Bound to Men

Chinese women are considered inferior to men. They are deprived of the rights that men own and live to serve them, having no voice represented in society. A male child is considered a gift while a female one is shameful to own. Chinese women endure many hardships, including getting their feet bound, which give them no opportunities to escape the awful life they have. Chinese women are brutally mistreated and thought of as trash. Their society thinks that “Feeding girls is feeding cowbirds” (Kingston 46). They are worthless, yet are still used for important tasks that no man could ever fulfill, which include cooking, cleaning, and most importantly, creating new lives.

The relationship of a Chinese woman and her husband symbolize the relationship between African American slaves and their white owners. Slaves were treated as if they weren’t even human beings, but were a species that deserved torture. They were trapped in their land of work, and were punished if they ever “disobeyed” their owners, just as women in Chinese society are. White people were always superior and the African American slaves had to be submissive in order to stay alive, which wasn’t a great life to live anyways. 

I know we don’t have it nearly as bad as women in China do, or slaves did back then, but females in America are also stereotyped to be less efficient than men. What I mean is that we always have to act proper or “lady-like” and should constantly bear a smile on our faces, no matter what. If we even do so much as a burp, people will be grossed out. In addition, we are thought of to be not as strong as a man. When we have moments of weaknesses, someone must say “be a man” to us, as if we don’t already know that we aren’t one. It is unfair how women are stereotyped to act a certain way, trapped on our “little bound feet” (Kingston 44). I truly hope one day this can change, for women all around the globe. If we got rid of slavery, though, this should be an easy fix.