Women

Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” written in 1894 and William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” written in 1930 are two stories that show major roles of women in society. Although the two stories have a different perspective of the women due to their era, they both give a great explanation of how the women were and how they were treated by other people during their time. The women in both of the stories explain how they perceive each of their own roles and how they cope with their own situations, which are much different and alike from our society today.

For many years women have tried finding their place in society, which is hard when males are usually perceived as the leaders or ones who control their wives. In “The Story of an Hour” Chopin explains the freedom of a once married woman, and how much she enjoys her freedom from being married, this story is based on the role of women in marriage and relationships. In the scene where Mrs. Mallard believes that her husband is dead after receiving the shocking news “She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same” (Chopin 106), this sentence explains that Mrs.

Mallard takes it in differently than most other women do when they find out that their husband has died. For a while, Mrs. Mallard is sad but only when she was alone “When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her” (Chopin 106). When Mrs. Mallard had abandoned herself she caught herself whispering over and over again the words “Free, free, free” (Chopin 107). This sentence showed that Mrs.

Mallard was finally free “She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring of life” (Chopin 107). The words “New spring of life” show that Mrs. Mallard had a new spring in life which symbolized freedom. “There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself” (Chopin 107), this shows that she has had enough from her marriage and wants to enjoy her freedom and not waste it on someone else, she just wants to enjoy it for herself.

Mrs. Mallard was obviously in a bad marriage “And yet she loved him-sometimes” (Chopin 107), this phrase shows that she was confused about her love for her husband and only loved him sometimes. “Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own” (Chopin 108), explains that she was just so happy to finally spend those days on her own and not have her husband to hold her back from the things that she loves, that she is finally free to do whatever she enjoys to do. At the end of the story when Mrs.

Mallard’s husband shows up at the house and as she looks at him she has a loud screeching cry and that was it. Mrs. Mallard had died of heart disease “a joy that kills” (Chopin 108). Mrs. Mallard expected to be free for the rest of her life, then after seeing her husband alive she realizes she will not have her life the way she had imagined and then she died from disappointment of not having her “Free! body and soul free” (Chopin 107) life. In the story “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner explains the anger of a lonely, unloved woman that is desperate for affection but is shocked when she does not get it.

This story plays a major role of women in society due to uncontrollable anger and revenge. Miss Emily’s lonely life begins from the death of her father which left her depressed and unloved. “She went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all” (Hemingway 117), this shows that Miss Emily cannot handle being outside of her house while she is depressed. When Miss Emily met Homer Barron in the story, she fell deeply in love with him and people said “they are married” (Hemingway 120).

After being with Homer for a while he finally admitted that, “he liked men- and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks’ Club” (Hemingway 119). In the scene where Homer had admitted he liked men and threatened to leave the following day, Miss Emily went and bought arsenic poison which showed that Miss Emily could not handle the fact that he was going to leave her. This is a typical role of women in society today because most women have a feeling of revenge when a man threatens to leave them.

For a long time after that many people were not surprised when Homer Barron was not seen for some time. In this story Miss Emily poisons her husband and kills him leaving his body in her bed for many years. The ending of the story shows the biggest part in the role of women. Miss Emily is believed that she killed her husband due to the revenge of him threatening to leave her. Miss Emily probably would have not killed her husband if it were not for her father leaving her at a young age.

As Emily grew up she only knew how to be lonely and when she found Homer she took it for granted that he was not going to leave her, and when he finally did threaten to leave her she figured that she would not want to go through loneliness which explains when they found Homer’s body in her bed. She put his body in her bed because she could not handle being alone the rest of her life and she knew if she killed him that he would have no way of leaving. From the two stories Josephine and Miss Emily both saw death as a solution to their situations.

