women in asia's past, present and future

It would seem that if we were to apply the economic rule of supply to the low ratio of women, that women should ultimately become more valued because there are so few of them.

I happened to watch “NBC News on Sunday” and the news anchor spoke about the one child law and “China’s Lost Girls.” There was a visually unsettling film clip of boys and girls playing in a primary school. The person being interviewed said that out of the 39 students enrolled, 28 were boys.

Boys in China are expected to supply labor, support parents, and carry on the family name. A girl is considered a liability because she will become someone else’s daughter-in-law, serving the husband’s family. Girls who manage to get born are often abandoned at orphanages and churches; others are forced to marry and are raped and beaten by their husbands.

In other readings, I learned about a death room where a two-year-old daughter was tied to a chair and left to die. The door was only opened to see if she had died yet. I also read that the one child law is not uniformly enforced. Officials can be bribed to allow a couple to have another child. If it is a girl, there may not be an official birth record—the girl does not exist—and she will not be able to go to school or receive social services.

The conclusion even among the Chinese is that selective abortion is not good. The camera panned to a large sign that read “Boys and Girls are Equal” (a feeble government attempt to change thinking?) but sadly, it will take a long time to reverse a tradition of male preference and female infanticide that has been going on for centuries.

I was interested in the David Glenn article, but was unable to access it because I needed to be a subscriber. Was it attached to your posting?

Whenever we visited a school and then had a forum with the teachers afterward, we would sit in concentric circles to have a discussion. The visiting teachers would sit on the oppostie side of the room. The Japanese teachers would sit in concentric circles. The male teachers would aways sit in the center and the ladies would always sit on the outside. No matter their position, the women would always relegated to the outer circle.

Yes, footbinding was cruel and unjusted for women in those days. As much as we think that it is wrong and needs some rethinking, which i do agree, but i think what we learn from that act of injustice and cruelty is much more. The idea that men could have as many concubines, and wives as they want, which limits the right of women, footbinding was the only way to keep the women from running away. the smaller the feet, the less likely to run. Of course there are other political issues surrounding footbinding, but nevertheless, i think it is quite an educational issue.

I found Saturday lecture on women in East Asia facinating.
When Dr. Morgan Pitelka talked about Korean women and their virtue, I remembered a movie that perfectly captures that.
It is one of the famous Korean folktales that shows the spirit of Korean women and their loyalty to their men.
The movie is Chungyang.
I remember reading it growing up and hearing about it from my mother as she told my sisters.
Check it out...also in the film review...



lc

Dr. Pietlka's lecture was great. I am glad that he brought up the other side of footbinding. Last year, when my kids asked me why women would do it, I couldn't really give them a better answer than "To be more attractive to men." Now, after our discussion, I can get them to better understand that women (especially mothers) were also behind the practice, and that it was not only done because men placed pressure on women. I am glad to know the whole social aspects behind it. It will be interesting to have a discussion in class to see whether some students would put their daughters through such torture in order to elevate their lifestyle or to have them be financially secure. THey would obviously have to think of the impact on a family of having too many unmarried daughters or having their daughters courted by less desirable suitors who thought foot size didn't matter.

I really agree with that; I am glad that the other side of footbinding was brought up. I used to think that foot binding was a way to keep the women loyal to their men. I thought that the smaller the feet, the harder and slower it is to run, therefore, women were unable to leave their men even if they wanted to. I didn't know it was a cosmetic feature nor a social status.

I too greatly enjoyed Dr. Pietlka's lecture. The thing that stood out to me most is when Dr. Pietlka said women were active parties in practices such as footbinding. He was correct in saying that we often judge and look down on practices of other cultures that are different from our own, or practices that seem harmful and unnecessary. I admit having the stereotype of Chinese women being submissive and weak. I don't how this stereotype became ingrained in my mind. It may be that I can relate to some of the "stereotypes" and I hate that part of myself. Having Dr. Patella compares footbinding to plastic surgery and the corset gave me a very different perspective of traditional practices. Women have concerns with body image. Whether we want to admit it or not, most women go to great lengths to be beautiful. We are bombarded with images of "beautiful" women in the media and strive to look more like these women. For the most part, I believe the desire to be beautiful isn't to impress men, but to impress and compete with other women.

