have seized the opportunity to pursue liberty and equality, when given a chance. However, it does not suggest that all women in the western society have benefitted from that development clearly, liberty for all is definitely not a cure for all. Thus, serious inequalities do exist even in the western society. Just by focusing on the improvement made in the position of women in society does not hide problems like domestic violence, sexual abuse and other inequalities that women face. The persistence of those problems points that there are many women in the western society leading lives like that of the old mother and the unhappy wife of the Chinese poems. Apparently, the liberal aspect of western feminism has not touched all women of their society.
References
Abbey, R. (2014). The Return of Feminist Liberalism. Routledge, 1(1), 1–352.
Du Fu (Literature). (2016). what-when-how, literature Retrieved from http://what-when- how.com/literature/du-fu-literature/
Dixon, V. K. (2011). Western Feminism in a Global Perspective, studentpulse Retrieved from http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/395/western-feminism-in-a-global-perspective
Gray, D. H. (2014). Beyond Feminism and Islamism: Gender and Equality in North Africa. I.B.Tauris, 1(1), 1–256. Guo ,L. (2010). Tales of self-empowerment: reconnoitering women’s Tanci in late imperial and early twentieth century China. University of Iowa, 1(1), 1–291.
Kaplan, G. (2012). Contemporary Western European Feminism. Routledge, 1(1), 1–340.
Lavrač, M. (2009). Du Fu: Master Stylist of Chinese Poetic Language. Asian and African Studies, 13(3), 1–10.
Meng, L. (2010). The inferno tango: Gender politics and modern chinese poetry, 1917-1980
