The Culture of China - Literature review Example

The word ‘culture’ means to cultivate and generally refers to patterns of human activity. Various anthropologists have come with different definitions of culture and each one becomes the basis for understanding or evaluating human activity (Wikipedia). The culture of a nation or a region can be characterized by the way people react to a situation, the feelings and thoughts, by its art and literature, by its ideas, beliefs and values, by its traditions and customs (Carlyle, 1998). Edward Taylor defines culture as socially patterned human thought and behavior (cited by Bodley, 1994). Culture is learned and not inherited. Individuals are born into and shaped by that culture which has been existing. This culture influences the way we think, behave and act. This essay would examine how two cultures, namely the Chinese and the American culture, differ on issues of gender and gender roles. Each culture is unique and sets it apart from others. The culture of the west is such that they rely heavily on rationale and science opposed to the eastern culture. The westerners reside within the body and the body is made up of various divisions. The eastern culture is deep rooted; they believe in the higher consciousness and to them body is a tool to accomplish what they are here for. The Chinese culture has evolved over thousands of years and inspired people round the world. In the Chinese culture however, men and women are symbolic of the ying and yang energy, the positive and negative energy or the dynamic and static energy. The dark swirl within the Taoist symbol is the passive, yielding, yin or the female yin, while the light swirl is the aggressive male yang (Reese, 2003). Both are complementary to each other, each is essential to attain fulfillment, each is incomplete without the other. This gave the women in China empowerment but Confucius placed the women at a much lower rank. The underlying belief of many cultures is the assumption that men and women have different roles to play and accordingly possess different capacities. This to some extent helps to understand the gender roles or the set of behavioral norms associated with men and women. It explains the position of each sex within the family, the legal rights, the public status, education, and the function in society. More often than not, it results in suppression of women and their desires. Basow (1992) argues that women worldwide have a lower status than men have (cited by Chia et al., 1994). Doubts linger whether subordination of women is natural and has always existed or it has been imposed by culture. Different cultures look at women in different ways. In China, male dominance is deep-rooted. The Chinese women have always been submissive – first to their father, then the husband and finally to the son. Marriages are arranged in China unlike America where couples meet, date and now even live together before deciding to get married. Upon marriage, in China, a woman becomes the property of the man and has to surrender to the extended family. Men can have another woman but a widow is not allowed to remarry in China. Foot binding, widow chastity and selling unwanted daughters were common practices. Until recently, girls were not allowed to study at schools, and were not allowed to work except as nurses or maids, which means mobility was restricted to a family setting. Globalization and western civilization has brought about great changes in the lifestyle and attitude of people. As recently as 1993, while women had started working in the corporate sector, no woman held the position of power or status in either the public or private sector. Women were supposed to work in allocated sectors like the silk weaving mills. These practices were challenged by the early 20th century in the wake of reforms and revolutionary movements. During the Cultural Revolution equality between sexes was assumed but post 1980 modernization, women were once again urged to return to their traditional roles at home. Today 80 percent of women work outside the home but habits dies hard. Despite legislating equal rights for women, they are still secondary to the man; they are still expected to be child bearers and home-makers. The Chinese women are not allowed to speak with their mouths wide open, as it is a societal requirement. The American culture is largely based on the British culture with influences from other parts of Europe. In America, both men and women are conscious of equal rights and new laws have been passed. Gender equality certainly does not imply progress of a nation or change in culture. The traditional gender roles of male and female have been challenged by legal and social means (Wikipedia, 2006). Today there are no legal restrictions on women to take up any position except the military. Despite this, there are cultural inhibitions surrounding certain roles. Men still do not take up full time homemaker roles; women still are associated with receptionist and nursing jobs. As per Averre (1998) gender roles in the American society have been clearly defined. Rules are understood and unconsciously followed. It is the fear of disrupting the functions that have always happened, that people continue to follow them. This does not mean changes have not taken place. Today the society is heading from the safety of the familiar to the hazards of the unknown. For instance, living together before getting married has become commonplace in the society and is no more frowned upon. People have the freedom to think and act as they wish. Religion, socio-economic background, family environment, differences in culture all contribute to the thought construct in any society. In the male dominated society, in both the eastern and the western world, men through the ages have defined the ideal beauty and body image. Men reflected a lot of status by having a wife who fit the ideal of that time, according to Barbara A. Cohen (1984). Women attempt to conform to what others find pleasing and attractive and also what she perceives them to consider pleasing and attractive. (Orbach, 1983, cited by Barbara A Cohen). They measure the women’s worth by these standards. The women’s body is advertised and sold as a product in the west. They are used as super models to sell one product after another and selling beauty, perfection, and even happiness. Media contributes to sending negative images of women in the west. Women identify themselves with the body and give more importance to it than the intellect. As a contrast, in the eastern world, the female body is depicted according to a very constant ideal of beauty, which evokes sensuousness, fertility, and auspiciousness. Differences in culture and the socio-economic background cannot be eliminated. The Chinese have always been more conservative than the Americans but there is a global desire to strive for equality. The Chinese women have suffered so much of oppression against the men that they do not prefer the masculine and independent men. Men still desire to play the dominant role, which means no society has yet been able to give equal status to women. In every culture, men are still urged to excel and women encouraged to be good mothers. Despite women’s liberation movement, it is hard to imagine gender equality if women are treated as objects of sensual pleasure, if women are blamed for teen sex, if single woman is frowned upon, if women continue to be dependent and desire ‘masculinity’ in a male partner, if women distrust themselves and lack faith in their own selves. References: Averre B (1998), Gaining an Understanding of Today’s Gender Roles in the Forum of Sexual Behavior in American Society, 29 March 2006 Cohen A Barbara (1984), The Psychology of Ideal Body Image as an Oppressive Force in the Lives of Women, URL:< http://www.healingthehumanspirit.com/pages/body_img.htm> 29 March 2006 . Bodley J H (1994), An Anthropological Perspective, 29 March 2006 Carlyle T (1998), Destiny: The culture of China, 29 March 2006 Chia et al., Cultural differences in gender role attitudes between Chinese and American students, 29 March 2006 Mead M (n.d.), GENDER AND SOCIETY, A matter of nature or nurture? 29 March 2006 Reese L (2003), Gender Difference in History Women in China and Japan, 29 March 2006 Wikipedia, Culture, 29 March 2006 Wikipedia (2006), Culture of the United States, 29 March 2006 Read More