Twice Oppressed - A Feminist Discussion on Maxine Hong Kingston＇s Novel The Woman Warrior: Memoirs o

摘 要：從女性主義角度分析湯亭亭的《女戰士》中無名氏姑媽的悲慘命運，并深入剖析了造成無名氏不幸的根本原因在于男權主義對女性的文化壓迫和心理壓迫。

關鍵詞：女性主義；壓迫；男權主義

作者簡介：李斐， 女，浙江寧波人，寧波大紅鷹學院助教，主要研究方向： 后殖民文學。

With the publication of Kate Millet's Sexual Politics， feminist criticism became a challenge to the traditional norms of English studies in the 1970s. Millet initiated the first modern principles of feminist criticism by embarking upon a critique of sexist assumptions in male-authored texts and introducing some of the fundamental terms， such as \"patriarchy，\" which gained considerable significance in feminist literary studies. In her studies， Kate Millet claims that patriarchy as an institution is a social constant so deeply entrenched so that it runs through all other political， social， or economic forms whereby that half of the population which is female is controlled by that half which is male. The principles of patriarchy appear to be two-fold: the male shall dominate the female， and elder male shall dominate younger.

Ruth Robbins in her recent work Literary Feminisms， lists among the oppression women have endured by being \"formed under patriarchy，\" which can be categorized into three parts: physiological oppression， cultural oppression and psychological oppression. Especially the physiological oppression of women is hardly avoided. In the following paragraphs， the author focuses on cultural oppression and psychological oppression of Chinese women in The Woman Warrior.

The title of the first chapter is \"No Name Woman\"， which refers to the low social status of the Chinese woman， and indicates her oppression in a patriarchal society. Without a name， you are， literally， a nobody. \"Disregard for women is deeply rooted in the thousands of years of feudal history\" (Zhang 19). It is well known that all girls did not have names in China in ancient times. Only when she was married did the woman acquire a name; a name which consisted of the husband's surname and the Chinese character \"shi.\" There is nothing to distinguish these women from each other besides their surname. On the other hand， men have different first names that are named by their parents with best wishes. Different names of women and men embody the inequality between men and women and men are superior to women. Cultural oppression is the first oppression of patriarchal society

In the novel， no name women's husband leaves China to seek his fortune in America， which is referred to Gold Mountain. During her husband's absence， no name woman commits adultery， an affair which is met with hostility by the other villagers. Even worse， she bears an illegitimate child and refuses to give the name of the child’s father: \"She kept the man's name to herself through her labour and dying; she did not accuse him that he be punished with her.\" (18). Therefore， all the evil consequences are fall upon no name woman’s shoulder， and the man who has adultery with her escape from the punishment. As a result， she becomes alienated from family and society. Villagers hate her because she probably brings disaster to the village. What's more， her family ignores her totally as her adultery behavior humiliates the fame of the whole family. No name woman is abandoned and deserted by all the people， so she has no way to go but drowns the infant and herself in the family well. However， in the villagers' eyes， her death is not enough to pay back her adultery affair. They look for the most brutal way to treat the weak woman.

Nobody holds a memorial ceremony for her or sacrifices and renovates her gravestone. Nobody is allowed to mention her name. After her death， no name woman continues to be discriminated against and accused both by her family and the villages. From her family's side， she humiliates the honor of her family. From the villagers' side， she is accused out of superstition that she brings huge disaster to the village. Even after the family immigrates to America， her suffering does not stop. Kingston is told by her mother that \"[d]on’t tell anyone you had an aunt. Your father does not want to hear her name. She has never been born\" (21). She becomes a \"no name woman\" in deed. Furthermore， it is not enough to let no name woman die. Not only do villages and her family torture no name woman when she is alive， but they also persecute her after her death. \"No name woman is condemned to eternal anonymity for violating the stringent Chinese codes of female chastity\" (Lin 41). That is the rule to women， but not to men. As a woman， she must be loyal to her husband no matter her husband is alive or dead， and no matter her husband is faithful or not. But as a man， he can have more one woman. Even worse， it is an honor to have many wives， because only the rich can support a big family with many wives and sons. That is the fate of Chinese women.

There are many Chinese female immigrants in the novel， such as no name women， Brave Orchid， Moon Orchid and Maxine Hong Kingston， some of whom are the silent victims and some of whom fight for their rights and seeking for their identities under the oppression from both gender and ethnicity perspectives in the patriarchy society and the white-dominated America society. Their tragedies are caused by many factors and their personalities， but patriarchy is the key.

Work Cited

[1]Kingston， Maxine Hong. The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts. New York: Random House， 1981.

[2]Lin， Patricia. “Use of Media and Other Resources to Situate The Woman Warrior.” Approaches to Teaching Kingston’s the Woman Warrior. Ed. Shirley Geok-lin， Lim. New York: The Modern Language Association of America. 1991.

[3]Millet， Kate. Sexual Politics. Granada. (1969). 19 Apr. 2008 .

[4]Robbins， Ruth. Literary Feminisms. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2000.

[5]Zhang， Ya-jie. “A Chinese Woman’s Response to Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior. ” Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: A Casebook. Ed. Sau-ling Cynthia Wong. New York: Oxford. 1998.