Josephine perceived her own role as being a free woman out of marriage, while Miss Emily saw loneliness as a problem. These women did not handle or cope with their situations well at all, which is like most women today. Most women do not know how to handle situations that are very tough, especially ones that make them disappointed. In both of the stories it is the men’s fault for their deaths. Men to this day cause many women to become disappointed because men are controlling and both of the stories Josephine and Miss Emily were controlled by their husbands or, they were disappointed in what their husbands’ did.

Wonder woman is one of the greatest superheroes of all time. She was conceived as a symbol of loving femininity that would dominate the male instincts towards war and destruction; she does this through empowerment. Wonder Woman acts as a very condensed version of Charles Moulton, the creator of Wonder Woman, theories on gender and the urges of men and woman. Although misrepresenting his own theory of the humanity for men and women, Wonder Woman is the perfect allegory to Moulton’s idea that men can only be forceful and aggressive, while women are capable of both force and love. Women represent love; men represent force. Man’s use of force without love brings evil and unhappiness. Wonder Woman proves that women are superior to men because they have love as an additional force” (Steinem 345). In the Wonder Woman comic book, as a reminder of what they were put through and why they were made, all Amazons must wear bracelets that resemble the shackles they were once threatened with. Most young boys do not possess the empathy needed to put themself in the mind of an Amazon princess.

For the ones who do, are often ridiculed for having an egalitarian worldview about men and women. “No wonder I was inspired and confused by the isolationism of Paradise Island: Did woman have to live separately in order to be happy and courageous? No wonder even boys who could accept equality might have felt less than good about themselves in some of these stories: Were there any men who could escape the cultural instruction to be violent? , Steinem stated showing her empathy for young boys. This just goes to show that no matter how against the grain one may be for their time, some parts of the culture, especially in regards to gender roles, gets drilled into your head. Ignoring all of the controversy on the situation, males should be able to form their own conclusions about equality in American society today without conviction and travesty from others.

“Savitri fought with the God of Death (Yama) and succeeded in getting her husband back to life. Can you find any instance in the scriptures or history where a husband was prepared to do sacrifice for his wife? If the wife is dead, he is ready to have a second marriage. Such unfair things are happening in the world in respect of women. ” -: Sathya Sai (Volume 31, Chapter 14 ‘Glory Of Womanhood’) When we look at the Hindu mythology we see that women are supposed to be treated as Goddesses.

One of the most popular festivals of Hindus is the ‘Navratra’ in which Hindus worship Goddess Durga (the worrier goddess), Goddess Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity) and Goddess Saraswati (the goddess of Knowledge and Arts). On the last day of this festival, the daughters of the house are worshiped. But still in India we see that our society has grown so favorable towards the males. Hindu’s, even after referring to the daughters as Devi (goddess), expect a widow to jump on the pyre of the husband, a practice known as Sati.

Dowry is still date given (even after being criminalized) to the groom at the time of marriage. The Gender imbalance can be traced down to Manusmriti in 200 B. C. which lays down the duties of a woman. “In childhood a female must be subject to her father, in youth to her husband, when her lord is dead to her sons; a woman must never be independent. ” . The Manusmriti were used as a model for the framing of the Dharmashastra, which later became the local laws. Thus we can see the position of women in India today is because of century old traditions and customs.

Even though the Constitution of India promotes gender equality through the notion of Equality and secularism providing a framework to treat all its citizens equal and commands that no discrimination should be made on the bases of one’s gender , gender discrimination still exists due to the presence of various personal laws. In recent years, India has witnessed many reforms for example the abolishment of sati and criminalizing sex determination. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) amends and codifies the law relating to intestate succession among Hindus and aims to lay down a uniform law of uccession whereby attempt has been made to ensure equality of inheritance rights between sons and daughters.

It applies to all Hindus including Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs’ . The section 6 of the act is as follows: ‘Devolution of interest of coparcenary property. – When a male Hindu dies after the commencement of this Act, having at the time of his death an interest in a Mitakshara coparcenary property, his interest in the property shall devolve by survivorship upon the surviving members of the coparcenary and not in accordance with this Act.

