Understanding Women of Greater Worth - Literature review Example

Number: Understanding Women of Greater Worth The Joy Luck Club is a story about four different mothers and their families, each with a unique story of their own. Each character having their individual brawl with life and its challenges, and yet, similarly, they are all facing struggles nonetheless. Since all the main characters are women struggling to fight for their rights as women and to be treated equally as men, this movie has feminist perspective written all over it. The first character, An-Mei, emphasized the importance of knowing your worth. She told the story about being brought up by her grandparents to hate her mother for leaving her and becoming a concubine for a rich man. Despite all the hateful information imbibed in An-Mei, what she saw in her mother was a devoted daughter willing to cut off her own flesh to help heal the dying mother who disowned her. The truth about An-Mei’s mother, she came to learn after many years is that she was raped, disowned by her family; had nowhere else to go so accepted being the fourth wife of the man who raped her, then got stripped off all her rights to the son she gave birth to. Not knowing her worth, she succumbs to all abuse, and swallowed all her pride. She eventually took her own life to kill the weak spirit within her and pass on a brave and fighting one to her daughter. An-Mei said, her mother discovered her worth too late, and hoped her daughter would not be the same. The next character, Ying-Ying, stresses the significance of having the spirit to voice out what you want. She taught her daughter to fight for her happiness, when she discovered that Lena was being abused into paying half of the expenses. The third character, Lindo talked about wanting to be like your mother, being proud of who you are and where you came from. Her daughter was the chess champion in their community and she was so proud, but it seems that her daughter was ashamed that her mother was too boastful. They only understood each other when they spilt their hearts out in a conversation in a salon, admitting that they are both so proud of each other and that all they wanted was to feel accepted. The last character, Suyuan, emphasized on a mother’s hopes that her daughter will be more than what was expected. She tells a story of a mother who bought a very expensive duck which stretched its neck too much, it became a swan. She compares this swan to her daughter. She looks at her and sees that despite her insecurities and inferiority complex, she was indeed a swan at heart, bringing with her all a mother could ever hope for in a daughter and more. These stories coincide with the feminist point of view, accentuating a woman’s struggle to gain equality, pride, hope, spirit, respect, love and be treated as a woman of great worth. It has been very evident in the entire movie that all bases of power are utilized, may it be consciously or not. The following are just some of the concrete examples of the use of different types of power in the movie The Joy Luck Club: Legitimate power This power is attained by virtue of legalities. Being someone’s parent, or husband or leader of a country or even a group gives the right to claim legitimate power. The one subordinate should just accept these roles and comply with the demands of the other. One dialogue of Waverly with her mother Lindo, in the salon clearly depicts the power a mother has on her child: “You just don’t know how much power you have over me. One word, one look, and I… Four years old and I cry myself to sleep because nothing I do can ever please you.” In this conversation, it was clearly revealed how daughters desire to give pride to their mothers. Coercive power Fear is the main feature of this type of power. In a relationship, the inferior one dreads being punished therefore giving in to the demands of the one superior. In the movie, Ying-Ying husband explicitly exhibited coercive power over his wife, when he brought home his whore, and even shouted when Ying-Ying threatened to kill him with broken glass. She was so full of fear of her husband that all she could do was cry while cleaning up the plate she had broken. Because of the power her husband had over her, she succumbed to insanity and eventually drowned her own son. Another example of coercive power in this movie was when Suyuan forced her daughter June, to practice playing the piano after being humiliated in her recital. The mother practically dragged her daughter to the piano! However, in this case, the daughter was as obstinate as her mother. The coercion from her mother did not work at that time, but she ended up thinking that she would never live up to her mother’s expectations. Reward power From the word itself, this type of power is achieved when the other person expects that abiding by the demands of his/her partner will gain him/her some reward. In this movie, the reward pertained to is the respect, love, honor, pride, and acceptance of a mother to her child, or a mother to her daughter’s fiancé or of a husband to his wife. Expert power and Referent power Knowledge is the main feature of expert power, leaving the person no choice but to go along with his/her partner’s wishes because of the belief that the latter has a deeper and better expertise than him/her. Lena’s case in the movie, being married to her boss is the perfect example for this type of power. Theirs is a “fifty-fifty” relationship even though the division of expenses was clearly unfair most of the time. Despite the unreasonable circumstances in their relationship, Lena had no courage to fight for what she thinks is right only because she thinks her husband knows best being her boss and all. Referent power may coincide with another type of power, usually coercive or expert power. In the movie, again in Lena’s case, her husband was her boss therefore there is a belief that he is of more expertise than her. This belief resulted in Lena, identifying with her husband, and agreeing (actually complying), with his ways of dividing everything 50-50. At first, because she was blinded by this belief, she felt satisfied and even defended her husband’s ways from her mother. It was only when her mom opened her eyes to having her own spirit, and fighting for what makes her happy did she realize what a fool she has been. Another evidence of referent power was when Rose married the very rich and powerful American. Before marriage she used to be very opinionated and does not hold back if she has something to say. But things changed when she gave in to her husband’s power and settled to just being identified with him. From this, she gained referent power and felt content by being his shadow. Informational power This power or persuasive explanation was evidently shown in Lindo’s case, when she was given up by her mother as a betrothed girl to Huang Tai Tai’s son. The night before she was to be left at Huang Tai Tai’s, her mother talked to her saying she will have a better life. The mother explained that what she was doing was for her daughter’s own good. Although up to the present, Lindo could not clearly understand, she still, in spite of everything, wanted to be so much like her mother. From the concrete examples mentioned, it is unmistakable that power is evident in all aspects, not only of a family but life. One must never abuse his/her realized power, because not everybody under you will be willing to submit his/her whole life to it. To all parents, realize the power you have on your children. Know that all they ever want is to make you proud of them. To all daughters and sons, realize the power you have on your parents. Know that all they ever want is to feel that you are proud to be their children. To all husbands and wives, realize the power you have on your partners. Know that all they ever want is the respect, love and trust, just as you want to be respected, loved and trusted. In the end, it really does not matter whether which power is used in a relationship. What matters is that there is a mutual understanding between them and that they are both happy. Reference “The Joy Luck Club.” Movie. Dir. Wang, W. Written by Tan, Amy. 1993 Read More