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Amanda Sebestyen notes that denial and reticence continue today as typical British ways of dealing with unpleasantness. She states,
"English patriarchy has a hooded face; fewer street rapes, more wife-beating behind locked doors."
She decries the continuing compliance of women and their reluctance to express anger at being
abused.
Summarizing European gender relations, Anderson and Zinsser point out that
"negative cultural traditions [toward women] have proved the most powerful and the most resistant to change." And
"no woman could escape the impact of these views completely."
East Asian Stories
Wives in East Asian stories may be Good Women, Wise Women or Shrews. As in European stories, male dominance is expected in the Asian stories. Asian women are somewhat different from those in European stories. Contradictions in historic attitudes toward women in the East Asian heritage may provide some explanation.
Throughout Chinese history, there has always been a small minority of women in important political, literary, and community positions. In addition, there is a long tradition of Chinese women warriors, going back to the Tang dynasty and continuing into the Communist Revolution of modern times. On the other hand, women were severely restricted by the Confucian doctrine promulgated in the 5th century BC. Women were expected to obey their fathers, husbands, and sons, and to be silent, clean, humble, and
hard-working. Elsewhere in East Asia, for example in Vietnam, women tended to have higher status than in the Chinese patriarchy. The extension of Confucianism, however, brought along with it harsher attitudes toward women.
Although in Asian stories the husband tends to be the Boss, wives often act with resolution and purpose even when forced into submission. An example is
"The Woman Who Broke an Egg."
A very poor farmer found an egg and imagined that this egg would bring him and his wife a fortune. He saw the egg hatching into a chicken. Then there would be many more eggs and many more chickens, which they would sell at great advantage. His wife went along with the fantasy until he mentioned that with that wealth, he could afford another wife. Enraged at this idea, she smashed the egg. The husband beat her and took her to the magistrate for further punishment. She was ordered to be killed for destroying their fortune.
She immediately protested that the wealth was not real, only a future idea. Her husband pointed out that the second wife was also a future idea. Appealing to the magistrate directly, the wife stressed that it was never too soon to prevent disaster. Won over, the magistrate released her and sent them both home. |
The wife in this story overcame the magistrate's efforts to destroy her. Despite being beaten by her husband, she was not ultimately forced to accede to his wishes. On the other hand, the husband's right to abuse his wife is in no way challenged. In European stories, she would more likely be forced into submission by abuse or self-imposed compliance. The Asian story combines two cultural expectations: male dominance and self-reliant women.
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