Provided that, if the deceased had left him surviving a female relative specified in class 1 of the Schedule or a male relative specified in that class who claims through such female relative, the interest of the deceased in the Mitakshara coparcenary property shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not by survivorship. Explanation 1. For the purposes of this section, the interest of a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property that would have been allotted to him if a partition of the property had taken place immediately before his death, irrespective of whether he was entitled to claim partition or not. Explanation 2. – Nothing contained in the proviso to this section shall be construed as enabling a person who has separated himself from the coparcenary before the death of the deceased or any of his heirs to claim on intestacy a share in the interest referred to therein. For example, F (the farther who had an interest in the coparcenary property) has two sons A & B (who are also the members of the coparcenary) and a daughter D. In such a case on the death of A, D will get only 1/3 share from the share of A in the coparcenary property. While the sons A and B will get 1/3 +1/9 each. But this act remained under controversy as the laws of inheritance gave preference only class I heirs in a joint Hindu family.

This included only the male members and excluded women. Due to this women of the family could not inherit the family ancestral property. But even before the amendment took place, in states like Maharashtra, and Karnataka, women were given equal rights. Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 For a very long time female members of the family were not considered a coparcener. The family property was divided only amongst the male members of the family.

But then thanks to the feminist movements in India, the law commission of India submitted its 174th report in the year 2000: “Property Rights of Women: Proposed Reform under the Hindu Law”. In this report it was suggested that female members of the family should be included under the list of coparcenary thus giving them the right to inherit property. As a result of this report and other feminist movements, the Hindu Succession Act was amended and the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 came into force from 9th September 2005 ‘section 6 (l). Devolution of interest in coparcenary property. 1) On and from the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a Joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall,– (a) by birth become a coparcener in her own right the same manner as the son ; (b) have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son; (c) be subject to the same liabilities in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son, and any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect or invalidate any disposition or alienation including any partition or testamentary disposition of property which had taken place before the 20th day of December, 2004. 2) Any property to which a female Hindu becomes entitled by virtue of subsection (1) shall be held by her with the incidents of coparcenary ownership and shall be regarded, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force in, as property capable of being disposed of by her by testamentary disposition. (3)

Where a Hindu dies after the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, his interest in the property of a Joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, shall devolve by testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, under this Act and not by survivorship, and the coparcenary property shall be deemed to have been divided as if a partition had taken place and,- a) the daughter is allotted the same share as is allotted to a son (b) the share of the pre-deceased son or a pre-deceased daughter, as they would have got had they been alive at the time of partition, shall be allotted to the surviving child of such pre-deceased son or of such pre-deceased daughter; and (c) the share of the pre-deceased child of a pre-deceased son or of a predeceased daughter, as such child would have got had he or she been alive at the time of the partition, shall be allotted to the child of such pre-deceased child of the pre-deceased so or a pre-deceased daughter, as the case may be. Explanation. — For the purposes of this sub-section, the interest of a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property that would have been allotted to him if a partition of the property had taken place immediately before his death, irrespective of whether he was entitled to claim partition or not. 4)

After the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, no court shall recognize any right to proceed against a son, grandson or great-grandson for the recovery of any debt due from his father, grandfather or great-grandfather solely on the ground of the pious obligation under the Hindu law, of such son, grandson or great-grandson to discharge any such debt: Provided that in the case of any debt contracted before the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect– (a) the right of any creditor to proceed against the son, grandson or great-grandson, as the case may be; or (b) any alienation made in respect of or in satisfaction of, any such debt, and any such right or alienation shall be enforceable under the rule of pious obligation in the same manner and to the same extent as it would have been enforceable as if the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 had not been enacted. Explanation.

