Woman Warrior Response

One discussion question that I thought was Mae’s. She points out that even though we no longer actually practice binding women’s feet, women are still ‘bound’ by society. Throughout the novel, Kingston wonders about how women are supposed to fit in to society. While she doesn’t want to accept just being a housewife and mother, she cannot possibly gain acceptance by going out and saving all of China like Fa Mu Lan. When she tells the story of Fa Mu Lan, it seems to me like she wants to be able to do both: she has a husband and child, but at the same time is fighting a war. It seems that women today have the same problem: they are expected to fulfill their role as a mother but at the same time they want to be successful and independent. I think the stereotype we have for women to fulfill their motherly role holds them back in many ways, and is therefore similar to the foot binding.

I think we see the symbolic foot binding in many ways today. For example, in order for many women to succeed in the workplace they must adopt the look of a businessman, wearing the female equivalent of the business suit, because they must take the feminine element out of the workplace. Or, like Mae said, women are expected to wear high heels to be considered attractive, but this is also very similar to the idea of foot binding. But I think Kingston makes a very good point in the end of the second chapter that she can transcend these stereotypes by using her words. By writing she confronts the issue.