I started reading a Chinese Cinderella by Adeline Yen Mah to my homeroom class today. I decided to read this book after our discussion on Saturday. There are no Asian students in my class or even at my school. A major focus for me this year is to develop more cultural awareness with my students. This book will raise awareness of the Chinese culture in a very non-treatening way. Not only will students learn about the culture, they will also be able to relate to the universal theme of wanting to be loved and accepted by family and peers. The author focuses on the double standard between gender roles and the expectations for males and females. I know my class will start having great discussions based on the book. Check out the book review section for more details on the book!

"Bound feet take years of wrapping. The toe bones have to be broken slowly, carefully. Even after a young girl's feet are perfectly formed, she has to keep them wrapped so they will stay in that shape. Prospective in-laws ask: "Did she complain much during her foot-binding years?" If yes, then they would think twice. She was a complainer, then, not obedient enough. Even at age three, I knew. If I was good, Mama and Baba would say that my feet were perfectly formed golden lilies, that I had been even-tempered and docile during those difficult years. But if this were not true, everyone would know. The Kitchen God would tell the Supreme God. The matchmaker would warn prospective families. The servants would gossip about me to other servants in the town. Everyone in Baoshan knew the Chang family. If I was bad, no one would want me. I would not marry and would become a disgrace to my family. And still, I cried."
Page 22, Bound Feet & Western Dress A memoir by Pang-Mei Natasha Chang.

I took this passage from the book I am currently reading. I went to get this book after Dr. Pietlka came to speak with our seminar. After rereading Ryan's response to Dr. Pietlka's lecture and comments on footbinding, I thought this was a good description of how one woman viewed her footbinding and how she felt it would affect her family and future marriage. The pain of the footbinding process was too much for her. Yui's Second Brother, who had been educated in Japan, saw her pain and convinced their mother to stop the painful process. Yui escapes her footbinding but lives the rest of her life in accordance to the traditions of her family.

The lecture was quite enlightening and gave me a completely different perspective on the why and how of this custom. During the lecture, I was thinking about corsets as well. But I remember hearing from someone about having her lower ribs removed so that her waist was a perfect 16 inches. Her friends would swallow capsules with small tape worms so that they would not process the food and gain weight. (Then, of course, we have bulimia and anorexia problems.) In New York, I met ex-models who in the 1950s had removed their back molars to give their face those linear angles and sink the cheeks. Once again, the mutilation continues. Lastly, women who suffer and take a chance on plastic surgery(ies). What amazes me is that it is now accepted in the beauty pageants to have as much reconstructive surgery as possible in order to create that perfect beauty. Why shouldn't we allow athletes to use enhancement drugs to make that perfect athlete? Humanity seems to be extremely unbalanced (socially, psychologically, ethically, and so on, and so on). Joy, joy.

Wow, the last writer presents some interesting examples of self-mutilation for cosmetic purposes in differerent places and times. We might also add for our students who see these and footbinging as bizzare behavior, the current trends: from tatooing, which is not a pleasant experience, to pierced lips, tongues, and various other parts of the human body. None of these are done for practical purposes, all come with varying degrees of pain, and many of them come with possible hazards to people's health. Of course, as the writer mentioned, the popularity of plastic surgery is also a trend that students are familiar with and have generally accepted as "normal." Even smoking and taking drugs might fit into this category, since it is often done for the approval of others, though the often serious physical effects start off mainly inside the body, and begin to affect the outside appearances only after continued use (yellowed teeth, excessive weight loss, sallow skin, discolored eyes, etc.) Yes, as Swift corrected Pascal, humans are animals capable of reason, though this may not often be readily apparent in their actions.[Edit by="sperez on Mar 26, 12:35:56 AM"][/Edit]

I found this interesting article regarding footbinding and then realized that it was by the UCLA Asia Institute. I feel that there is valuable inforatmion and resources at this site.

http://www.international.ucla.edu/shenzhen/2002ncta/miles/

There are lesson ideas given which we can use in our classrooms.