For the purposes of clause (a), the expression “son”, “grandson” or “great-grandson” shall be deemed to refer to the son, grandson or great-grandson, as the case may be, who was born or adopted prior to the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. 5) Nothing contained in this section shall apply to a partition, which has been effected before the 20th day of December 2004. Explanation- For the purposes of this section “partition” means any partition made by execution of a deed of partition duly registered under the Registration Act, 1908 or partition affected by a decree of a court’ The main objective of this act was to include women in the category of coparcenaries so that even the female members could inherit property under any circumstances which could lead to a situation of where the family property is being divided amongst its members . The author submits that this amendment gave women the right they deserved and which had been denied from the very beginning.

This amendment also opposes Section 23 of the original act, suggesting omission of the same as it does not permit any female heir to ask for a partition. In the earlier act only a male heir could chose to have a partition. The amendment on the other hand does not interfere with the special rights of those who are members of Hindu coparcenary except to provide rules and certain other regulations for division of interest of a deceased male. The Author also submits that the anomalies which still persist are because of the retention of the core essence of the Mitakshara joint property system. The system believed that making daughter coparceners would affect the share of other Class I female heirs like the deceased’s widow and mother.

This would be because the coparcenary’s share would in fact come from the Class I female heirs. Another problem is the fact that coparcenary remains a primary entitlement of the males in the house. By this system the male heir is put before the female heir as this legal set up provides that the male heirs should inherit an additional independent share over and above what they inherit with the female heirs. In the case of a ‘Hindu female dying without a will; her property divides first to her husband’s heirs, then to husband’s father’s heirs and finally only to mother’s heirs; more or less this property of a Hindu female is well kept and maintained within her husband’s hold. ’ .

The Roman epic of Virgil’s Aeneid describes the hardship and misadventures of Aeneas and the Trojans quest from Troy to Italy. Like Homer’s famous epics, the Iliad and , Virgil’s narrative style and structure portrays similar attributes in the finding of Rome. Aeneas encounters several women on his journey who play a significant role throughout this epic in assisting or destroying his journey to Rome. His representation of female characters provides the readers with a better understanding of gender politics and reasons why some female leaders failed.

Each of Virgil’s female characters demonstrates a combination of traits throughout the epic; however, such behaviors of these women tend to develop unwanted conflict due to emotions. Like in every great story the female characters tend to have a enormous influence on the main character in both positive and negative ways. The first female that Virgil introduces is Dido, the queen of Carthage, in Book I of the Aeneid. Virgil provides evidence that Dido is a strong and powerful leader. “In her stride she seems the tallest, taller by a head than any At the door…

Of the goddess’ shrine, under the temple dome, All hedged about with guards on her high throne, She took her seat. “. This statement illustrates just how supreme and crucial she is. Virgil portrays Dido with a goddess type of image. Not only did she rule Carthage with a strong hold, but she also provided fairness and equality. “Then she began to give them Judgments and rulings, to apportion work With fairness, or assign some tasks by lot”. This quote certainly demonstrates Dido’s type of rulership.

Even though, she is commanding the people of Carthage to do their duties, which provides evidence that she is feared because the people do as she says without questioning her demands; she distributes the work evenly and fair throughout the citizens. Usually people would assume that the men go to the king for help or advice, but ironically, the men of Troy, leaded by Aeneas, were taken to Queen Dido for help. “When suddenly Aeneas saw approaching, Accompanied by a crowd, Antheus and Sergestus And brave Cloanthus,1 with a few companions…

He was astounded, and Achates too Felt thrilled by joy and fear:” I feel as though Aeneas and his men did not know what to expect when they came forward to Queen Dido. They were nervous of what was going to happen. Until Dido laid eyes on Aeneas. In every great epic, love plays a key role in bringing people together but also destroying plenty in its way. Even though Dido is characterized as this powerful leader, she slowly starts to fall as her passion for Aeneas starts to grow.

As Aeneas tells his story to all the people, Dido slowly starts falling more and more in love with Aeneas. Throughout this Book you slowly start to see the demise of Queen Dido. “Towers, half-built, rose no farther; men no longer trained in arms… Projects were broken off, laid over, and the menacing huge walls with cranes unmoving stood against the sky”. Virgil provides images of how Carthage is being affected by the downfall of Queen Dido. Dido is so infatuated with love that she cannot see how she is running Carthage to the ground for the love of Aeneas.

