'Conflict of Cultural Expectations\r'

'Social expectations argon something every person faces. No matter unrivalled’s g completeer, ethnicity, or class, every genius feels instancy to make a certain way, and I believe one of the or so defining character traits is whether one chooses to conform to these hearty pressures or to pave his or her aver travel guidebook in invigoration. Despite the existence of loving norms in every culture, certain cultures hold these expectations in over oft(prenominal) higher regards than others, and breaking such social laws give the gate have detrimental consequences.In Women of the Silk and Jasmine, we see numerous characters of social expectations of women, as well as the different ship canal in which the women characters respond. This gives us insight into their individual specialisations and weaknesses, specifically involving how they cope with the struggle in the midst of what they want and what is evaluate of them. In Women of the Silk, there is great signific ance displace on expectations of women, specifically in China circa 1920’s, including pressures to alive a certain lifestyle and behave in an appropriate trend at all times.The differences between how women react to these pressures is first of all depicted by the secernate between Pei and her older sister Li. eon from my new-fashioned American perspective Pei is intelligibly the stronger, more estim commensurate of the two, this is quite opposite from the traditional Chinese perspective of the time. Li is a principal object lesson of the idol wo gentleman from the Chinese culture perspective. She is, by nature, a dutiful and submissive girl, who wishes to please others and stick to the placement quo. This is evident by means ofout childhood, and continues as she gets older and is judge to marry.In stock, Pei is curious by nature, always asking questions and desire answers, despite world reprimanded frequently for doing so. Li’s resistless nature and Pei’s bold, defiant manner ar revealed throughout the novel, beginning with their childhood. For example, whenever the two girls play together, Pei is always the one running ahead and therefore stopping to wait on her sister. Pei asks questions which Li sedately answers, and while Pei explores her surroundings, Li is content to sit unbosom and quietly.One passage on page 19 of the school text reads, â€Å"…Next to [Pei], she could hear Li’s til now breathing and feel her calmness. Li’s give rested quietly on her knees, while Pei’s felt the ground beside them for boththing that would make the water splash. ” This example depicts the dissimilarity between the two girls’ personalities and creases Pei’s quirkiness with Li’s contentment. This difference between the sisters is earthshaking in that it is the factor that ultimately dictates which of them their initiate, Pao, get out influence to send to work in the s ilk factory.After visiting a fortune teller, who predicts that Li will get marital however is unsure of Pei’s fate, Pao decides that Pei is better desirable to work at the factory, as there is no guarantee of being able to marry her dispatch and lighten the family’s financial burden. Consequently, Pei’s life is set in motion on an whimsical path, and one that certainly does non conform to the standards and expectations of women at the time. Li’s subservient nature is gain proven later in the novel, when she marries a much older farmer simply because she thinks it is what is evaluate of her. charm her father does non sop up her to marry the farmer, she does bothway because it is what she is â€Å" sibylline” to do, and she assumes it will please her family. Likewise, she still does non go back to her family when she finds out that her new husband is unfounded and abusive, as women are expected to be square-blue to their husbands no mat ter what. Although this trait of being passive and obedient is considered to be a positive impute within her culture, it is one that seems to come at a much larger price than it is worth.While Pei may not be overjoyed to be send to the factory, I would consider her fate far less tragic than that of Li’s marriage to the farmer. Just as Li’s compliance remain with her as she matures out of childhood, so does Pei’s curiosity. At the silk factory, Pei asks questions earlier to Lin, who answers them with a kind of patience and willingness that Pei is not alter to. Pei’s impulsive nature is exposed once again when she decides, on a whim, that she wants to go through the hair dressing ceremony with Lin.Pei and Li’s mother, Yu-sung, grew up in a family that allowed her to forego social expectations for women and instead encouraged her lively spirit and curiosity. However, when she marries, she faces much heavier social pressure to become quiet and sub missive. or else than refusing to conform to these expectations, she adapts to the fullest extent. Now, as we see by her allegiance to Pao, her entire disposition has changed drastically since her childhood. Yu-sung never states her thoughts if they conflict with those of her husband.For example, although she does not necessarily agree that Pei should be sent to work, she would never utter a single backchat of protest, especially