It would interesting to compare the notions of beauty in various societies around the world and what people would put themselves through to reach this ideal.

Perhaps we could even compare what women do today in order to reach our societies notion of beauty. In this, students could understand how society today puts unfair notions of beauty into the heads of its people. (Can lead to anorexia, bulimia, plastic surgery, etc.)

Maybe students would understand that even though this concept of footbinding seems horrible and foreign..... How in actuality, cultures are not so different after all in making beauty an unreasonable goal.

Rebuttal to a recent posting citing "the current trends: from tatooing, which is not a pleasant experience, to pierced lips, tongues, and various other parts of the human body. None of these are done for practical purposes"

This is a very subjective issue as people find it difficult to put aside their own notions, whether personal/cultural, of what is right/wrong, good/bad. Here are some things to consider regarding a widely held belief that body modification is an oft-perceived wreckless act which does not offer practical purposes. It offers the following benefits.


- identity/beauty/acceptance (African tribal scars, male circumcision, stretched lobes, lip-discs, ringed-necks, foot binding, etc.)
- individuality
- creativity
- heightened pleasure (piercing, tattooing), may be during/after the experience depending on the modification
- self-esteem (especially in tattooing damaged body parts, see breast cancer survivor tattooes where their breasts once were and pigment reconstruction)
Here's a related book to consider

A History Of Japanese Body-suit Tattooing
By Mark Poysden, Marco Bratt

History records the practice of punitive tattooing across at least two thousand years. Japan was the last country to abolish punitive tattooing, in 1870. As elsewhere, the Japanese covered these marks of shame with decorative tattoos. Tattooing was repeatedly abolished, without effect. Even today, it is illegal to display tattoos publicly in Japan. In Japan, tattoos are primarily associated with the yakuza. This book traces the origins and development of the Japanese yakuza, ranging over their pre-WWII history, samurai and Bushido influences, the darker side of Tokugawa rule, and gambling connections; and describing what happens when a highly regulated society disintegrates.

Of course this is only a sampling of what modification can do of a positive nature. Sadly, societies still fear/reject what they don't understand and many modified, yet superb, folks are forced to fly under the radar to avoid dealing with the ignorant comments/actions of others brought upon a lack of awareness/acceptance.
[Edit by="kdietrick on Jul 28, 2:14:23 PM"][/Edit]
[Edit by="kdietrick on Jul 28, 2:16:43 PM"][/Edit]

A story about Murasaki, the author of,"The Tale of Genji" is fascinating. Historians are not precise about her birth or death dates. She was aducated in both Chinese and Japanese culture at a time when such ventures were only reserved for boys. Historians never even bothered to write about her because she was not from a royal family. Through her struggles and outstanding work she became part of history and now interests historians. Against all these she made it into history against all odds: It's mind boggling.

One thing about the Ming dynasty that provokes me to anger is how widows were cheated culturally into death than remarriage.For this they were honored for'filial piety and propriety'. This encouraged them further to either starve themselves to death or commit suicide. How about widowers? And you call this loyalty! Talk to me somebody!

I was recently at a concert sponsored by the Indonesian consulate. There were several aspects which were of interest. The first was the performers. Soun-Youn Yoon from Korea played the oboe. She is a graduate of the Faculty of Music at Seoul National University. Sharing the stage were also Sharon Eng, an American violinist and Julliard School alumn, and Ary Sutedja on the piano. Ms. Sutedja is a renowned Indonesian classical pianist. It was really wonderful to see these three women coming together to tour the United States. It was nice to see Madonna's chant "Music, brings the people together," with a classical twist. Music certainly knows no borders and was enjoyed by all present. A second interesting aspect was the performance by Indonesian puppeteer Nanang Hape. It was awsome to see the music come alive with "Wayang," taditional classical shadow puppetry. These women looked at the past for their musical selections and presentation, to influence our thinking of what is to come in the future, through collaborative efforts like theirs.