The goddess Juno, the queen of gods, saw this as an opportunity to keep Aeneas from reaching Italy. Dido even broke her vow of chastity and surrenders to her desires for Aeneas. “Dido had no further qualms as to impressions given and set abroad; She thought no longer of a secret love but called it marriage”. This statement demonstrates how she is becoming weak-minded. She is starting to trick her mind into making something that she knows is not moral in her eyes, into something that seems right. Only to find out that she will regret it in the end.

When Mercury, the messenger god, reminds Aeneas that his destiny is not in Carthage and that he must leave for Italy immediately, Aeneas is not too excited to leave Dido, but he knows he has to obey. Dido at first was furious and cursed Aeneas, “Midway at sea you’ll drink your punishment and call and call on Dido’s name!… and when cold death has parted.. you will pay for this! ”. As soon as Dido realizes that he is gone forever, her emotions transform from furious to depressed and lost. She decided to make an impulsive decision and goes to the extreme of commits suicide.

The title for Book IV tells it all “The Passion of the Queen,”. Queen Dido was supposedly known for being this powerful, supreme, strong minded leader, but her passion for Aeneas turned her soft. She put her responsibilities before love and did not see that Aeneas did the complete opposite. He loved her but he knew what he had to do. I feel as though her importance in the epic was just a distraction for Aeneas to reach his goal. Book XI, Virgil presents another female character that holds power like Queen Dido. Camilla, the warrior queen of the Volscians, who just joined the Latins to provided assistance in the war with the Trojans.

Camilla shows a lot of strong, composed, and leadership like qualities just like Dido in Book I. Vergil’s epic portrays Camilla’s true powers and strength, “Amid the carnage, like an Amazon, Camilla rode exultant, one breast bared for fighting ease, her quiver at her back, At times she flung slim javelins thick and fast, At times, tireless, caught up her two-edged axe”. Unlike Dido, Camilla is does not seek love or passion, she is aware of what her duties are and acknowledges that she has to complete such duties. Camilla remains powerful because she has no distractions.

Before Aeneas came into Dido life, she had full control on Carthage and all her focus was placed on that; therefore, her land thrives under her leadership. However as soon as she encounters Aeneas, she becomes distracted and slowly starts to lose her commanding hand on Carthage. But no one is perfect. Camilla is given this pure and righteous image by Virgil until she also gets distracted. After slaughtering many opponents with her javelin and axes, Camilla’s eyes get caught onto this one Tuscan warrior named Arruns and was left dumbfounded. Camilla Began to track this man, her heart’s desire Either to fit luxurious Trojan gear On a temple door, or else herself to flaunt That golden plunder Blindly, as a huntress, following him… she rode on through a whole scattered squadron, recklessly, in a girl’s love of finery”. As soon as Camilla laid eyes on this stunning man, her whole mindset changed. Arruns notices and takes advantage of the situation and slays her immediately. Both females were killed by love and lust. Another female that had a huge impact on Virgil’s Aeneid was Juno, the queen of gods.

Juno despises the Trojans because of Paris’s judgment against her in a . She is also an advocate of Carthage, “And Juno, we are told, cared more for Carthage Than for any walled city of the earth,” and knows that Aeneas’s descendants are destined to destroy Carthage. “But she had heard long since That generations born of Trojan blood Would one day overthrow her Tyrian walls, And from that blood a race would come in time”. This causes hatred in Juno towards both Aeneas and the Trojans.