to Pao. While in our culture it is expected that a married couple make classical decisions together, Yu-sung does not get involved in any critical family decisions throughout the novel, no matter how powerfully she feels. This isn’t to say she is apathetic by any means, as it is revealed upon Pei’s return how much she really cares.However, it does show the high priority she places on fulfilling her roles as a woman and a wife mightily and in the way anticipated of her. Another example of a character that, like Pei, reacts to conform to social norms and expectations is Auntie Yee’s daughter, subgenus Chen broom. Chen Ling is portrayed as a charismatic attraction among the girls at the silk factory, and it is made evident that she lives according to her own expectations of herself preferably than pressure she feels from others and/or golf club in general.For example, Chen Ling is the first to decide to go through a hair dressing ceremony, clearly showing that she likes to pave her own path in life rather than taking a reside someone else has already paved. For this reason, although Chen Ling is not a particularly sociable character, she captures my respect and confusion throughout the novel. The intensity of the pressure placed on women in this culture is difficult to comprehend in this day and age. However, the character in the novel that helps me erupt a better understanding of the true force behind these pressures is Mei-li.Mei-li faces her family’s expectation of her to marry the man they ch ose for her, whether love exists between the two or not. She besides faces nine’s expectations, which dictate that sex alfresco of marriage is inexcusable. All of the stress and weight of these pressures are what ultimately drive Mei-li to commit suicide. In this example, it seems to me that Mei-li’s actions are less representative of her own character, but rather say more about the society as a whole.Her suicide calls attention to the impairment in the existence of such extreme pressure and inequality that is assailable of causing someone to end their own life. In Jasmine, the main character, Jasmine, shows characteristics of both strength and weakness. The expectations she faces are moderately different between the Indian background she comes from and the American culture circa 1980’s in which she becomes immersed, and she handles them in different ways as well. The first time we see Jasmine refusing to follow the â€Å"gender rules” of society i s when she kills Half Face in chapter 17 of the novel.She mentions that this is not her first time being raped; it has happened on many other accounts before. However, this time, rather than act in a submissive manner again as one would expect of an Indian woman, especially one so badly frightened, Jasmine loses control of her calm facade and brutally kills her rapist, referred to as Half Face. The second instance I notice in which Jasmine is nonconforming in regards to social norms is when she stays at the house of the Vadhera family.Rather than care her thoughts to herself, she takes matters into her own hands and is open about being unhappy there, which ultimately leads to her moving to New York. If she had not made anyone else aware of her depressed feelings, Jasmine would have stayed true to her role as a traditional Indian woman, at the expense of her true hopes and dreams. In contrast to these examples and to what we had learned throughout the book of Jasmine’s somew hat rebellious nature, one might argue that she â€Å"settles” when moves to Iowa and stays with Bud.Although she is not in love with Bud, she stays at first because he is good to her and because she feels pity for him. However, when Taylor shows up to bring her back with him, Jasmine’s true change shine through again, as she is unwilling to abjure herself happiness to convenience others or satisfy their expectations of her. While it may be mistaken as selfishness that leads her to behave this way, I think of it more as a strength. Jasmine is able to claim her own life by refusing to conform to the social expectations of her Indian culture or of American ulture. While characters from these two novels approach societal expectations in different manners, I think the aforesaid(prenominal) is true in every culture. There will always be a large contrast between those who go after what they want and refuse to be deterred by social pressure versus those who would rather fo ld to authority and please everyone around them. While there are assets to be found in both types of women, it is the â€Å"Chen Ling’s” and â€Å"Jasmine’s” that the world seems to remember and adore.Everyone has fears, and when we see someone able to throw fear to the wind and behave as they wish rather than as they believe they should, it is fractious not to admire that person. From my perspective, people like Jasmine, Pei, and Chen Ling, who chase happiness and refuse to abide by social dictations, should not be ashamed in the least. Rather, those such as Li and Yu-sung, who conform to their roles so completely that they deny themselves of happiness in the process, desire to learn their self-worth and realize that they are smart and capable of thinking for themselves.\r\n'