Understanding the core txt No Name Woman through using a political issue - Essay Example

Main Idea (No No Woman) The short story “No No Woman” speaks about a repressive culture where women are ed to stringent rules of a patriarchal society. Though the story revolves around the Chinese culture, the main idea of the story is that a society’s prejudice against women is universal. How they are being expected to be mere chattels of men that they cannot seem to complain about their lot. In this story, the pregnant aunt was forced to have sex, threatened into silence that when she got pregnant, the man who violated her even organized to raid her home breaking and taking everything in her house. She was a victim but the prejudices of society made her a culprit and was even penalized to be forgotten and to suffer forever. Fifty years later, her niece does not even know her name. In the story, the woman is being depicted as somebody who is helpless whose life is subject to dependency to men and opinion of society. This was also harshly enforced in the heartbreaking scenario of the story where the men who impregnated the woman was even a part if not the one who organized the raiding of the woman when she got pregnant. The pain that the woman also has to endure just to give birth was also a vivid illustration about society’s bigoted opinion on women who beget children outside of marriage. While adultery is perfectly acceptable to men, this is a taboo for women that they are even harshly penalized for committing such; a classic example of double standard. Moreso when the story narrated that society may be able to forgive a progeny that is a product of an adulterous relationship if the baby is a male. The theme also explored how a woman is valued in bigoted culture. Whose worth is always attached according to the attention given by a man, this was articulated in the story No Name No Woman “to sustain her being in love, she often worked at herself in the mirror, guessing at the colors and shapes that would interest him, changing them frequently in order to hit on the right combination. She wanted him to look back. “ Yet, there was no mention in the story how the men should prepare themselves to make themselves attractive to women. Clearly, the theme also showed how one-sided a relationship can be. The rest of the story is an elaboration or a catalogue of how repressive and punitive society can get towards women. That for a moment of indiscretion, which is viewed as perfectly okay with men, she will be forgotten as if she never existed and to suffer forever even after death. Poignantly illustrated in the context of Chinese culture that no one offered her paper replicas that will take care of her spirit except for a niece who does not even know her name. Indeed, the title suited “No Name No Woman”. Recent Political Issues that Relates with the Theme a) http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/07/yemen.bin.laden.wife/index.html This is a news article from CNN which best reflect and elaborate the story’s core theme in a more contemporary time. This is about Osama bin Laden’s youngest wife, Amal al-Sadah whose circumstance for marrying Bin Laden articulates the core theme of the story of how a woman is not valued. The woman’s background has to be thoroughly considered without consideration on Bin Laden’s who has terrorized the world. There was no mention of love not even compatibility or companionship. Even when he sired her a child, it was even for a devious political end. While Mohammedan’s culture is respected by the writer, I cannot help but noticed that Bin Laden have five wives while the wives cannot have several husbands. While the normal circumstance for marrying a person is typically for love, this was instead arranged. The focus of the consideration is that “she was a very good overall person” and came from a “respected family”. That Osama married her because he did not want to cut his ties with his ancestral home. Reading between the lines, that the girl used to a typical happy go lucky teenager, she seemed to have not a choice and was married to a terrorist for a $5,000 dowry. This news article articulates the stories core theme of how women are subjected to men. In the story, the forgotten aunt spent a lot of time concocting herself just for the man to turn back and repeated in this news article with the woman being a convenient reason for Osama to be connected with his roots. Also, the family of the girl cannot even protest with the circumstance. The family undergo a great deal of hardship and were not even allowed to talk. Saying that it will cause more difficulty to the family than the government should they talk with the media. The first child Safiyah, was not even looked at as a product of two person loving each other but is groomed for a political end. That she will kill enemies of Islam like her namesake, a Jewish spy at the time of the Prophet. b) http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/12/15/egypt.sex.film/index.html?iref=obinsite Sex is a normal human biological activity and the urge and pleasure is equally felt by both genders. In this news article, the issue of talking about sex that it is slowly becoming more acceptable in Egypt became big news. While it might seem unusual for an Egyptian man to be talking about his intimate matters, it is still a novelty for a woman to talk about her sexuality. Likened to the theme of the story “No Name No Woman” where women are not free to express their sexuality. That looking for a suitable partner seemed to be just a prerogative of men and that she can consider herself lucky if she has a partner that she wants. Because more often than not, as implied in the story, she really does not have a choice to refuse a man who would want her. This is to a certain degree articulated in the news article that there seems to be a discomfort, at this time and age, for a woman to enjoy her orgasm in Egypt. In the story of Maxine Hong Kingston,”the feelings playing in one’s guts not be turned into action. But just to watch their passing like cherry blossoms.” She may desire a man, but she is not free to enjoy it just like the news article. If she does enjoy it and more especially outside of marriage, the penalty is so grave that she is made to suffer forever even after death to the point that she will be forgotten, her name never to be mentioned and without any paper replicas to be offered to comfort her soul. The penalty, as articulate in No Name No Woman, is to make her “always hungry, always needing, she would have to beg food from other ghosts, snatch and steal it from those whose living descendants give them gifts. She would have to fight the ghosts massed at crossroads for the buns a few thoughtful citizens leave to decoy her away from village and home so that the ancestral spirits could feast unharassed.” All the while, the men can have their women, even in an adulterous set up, that even the use of force and threat seemed to be acceptable. c) http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/05/08/libya.rape.case/index.html?hpt=T1 This is the case of Eman Al Obeidy, a lawyer who garnered worldwide attention for her vocal rape allegations against the regime of Moammar Gadhafi1. Her story best articulated one of Maxine Hong Kingston’s No Name Woman in the passage that depicts violence against women “the other man was not, after all, much different from her husband. They both gave orders: she followed. "If you tell your family, I'll beat you. I'll kill you. Be here again next week." No one talked sex, ever. And she might have separated the rapes from the rest of living . . . I want her fear to have lasted just as long as rape lasted so that the fear could have been contained. This was best illustrated in Al Obeidy’s case where she was threatened and even accosted when she spoke up against the rape of Gaddafi’s 15 men at Rixos Hotel. If not for the attention of the media, she would have disappeared for speaking against Gaddafi just like many others. The repression in the “No Name No Woman” gained sophistication in the Al-Obeidy case because she was first discredit as a whore and emotionally unstable to die down the issue. But when her family fought back with the support of the foreign press and explained that Obeidy is an intelligent and educated (a lawyer) woman only did Gaddafi’s government stood down against its allegation. Though obviously insincere, only did the Libyan government said that it will investigate the case and will file for charges. Despite of this however, Al Obeidy still fears for her life knowing that she has to flee for Tunisia. And the rape case, despite the brandishing of Gaddafi’s regime that it will investigated, have not gone far. She also had not been able to go home2. But obviously, the parallelism can be drawn that even at this day and age, there are still societies that think they can do anything against women and can get away with rape by threat and intimidation. Read More