Throughout Aeneas’s journey, Juno releases her anger on him to make his quest more of a challenge. Juno was the cause of the storm in the beginning of Book I because she summoned Aeolus, the god of winds, to cause an enormous storm while Aeneas was at sea. Vergil provides example of Juno being a manipulative, grudge holding, evil Goddess. In order to stop Aeneas quest to Italy, Juno uses the love Aeneas has towards Dido to her advantage. Juno came up with a scheme to convince Venus to get Aeneas and Dido alone so they can marry and the Trojans and the Tyrians would inally be at peace, even though that was not her true intention. “Aeneas and Dido in her misery, plan hunting in the forest… My gift will be a black rain cloud and hail… As Dido and the Trojan captain come to one same cavern… There I shall marry them and call his her, a wedding, this will be”. That plan failed when Jupiter found out of such horrid behavior and sent Mercury, the messenger god, to remind Aeneas of his true mission. The goal was to keep the idea of him leaving Carthage a secret from Queen Dido, but she eventually finds out.

These get Juno even more furious towards Aeneas and his Trojan men, but she does not give up with her plans to halt Aeneas quest. In Book VII, Juno instructs Allecto, one of the Furies, to create a civil war between the Trojans and the Latins. “You can arm For combat brothers of one soul between them, Twist homes with hatred, bring your whips inside Or firebrands of death. A thousand names Belong to you, a thousand ways of wounding. ” This statement demonstrates how badly she wants to end the Trojan empire and see Aeneas fail.

The importance of Juno’s role in Virgil’s epic is that she is Aeneas mortal enemy and will do anything to stop him in his path. Not only does she dislike Aeneas but anyone that is from the Trojan descent. Virgil’s representation of female characters provides the readers with a better understanding of gender politics and reasons why some female leaders failed. Each of Virgil’s female characters demonstrates a combination of traits throughout the epic; however, such behaviors of these women tend to develop unwanted conflict due to emotions.

Dido was so possessed on the idea of her and Aeneas falling in love, that she did not see how she was burning her city, Carthage to the ground. Camilla, drowned in lust as she laid her eyes on Arrun, causing her to put her guard down and effectively getting killed. Juno is so blinded by hatred towards Aeneas and the Trojans, that she makes it her mission to delay his journey. Virgil demonstrates how a female ruler brings too much emotions with her ruling, while a male ruler can run things smoothly without any distractions.

Mary Crow Dog was a Native American who wrote the book Lakota Woman as her autobiography.  She was a half-blood Sioux Indian.  She was born on the year 1953 and lives at the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation located in the state of South Dakota.  Her given name was Mary Brave Bird.  She became Mary Crow Dog after marrying Leonard Crow Dog, a medicine man and a spiritual leader of AIM or American Indians Movement who is also responsible in reviving the ancient Indian culture and ceremonies including the sacred but outlawed Ghost Dance.  To date, Mary Crow Dog has already one daughter named Jennifer and three sons including her first child Pedro and the two from her husband, which they named June Bug and Anwah.  Lakota Woman was one of the two books authored by Mary Crow Dog.

The book Lakota Woman started in a light manner where Mary begins to teach the readers some facts, which are not commonly known by many of us.  Ethnically speaking and as taught by Mary, Sioux was divided into two parts: the eastern and the western.  Eastern Sioux was called Dakota, and the Western Sioux was the Lakota.  It was almost the same except that Dakota people cannot pronounce the letter “L”.

Technically, Lakota was a formation of a seven tribes in Western Sioux also known as seven Sacred Campfires.  One of the tribes was the Brule Tribe or Sicangu in a Lakotan language, which is also known as Burned Thighs, and which Mary described as great warriors as they were during their times.  In this tribe Mary Brave Bird belongs.

It was in 1870 and 1880 when the Brule Tribe along with other Sioux were forced to put in a reservation camp and trying to create new people living in an Americanized way including living without horses and hunting which Indians are born to live with.

Lakota Woman was merely a full-blown and a first-hand account of Mary’s life.  She collectively told everything she has experienced.  She said that it was really hard and difficult to survive in any reservation camp, especially growing women like her.  She lived fatherless in a one-room cabin inside the Rosebud Reservation.  There she stated stories of some Indian women close to her whom she known was undergone maltreatment and injustice practices such as making them infertile against their will, beaten by their husbands or any men, brutality from American authorities, and the worse scenario of being murdered.

