Gender Identity Construction Based on Written Chinese Literature

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How Female Gender and Identity are constructed
Today, technology and science have greatly improved, making life so much easier than before. So much of our lives are being driven by science and technology that one cannot fathom how the people who had no such privileges survived. However, not all aspects of our lives have been explained by science or technology, some of the human aspects have to be observed beyond technology and the existing science. For example, gender construction in our society is a sensitive topic that goes beyond DNA tests in hospitals. Today to distinguish femaleness from maleness is surely a simple matter biologically as one will pay for a biological DNA test, and the different hormones inhibited by women and males determine the results. However, this aspect has failed several times, for example, the South African Olympic gold holder Caster Semenya and USA athlete Marion Jones. This paper is going to look at the sensitive issue of gender identity construction based on three written Chinese literature that is the Ode of Mulan, Peony Pavillion, and Injustice of Tou O.
Women under the system of patriarchy are viewed to have no self-identity and are supposed to be man’s subordinate. Women satisfaction in life lies in her roles as a mother, daughter, or even a wife. This is the same case in classical Chinese culture. A woman in Chinese culture is supposed to obey the father before marriage, obey the husband after marriage, and lastly obey the son after the death of the husband. A Chinese woman has always had mixed feelings on how they should be treated. They often struggle to be accepted in society and have the same equal rights as men. Historically the Chinese perspective on gender issue can be based on the philosophical aspects of Daoist and Confucian tradition way of thought. They both took opposing sides proving that the topic is sensitive and not as simple as people may want it to be like. This has influenced Chinese literature and films, poetry, and music take inspiration from the two traditional thoughts.
Chinese Millennials are today gaining much knowledge from watching TV, social media and the internet in general. Through films, plays, and poetry one can learn about a phenomenon. It has always been the position of the female characters in action film movies to be protected, fight over or to be rescued by the male characters. Females have existed as damsels in earlier centuries. However the modern films we have writers who are turning the tradition around. Women are taking the lead in today`s films, and they are physically imposing that women can lead too. Females traditionally have to have male characteristics for them to archive the urgency of being the lead actors. They need to be physically strong and well built like men for the paradigm to function. The final product becomes a strong female character in its literal meaning. Most portray a physically domineering “badass.” This, however, does not imply that one needs to be swept into the plot and secondly, it does not carry the traditional masculine tendencies.
Based on the Chinese literature the ode of Mulan, the movie Mulan revolves around a young woman who takes over the emperor for her ailing father. She fights in the army pretending to be a man. In the midst, she outshines the male soldiers' counterparts and helps to save China. The plot is well developed to make everyone believe that Mulan is an archetypal hero. For this to be practical, we observe that Mulan begins by establishing her hierarchy socially. Mulan first song confers that her as a soft woman. She is cleaned, clothed, and prepared like a doll to meet her matchmaker. One of the tips she is offered is that how she behaves and her manners are what is going to make her get a husband. Winning a husband was also going to bring honor to the family, and hence she has to do her best. She theatrically fans her face all in the name of impressing her matchmakers the weight of her seniors and ancestors hang on her. In short, she has been asked by her community to represent them and win them honor by fulfilling a role as a woman, and Mulan knows very well she will never be that perfect daught...