It looks like a woman to keep an eye on in the future is South Korean political leader Park Geun-hye. LA Times reports Park suffered a 4-inch facial cut. Two men, one with a box cutter, are held. Th attack outside a department store in the middle of Seoul was stunning in South Korea, a country that had experienced little political viloence in recent years. Park is the daughter of the late dictator Park Chung-hee, who was assassinated in 1979. Five years earlier her mother was gunned down by an assassin. It looks like she didn't fare off so badly afterall. Park has headed the opposition Grand National Party since 2004 and is likely to run in the next year's predidential election to succeed left-of-center President Moo-hyun, who cannot run because of term limits. Hopefully, this is the last of the attacks on this rising political figure.

I really enjoyed the discussion about women in Asian history. I am embarrassed to admit it, but my only knowledge of female asian history was the Disney movie Mulan. I hda done a little research a few years ago and found the poem of Mulan. I shared it with my students and we watched the movie and compared. I don't think that really showed the depth of this idea. The idea of the three queens of Korea was intriguing. I think I'm going to share this knowledge with some of my Korean students. Who knew that these types of stories existed.

I wish that women were better documented in history, considering that about half of the world consists of women. Hopefully some of our female students will help bring more examples of women in history to light!

Well, my dream was to go to Japan and join the Tokyo Rockabilly Club. Sorry ladies, it's still boys only.
However, they'll let you take a photo with them between sets.

At one time the club numbered in the hundreds- now they're in the teens. Their hair defies gravity and
their threads are to die for. They perform every Sunday at Yoyogi-koen with lots of other amazing musical/entertainment acts that you've got to see to believe.

Check them out on

http://www.youtube.com/

Enter Tokyo rockabilly club for some fine dance stylings. Who knew that break dancing went with rocakabilly?

In the APA Magazine, there is an interview with Chinese musican Cui Jian. He started at a young age as a classical musician, and then changed to rock and roll. He discusses two types of Chinese music. He describes them as "mainstreams". The first is er shu and the second is zhu xue liu. Er shu is the main melody from the government, and he says it is controlled by the government and is very commercial. His desire as a musician is to be another sound that can get the people's message out, not just hte government's message.

This is a very interesting article in terms of recognizing how music and politics can mix. Cui Jian has been compared with John Lennon and Kurt Cobain in terms of the cutting edge of his music and the messages he is trying to get across. This would be a very good article for students to read and consider. Cui Jian

My favorite class was the one on women in Asia and I loved the fact that women were not portrayed as lacking agency and being solely oppressed by men. Of course, women have been oppressed by men throughout the world but I enjoyed learning about how they challenged those systems and were subversive even if the examples were the exceptions and not the rule.

I received an invitation from Facing History and Ourselves to attend a talk by Lisa See, author of Shanghai Girl and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

The talk was conducted at the Chinese American Museum last night.

She has ancestors of Chinese origins, and had experienced the pain of hearing people talk badly about Chinese immigrants, not knowing that she is part chinese as well.

Besides talking about her books and what inspired her, she opened her heart and told us stories of her personal life. One of the most touching things I heard from her was when she expressed feeling always being a little bi outside no matter in which side of the family she was being at a specific time. Not completely chinese, not completely white.

She grew up near her chinese grandma and knows chinatowns streets pretty well, she also travels to China and feels at home.

She was gracious to let me take a picture with her, as soon as I figure how, I will post it.

http://www2.facinghistory.org/Campus/Events.nsf/HTMLProfessionalDevelopment/811A4544AE5A099585257601005DACA4?Opendocument

Would like to pass on this event info. regarding the role of China's "sing song girls" in 1920's Shanghai.
Looks to be quite entertaining. Runs from mid Nov to Jan.
http://www.grandguignolers.com/