I Believe paper...

The Oppression of Women: Past and Present

In western culture, women have a very prominent roll in society. There are women going to college and becoming doctors, lawyers, Chief Executive Officers of very prominent companies, and there are even women running for president. However, our modern beliefs are an exception to many other cultures around the world. In the middle east, the Taliban are oppressing the women of Afghanistan by forcing them to wear a chardri when going outdoors, and things that possibly took away all rights that women had; especially an education. The oppression of women in society is not only a current issue, women during the Cultural Revolution in China were deprived of an education as well because that society's thought was that women would not need an education because all they had to do was have sons and run the household. Since the women of these cultures do not know any better, they would have no idea of the power an education could give them.
In the book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, the two main characters, Luo and the Violinist teach a little Chinese seamstress how to read. Learning how to read opens up a whole new world for the little seamstress and sheds new light on things in the world around her.
“When she’d finished reading she sat there quite still, open-mouthed. Your coat was resting on the flat of her hands, the way a sacred object lies in the palms of the pious. … ‘This fellow Balzac is a wizard,’ he went on ‘He touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger and she was transformed, carried away in a dream. It took awhile for her to come back to earth. She ended up putting on your wretched coat on (which looked very good on her, I must say). She said having Balzac’s words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent.’”(pg. 62)
In reading the words of Balzac the little seamstress was able to realize the feeling of intelligence and how it feels to have knowledge that was not available to her previously.
By teaching her how to read, Luo and the violinist were able to transform the little seamstress’s world. Through the books that Luo read her, her thoughts changed in that she learned about western culture and the things that the women could do in the west with an education.
“’She’s gone,’ I said. ‘She wants to go into the city’ he said. ‘She mentioned Balzac.’ ‘What about him?’ ‘She said she had learned one thing from Balzac: that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price.’” (pg. 184)

In this passage, the little seamstress leaves her mountain village because from Luo reading Balzac to her, she learned that she can be so much more than just a mountain seamstress, especially with proper education. With a proper education, the little seamstress is able to accomplish many things just as women in the Middle East would be able to overcome their oppression if they were able to have an education of any kind at all.
In Afghanistan, the women are oppressed so much by the Taliban that many of the women have to live in fear that if they do not follow the rules of the Taliban that they will be killed. In the book, My Forbidden Face by Latifa, the author gives an autobiographical account of what happened to Afghanistan once the Taliban took over. She also tells about her life as a young girl who thirsts for knowledge, and the opportunity to learn and become successful as a significant part of society.
“This time they’re really killing us, all girls and women. They’re killing us stealthily, in silence… All women are affected, from the youngest to the oldest. Women may no longer work: This means a collapse of medical service and government administration. No more school for girls, no more health care for women, no more fresh air… Women, go home! Or disappear under the chadri, out of the sight of men.”

In this case, the women know what a treasure that they are being deprived of. They know that education is a special gift and that knowledge is a precious thing to waste. What the women of Afghanistan don’t realize is that because they have acquired what little knowledge they were able to attain be fore that they could make something of themselves. However, because of the Taliban’s strict ruling over the women, they have to live in fear of their own knowledge.
In both books the women are being deprived of a decent education because of the governments. In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress besides the fact that she lives in a rural village in the mountains, the little seamstress was not able to learn how to read because under Mao’s law, all books are banished except Mao’s little red book. In Afghanistan, the women had the knowledge; they just had nowhere to go with it. They were oppressed in many other ways besides their education; they were stripped of their individuality. Since I have been influenced by western ideas and thoughts I believe that the women of China during the Cultural Revolution and the women of Afghanistan had/have the potential to live beautiful and well educated lives. However, because of their government being afraid to educate women they were never given the chance to live that life that they so wished for and deserved. Like the quote from Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress says, “a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price.” Beauty in this case would be the intellectual mind and that the intellectual mind of a woman is a treasure that can have no price.

Winter

Soft blanket of snow
Memories lingering still
caress a cold corpse

In this haiku, there are different images that come to mind while in this small moment. The first line gives the imagery of serene open area covered with a white blanket of snow. Continuing on, the second line gives the idea that there is a nostalgic feeling or memories of being in the snow and the final line gives the poem a cynical twist. The memories caressing a dead corpse changes the entire mood of the poem from sweet and peaceful to slightly dark and depressing.

