In this piece, the speaker, who is also the author, is a Chinese girl who resided in the US. The author talks of how she was mistreated by her family and by her bosses.
She talked about how her family seemed to put little value to her because she was a girl and this was the view of the Chinese towards daughters. Growing up, she believed that being a naughty child, or a bad girl, made her more of a boy. She refused to act the way the Chinese believed a girl should act-- obedient and not tough at all. She was also a victim of racism at times at work. Towards her bosses, she would rather lose her job than follow orders that would make her go against her better judgment. What Kingston, the speaker, would do was compare herself to the strong, non-stereotypical woman, the woman-warrior. Kingston wanted to be seen as a strong and independent woman.
I would agree that every woman wants to be seen as strong and independent, so I understand where Kingston is coming from. The difference is that Kingston's case is much more extreme than mine because of the Chinese culture. She did, however, mention that the Chinese do also think that girls are necessary. Of course they would think this, after all, you cannot have sons without mothers, right? But when I read this part of the piece, I felt like I saw that Kingston, though she was making it seem like she did not care that her family, or even her country, treated her so unjustly, did want to feel accepted. Therefore, even though she seemed to be fighting with a "me-against-the-world" attitude, because she was a woman and Chinese, she always knew that she was still loved by her family and honored by her country, though they would never admit this.
She talked about how her family seemed to put little value to her because she was a girl and this was the view of the Chinese towards daughters. Growing up, she believed that being a naughty child, or a bad girl, made her more of a boy. She refused to act the way the Chinese believed a girl should act-- obedient and not tough at all. She was also a victim of racism at times at work. Towards her bosses, she would rather lose her job than follow orders that would make her go against her better judgment. What Kingston, the speaker, would do was compare herself to the strong, non-stereotypical woman, the woman-warrior. Kingston wanted to be seen as a strong and independent woman.
I would agree that every woman wants to be seen as strong and independent, so I understand where Kingston is coming from. The difference is that Kingston's case is much more extreme than mine because of the Chinese culture. She did, however, mention that the Chinese do also think that girls are necessary. Of course they would think this, after all, you cannot have sons without mothers, right? But when I read this part of the piece, I felt like I saw that Kingston, though she was making it seem like she did not care that her family, or even her country, treated her so unjustly, did want to feel accepted. Therefore, even though she seemed to be fighting with a "me-against-the-world" attitude, because she was a woman and Chinese, she always knew that she was still loved by her family and honored by her country, though they would never admit this.
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