Mary’s experiences in a Catholic boarding school were more of a distressing one rather than making happy memories.  At her young age, she found out that being an Indian female is only a third-class human being.  Inside the boarding school, teachers and nuns were trying these Indian girls to be Americanized, got whipped and beaten whenever found any disobedience practices in accordance to their upright monastery standard, which includes practicing their native customs, values and language.

Her adolescence was even worse especially when she decided to step out of the boarding school.  She confessed her life was even more miserable as she got hooked into drinking and smoking, used drugs, victimized by poverty, racism and cruelness of the outside world.  Mary was 14 then when she got raped.  Age 17 when Mary finally had the best decision of joining the American Indian Movement where she participated right away in the 71-day long Wounded Knee standoff at South Dakota.  Then she married Leonard Crow Dog.

When her husband was arrested, Mary Crow Dog began empowering herself and made herself vigilant in her own way knowing that most Americans were trying to kill their old native traditions, religion and the ancient Indian heritage as a whole.  Her active involvement in the AIM was getting stronger and stronger as she learned to be a public figure, delivering public speeches, informing the public about the mission and vision of their movement.  While helping Leonard endure his prison life, she eventually established a new strength as she traveled to gain support for their advocacy of fighting for the rights of American Indians.

Although the Lakota woman was originally wrote as an autobiography book having personal accounts of Mary, it has to be consider one of the essential pieces of history volumes because it noted numerous historical facts and events that are important in American Indian history.  For those who have scant knowledge about it, especially in this modern generation, reading Lakota Women would be a great help.  Our interests in Indian stories should not just stop by having a fascination with it because there is more in reality, which contains the good and bad sides of it that we have to know and understand well.

R E F E R E N C E S

Dog, Mary C. Lak

The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976), was written by a Chinese-American author named, Maxine Hong Kingston. It is said to relate the “real” stories of Kingston’s life. (Wiley Publishing.).

It tells about the clash of culture between Chinese and American, which is why this book became very interesting. As a Chinese who was born and grew up in America, she was exposed to “American culture.”

Americans are more liberal; men and women have equal rights to everything, and they live a very advanced, fast paced life. But it wasn’t easy at all for Kingston, because she was bounded by the rules of Chinese culture enforced by her mother, who in the story, is named, Brave Orchid.

Brave Orchid refused to adapt American culture, and she sees good traditional values of Chinese as ideal, so she made her children learn English instead. In order for the children to become flexible to speak the English language, she had their tongues “cut.” (Passage 3.).

So Kingston grew up with a very strong-willed mother, and this made her hate the “weak side” of females; she even confronted a Chinese girl for not speaking when told to speak. (Passage 5). She thinks that being “silent and weak” to show femininity of Chinese women is totally pathetic. (Passage 4).

Being Americanized, she wanted to be strong, to be equal with men, and to be free from the rigid culture of her origin. She doesn’t want to end up like her nameless aunt who killed herself and her baby because she committed adultery. She must have been a rape victim and there are other ways to solve her problem. Worst part is, the weakness of Chinese women is shown because her aunt was treated as if she never existed. (Passage 1.)

Her nameless aunt gave her the inspiration to write The Woman Warrior, because it haunted her. (Passage 2). In order for Kingston to appreciate her origin and the American culture she loves, she made a song to unite both culture as a way to remind herself to be grateful of both. (Passage 6). Everyone of us has his or her own origin. We can just learn to accept our heritage because it is a part of us. Our origin is our blood and we are identified distinctly because of it.

There are a lot of ways to positively infuse the culture of origin into the new culture we live in because of continuous evolution of humans. There’s nothing wrong with adapting a modernized culture as long as the moral values of one’s origin is kept as guidance to act ethically.