Oppression of Women in Kitcken God's Wife

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Women always have been fighting for a way out of the Confucian shadows.” (Xiao Ma). One of the most oppressed groups through out history are women. Men have been in control since be beginning of time. China is one the countries that has oppression of women. During Han Dynasty, China had a Chinese philosopher named Confucius who has a lot to blame for the oppression of women. China follows his teachings and believes on his views, and Confucius’s teachings would be past down from one generation to the next. Most people in China would believe his teachings, but the protagonist Winnie Louie of the novel The Kitchen’s God Wife by Amy Tan would hate his teachings and not following his views, for she said, “He made everyone look down on someone else, women were the lowest!” (1). In the novel, Winnie does not realize that she followings his teaching, for she needs to learn how to be “proper” and “respectful” wife to the antagonist of the novel whom is Wen Fu. Winnie re-tells this story to her daughter Pearl Louie Brandt about her history during the period of China’s darkest years when the Japanese invaides China, and the year 14 when China becomes a communist country.


After Winnie’s mother dies, her father sends her to live with her uncle. Her uncle has two wives who she refers to them as “Old Aunt”, and “New Aunt”. At her new home on Tsungming Island, Winnie thinks no one cares about her, and the family only cares about is her cousin Peanut. “[New Aunt] wanted her daughter to get up and learn how to put a house in order, so that one day Peanut would know how to be a proper wife”(16). This is a form of oppression, for New Aunt was raised to think that in order to be a “proper” wife, you must have the skills of cleaning and cooking around the house. They think that women were raised to serve the man and to please your husband.


Another example of oppression is arranged marriages. At the New Year festival, Winnie and Peanut meets a young man Wen Fu. After a few weeks, Wen Fu offers gifts for the family, and proposes a marriage to their niece Winnie. “[…] Old Aunt announced a marriage proposal from the Wen family, not for Peanut but for me. I did not say yes. I did not say no. Nobody asked for my answer because it was not my choice to make”(166). Old Aunt and New Aunt were arranging a marriage for Winnie. Winnie did not say anything, and she did not know how to except the news because being married is supposed to be a great honor. Arranged marriages is an example of oppression, for the women is being forced to marry a man who did does not love, and this was Wen Fu’s choice, the man’s choice and Winnie being the women, could not protest. Even though Old Aunt and New Aunt approves they marriage, they still must get approval from Winnie father. “My aunties said they were taking me to Shanghai to see my father, to ask his permission for my marriage.” This is to show respect for the father, but it is also illustrates oppression, for they still need approval of a man, and the women cannot make the decision. Throughout the whole marriage arrangement, Winnie did not have a say, for it was only her father and Wen Fu.


While Winnie is at the home with her father, he asks, “‘So tell me, what do you think of this painting now?’”. Winnie did was scared of her father and did not know what to do, Winnie responds, “‘This part I like very much, […] and the features are too flat� ”. Then all of a sudden her father turns around and says, “‘From now on,’ he said at least with a stern look, ‘you must consider what your husband’s opinions are. Yours do not matter so much anymore. Do you understand’ ”(178). When her father said this to Winnie, she thought that her father was teaching her a lesson. This shows oppression because Winnie cannot have an opinion in her marriage or whenever there is a male present.


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When Winnie is staying with her father, her father’s wives help Winnie buys gifts for her dowry. One of the trips with San Ma, Winnie needs to buy dishes and silverware. Winnie thinks that her husband should obtain the best. “I picked up my silver chopsticks. I pretended to pluck a delicate morsel off a silver plate. I turned to one said, and I was imagining myself saying, ‘Husband, you eat this, the best part of the fish. No, not for me, for you, you take it’”(185). This part of the novel shows that Winnie is giving up the “best” for her husband, and that her husband must have the “best”. Because Winnie is the wife, she cannot take the best, for Winnie thinks giving the husband the best is a way of respect, but it is internalized oppression, for Winnie thinks that the man must have the best and not the woman.


Before her marriage, Peanut tells Winnie about sex stories that she hears. The story is about a newly married couple that had a problem with their sex life, for the wife was the problem. Peanut says, “if a woman has too much yin, she draws a lot more yang from her husband’”(1). Peanut was trying to tell Winnie that a woman cannot the too powerful, for there needs too be a balance of both “yin” and “yang”. Because a woman has to be gentle and kind, she cannot be powerful and have too much. Peanut was trying to imply that Winnie must be obedient to her husband.


After Wen Fu and Winnie are married, Wen Fu wants her every night, but Winnie is shy. Winnie mother-in-law taught her


To protect my husband so he would protect me. To fear him and think this was respect. To make him a proper hot soup, which was ready to serve only when I had scalded my little finger testing it. ‘Doesn’t hurt!’ my mother-in-law would exclaim if I shouted in pain. ‘That kind of sacrifice for a husband never hurts.’ (07)


This passage shows that Winnie’s mother-in-law has been oppressed because they have to sacrifice and stuffer pain for their husbands. Form her mother-in-law’s teaching, Winnie needs to sacrifice, and suffer pain for her husband. Even though Wen Fu makes Winnie suffer pain, “He made me beg for more of his punishment. I did all these things until I was senseless, laughing and crying all feeling in my body gone”(4). Winnie would not say anything because she had to sacrifice to be a good wife, but Wen Fu would still complain.


And often in the morning he would complain, telling me I was not a good wife, that I had no passion, not like other women he knew. And my head and body would hurt as he told me about this women and that woman, how good she was, how willing, how beautiful. I was not angry. I did not know I was supposed to be angry. This was China. A woman had no right to be angry. But I was unhappy, knowing that my husband was still dissatisfied with me, and that I would have to go through more suffering to show him I was a good wife. (10)


Winnie is sacrificing herself, and Wen Fu still complains, but since this was China, a woman could not be angry. Winnie could not have an opinion or thought because she was now a wife, for she must obey and listen to her husband. This makes Winnie more internally oppressed since she could not have a say in her marriage on what she wants to do with her body.


During Winnie’s marriage with Wen Fu, Winnie has a daughter named Yiku. Winnie loves her, but Wen Fu does not care about his daughter and lets her die. When Yiku dies, Winnie says, “‘Good for you, little one,’ I told her. ‘ You’ve escaped. Good for you’”(8). Since Yiku is gone, Winnie thinks it is better off for her because Winnie thinks that Yiku would have lived a life like Winnie.


Winnie is clearly in an unhealthy marriage, but is it her fault to blame that she does not stand up for herself? Is it her fault that when she asks for an advice, her friends and family would always tell her to respect the man. All of the women in China have been oppressed. They have been raised to be obedient, and they have been raised to obey and serve men. In the novel, The Kitchen God’s Wife, by Amy Tan illustrates that women are oppressed both internally and externally. “Never to criticize men or the society they ruled, or Confucius, that awful man who made that society”(5). Confucius should be blamed for the oppression of women. His views and ideas made China think that “women are less than dirt”. We wonder why women is it that women are seen in shadows of men, and women have not been seen on the same surface is men. Today women are still oppressed all over the world. When is it that society will accept the fact that women and man are equal? When will the time come for man and woman become as one, and not be seen as two?





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