Of the many things that struck me in Kingston's piece "No Name Woman," I was really intrigued by the details about Chinese standards of beauty for women. The little remarks here and there by Kingston, in the voice of our narrator, truly painted an interesting portrait of feminine identity. Although not alien to traditionally Western constructs, it seems that great pains (literally) were taken in cultivating a young woman's appearance before her marriage. These painful rituals included threading -- the process of shaping/grooming one's eyebrows by using a "depilatory string" (2748), foot-binding (see link below), and freckle-removal to create a perfectly clear complexion, as the narrator suggests her aunt did with a needle and peroxide. Once the husband had been attained, however, such attentions were no longer necessary; I gather this from the mention, "at their weddings they [women] displayed themselves in their long hair for the last time" (2748). After they were married, and the women's hair was cut "in flaps about their ears or pulled. . . back in tight buns. . .neither style blew easily into heart-catching angles" (2748). So much feminine identity ---before and after marriage-- was (is!) wrapped up in hair and the removal of it..
Perhaps I am inferring too much from the text, but wife modesty seems to be (or had been, as in "No Name Woman") the most important part of womanhood in Chinese tradition. The fact that a woman's hair was cut immediately after her union to a man shows that her hair is, culturally, a significant part of her identity and sexuality. Since attentions are made to keep it short/modest, it can be understood that a woman's hair is what lures her lover, so to speak. Society deems that this sexual provocation is no longer needed once the woman is off the market. Thus our narrator's speculation that "at the mirror my aunt combed individuality into her bob" (2748) despite her being married is quite dangerous and scandalous, because this individuality is simultaneously seductive and destructive -- it "invites" unwarranted masculine attention. With this attention, coupled with this expression of sexual liberation, however minute, is perhaps what lead her to her potential rape. The village people recognize this and punish her for it.
Minimizing efforts of beauty means an exercise in restraint, in order to avoid unwarranted masculine attention, and perhaps to prevent the entire village from pillaging your home, as in the case of Kingston's story. Kingston warns us that beautiful, individual women were and continue to be "dangerous" to society.
A YouTube video I found on Chinese Foot Binding:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtut9TGzbfk
Eileen, your post was incredibly intriguing to read! I especially love your insight on how women in Chinese culture would keep themselves groomed and beautiful before marriage, but afterwards those beauty rituals were not seen as necessary. My question for you is do you think those same standards apply to our present American culture? So often I come across magazine articles that talk about wives "letting themselves go," as if their body image means nothing after they get the husband they made themselves attractive for in the first place. Do you feel that this connection is prevalent to what Kingston portrays in her story? I now find myself wanting to research the extreme beautification processes done by women in American culture so I can further explore this idea of beauty for the sake of matrimony.
ReplyDeleteOh man, I really hate this phenomena of wives "letting themselves go" --as though it's their sole duty to maintain their physical appearance for their husbands. I think this connection is very prevalent to what Kingston is saying. Women's beauty is being written off as something to be done for men, rather than an extension of a woman's agency/expression/individuality. If you do research this, keep me in the know! I think extreme beautification processes are fascinating -- plastic surgeries, body modifications, etc. How strange the rituals we put ourselves through.
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