Voices in the Wind

In the middle of spring when all of the flowers in the royal garden were in full bloom the Chinese imperial family was blessed by the birth of a set of beautiful, healthy baby twins; one boy and one girl. The Emperor and Empress were so excited by the birth, since twin births were very uncommon, and having a set of twins was considered to be an honorable blessing by the gods. The twins were considered a miracle birth among the villagers; the Emperor and Empress had the village fortune teller decide suitable names for their children. She decided to name the boy, Wei-Shan which means greatness because she foretold that he was to accomplish great things in his future. The fortune teller named their baby girl Mei-Li, which means beautiful or pretty, because the infant would grow up to be beautiful inside and out, so much so that she would be the envy of all the women in the land and the fantasy of all the men.
As the children grew, they became inseparable, and they loved to play in the garden of the palace with each other. Wei-Shan would taunt all the fish in the pond and Mei-Li would pick flowers and scold her brother for being mean to the fish. However, the children’s boundaries were the high stone walls of the palace they were told not to ever go beyond the palace gates. So to get around this, their favorite thing to do was to climb the palace walls and sit on top and watch the villages go about their daily business; buying, selling, and trading items for necessities like food or fabric for clothing. So many times did they both wonder what it would be like to be a villager.
When the children grew into their teenage years, Wei-Shan started training to become emperor so that he could ascend the throne when their father died. The emperor was so happy when his son was born because that meant that the royal line would continue within their family. Wei-Shan was doing very well with his training going with the foretelling at his birth that he would accomplish great things. Mei-Li was also living up to her name, she had become one of the most beautiful women in China, and her glowing personality could be felt by all who were in her presence; suitors from far and wide came to ask for her hand in marriage she wanted none of them. Her family told her that she had to find a husband and the New Year’s festival or she would bring great dishonor to her whole family, this distressed her especially because that was the night that Wei-Shan would be presented as the heir to the throne. Ever since her brother had started his training, everyone’s energy was pretty much focused on him so it gave her opportunities to sneak out of the palace and roam the village. Mei-Li loved to roam the village; she loved to hear the chaos of the carts going back and forth, watching the children play in the marketplace.
One afternoon as she walked through the village marketplace she turned a corner and saw her uncle talking to another man. Right when she was about to say hello she over heard them talking about her brother. Her uncle has always been jealous of her father because since he was older, her grandfather chose her father to ascend the throne after him. If her brother had not been born, he would get to rule but since she and her brother had been born his chance at the throne was gone. As Mei-Li listened to the two men’s conversation, she heard them plotting to kill her brother at the New Year’s festival that night!! Right when they were going to present Wei-Shan on the balcony of the palace as the heir to the throne they would attack and hopefully kill the Emperor as well. When Mei-Li heard this she ran back to the palace. She searched all over looking for her father, when she found him she said, “Father!! You and Wei-Shan are in great danger!! We must not go the festival tonight!!” her father looked at her puzzled and said to her, “my child why must you make up stories?” Mei-Li tried to protest, but before she said anything she stopped not wanting to tell her father that she had been going to the village she said, “If you don’t believe me, I’ll prove it tonight at the festival.”

The New Year’s festival was always one of Mei-Li’s favorite festivals there were beautiful lanterns that hung from wires above, the streets smelt of wonderful New Year’s treats and there were people everywhere. Usually Mei-Li would be so excited but not this time, after her father didn’t believe her earlier this afternoon she was determined to protect both him and Wei-Shan from her uncle.
In the palace everyone was rushing around trying get Wei-Shan properly dressed for the presentation ceremony. While in the waiting room Mei-Li told one of the head maids that she wanted to speak to her brother the maid nodded and quickly rushed the other attendants out of the room. When they were gone she told her brother what she heard in the village earlier. Wei-Shan was instantly worried, “What should I do?! I don’t want to die!! Mei-Li!! What do I do?!?!” Mei-Li calmed her brother down and said,
”Shhhh!! I have a plan let me wear your robes and veil. I’ll go and be presented as you” Wei-Shan looked at her confused and said, “but what if they try to kill you?” Mei-Li looked at her brother and said, “There’s no time to explain just give me your clothes and make sure father doesn’t go outside.” She was right, there was no time Wei-Shan quickly gave her the robes and veil and rushed out to find their father. Moments later the attendants came back to present her as heir to the throne thinking that she was Wei-Shan they opened the doors and the crowds went wild. Mei-Li took a few steps out the door and suddenly an arrow filled with poison hit her straight in the neck the poison rushed through her body and she fell to the ground dying instantly. All the attendants ran outside to pull the body of what they thought was Wei-Shan inside; at that same moment the doors to the waiting room flew open and the Emperor and Wei-Shan came rushing in. The attendants looked up and saw Wei-Shan and were very confused, they lifted up the veil of the body and gasped. When Wei-Shan saw the limp body of Mei-Li he ran over and cried, “She did this to save me! She risked her life to save me!” The emperor looked at the body of his dead daughter and began to cry, “She tried to warn me,” He said, “I thought she made it up.” The emperor told his guards to go find his brother and bring him to the palace; the guards nodded and ran off. When they returned, with him they threw him in the palace torture chamber. The emperor rushed down to the chambers, he looked his brother straight in the eye and with sorrow and pain in his voice said, “My daughter is dead, because of you I am shamed to call you my brother, you have shamed our family name and you have brought pain and sorrow to my family. Since you are my brother, I will not kill though that would satisfy me, I want you to leave this land and if I hear any word that you were near this province then I will kill you.”
The next day the entire palace immediately began preparations for Mei-Li’s funeral. She was to be buried with the ancestors and she was to be dressed in the traditional funeral garments. Everyone was rushing about the palace in preparation, everyone except Wei-Shan. He had taken the death of Mei-Li the hardest out of anyone, for weeks after her death he could be seen just sitting in the garden underneath Mei-Li’s favorite blossom tree sobbing and asking, “Why? Did you do it? Why did you save me?!” He vowed to himself that he would become the best emperor ever and he would make Mei-Li proud of him.
In the years following, Wei-Shan finally ascended the throne and the first thing he did was place a plaque in the garden right underneath the tree with Mei-Li’s name and it also said the Buddhist saying, Life is instantaneous, and living is dying. Wei-Shan became one of the best emperors that the province has ever seen but every so often the palace attendants would find him sitting beneath the blossom tree in the garden, talking to Mei-Li and listening to her voice through the wind.

Hi Everyone!!!