Introduction
M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang, Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El-Saadawi, and Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi support feminism. The authors of the three books advocate for women’s rights by championing that a wife and husband are co-partners in marriage and no one is superior or inferior to the other. Feminist advocacy aims to end injustices worldwide by advancing women’s rights.
The writers are fighting for better treatment of females, which is contrasted by the story’s setting. Empowerment and gender equality of girls and women is a goal that is significant to sustainable development, peace and security, and economic growth. The essay examines how feminism is portrayed in the three books: Hwang’s M. Butterfly, El-Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero, and Satrapi’s Chicken with Plums.
Treatment of Women in Society
Chicken with Plums
In Chicken with Plums by Marjane Satrapi, for example, Nasser-Ali’s wife battles with her husband to look after Ali Khan, as she would be working on the weekend. She says, “I work all day, Mina Farzabeh and Reza go to school, but he (Nasser Ali) takes Ali Khan with him to Mashed” (Satrapi 10). Traditionally, the wife must be looking after the child; however, in this situation, the gender roles have transformed.
Nasser-Ali plans to go to town to make the tar his wife broke, and he is being asked to go with his son, Ali Khan. He often played the tar and formulated beautiful music using it (Satrapi 77). At first, this was good until it became an obsession for Nasser-Ali. He even took his son to their neighbor’s often and left him there to get time to play his tar (Saadawi 40).
It led to the wife becoming angry, breaking the tar, and Nasser-Ali being spiteful and devastated towards his wife. He said never to forgive his wife for breaking his tar (Satrapi 43). It implies the negativity and disrespect he had towards women.
Woman at Point Zero
In a similar perspective, in Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El-Saadawi, René Gallimard demonstrates that the sexuality of a woman is her influence as Firdaus encounters the authority in her sexuality. Gallimard may utilize the sexual economy to her advantage in transforming gender roles.
M. Butterfly
However, in M. Butterfly, the author questions why women must be treated disrespectfully (Hwang 15). She asserts that women who allow themselves to be treated with disrespect are fools. She sarcastically interrogates why women may end their lives for men. It is something she thinks is outdated and says, “Now, I believe you would consider this girl to be a deranged idiot, correct? But because it’s an Oriental who kills herself for a Westerner…” (El-Saadawi 8). It implies that women do not respect their lives and kill themselves for men who treat them poorly.
Men’s Attitude Toward Women and Gender Inequality
Moreover, gender inequality in society, law, and culture in which women and men have different levels of respect and rights based on gender and sex, which is depicted in their unequal access to and enjoyment of rights and the embracing of stereotypical societal and cultural roles. M. Butterfly, Woman at Point Zero, and Chicken with Plums are books meant to enlighten readers on the outcomes of gender inequality in society. They provide them with diverse characters that assist them in seeing how this vice paved the way for domineering over girls and women, abuse, and social oppression.
Nawal El-Saadawi has portrayed men as having a superior mentality, which has contributed to oppressing women in society. At the same time, David Henry Hwang shows that men subject women to control and command due to their love for them. She says, “But my uncle told me that all husbands beat their wives … woman was not supposed to complain about her husband. Her duty was perfect obedience” (El-Sadaawi 59). The dynamics of concepts on gender and power can be explored through the books. Additionally, men seem to dominate or control the association between women and men; hence, women do not seem to have the authority or power that men assert to have.
Woman at Point Zero
In the book Woman at Point Zero, El-Saadawi talks about how men unfairly stigmatize women and harass them. For example, men close to Firdaus were often sexually abusing her. The events transpired at the time she was a child and decided to end her life on the gallows (El-Saadawi 29).
The problems emerged because she was a woman and was treated differently by her parents. She endured sexual abuse at the hands of her uncle, whom people considered a good person. Firdaus’ uncle married her to an older man aged 60 years, a widower at a tender age (El-Saadawi 31).
She had never experienced any enjoyment or a happy life throughout. She decided to abandon her husband due to the frequent physical torture he inflicted on him. Firdaus’s father has command and control over her mother; the husband influences Firdaus and her uncle. The sort of power is referred to as oppression due to its nature.
Further, Firdaus acknowledged that she seemed to accept equal treatment as men. However, she generally did not struggle for her rights. She was a strong woman, even though she was viewed as weak due to being a woman (El-Saadawi 31). She emerged as a passive woman to fight against the sexual abuse perpetrated against women, including her passive acceptance of the death penalty. She says, “Everybody must perish… rather die for a crime I did than for one of your crimes” (El-Saadawi 111).
This has illustrated her view against men in society, as they disrespect women. In addition, she portrayed her fight against oppression from men when she asserted that her skin may be soft, although her heart is hard and has a lethal bite (El-Saadawi 54). Most people, specifically men, considered her incapable and helpless to resist what they did to her because she was a woman. However, she emerged as a strong woman who could kill anyone who injured her. No one knew she had devised a scheme to destroy men who despised her.
M. Butterfly
In the M. Butterfly book, Hwang portrays the theme of sexual politics that underpins the others, developing tension between the genders. The author subverts conventional sexual politics themes by interrogating the nature of gender and contemplates what constitutes a man or woman. The factors blend to offer a wise evaluation of feminism, an evaluation of women’s roles in Eastern and Western societies concerning men, and an exposure to gender inequalities in both cultures.
The striving for authority, both intellectual and sexual, between female and male characters, specifically Song Liling and René Gallimard, is dominant in the book and up to the last scene, when it ends in the Japanese ceremonial suicide or René’s seppuku (Hwang 23). The book explores feminism through different untraditional views, analyzing both genders, and draws attention to their common attributes and features through discussion, deft dramatic approaches, and character study.
Furthermore, Hwang creates a message that goes beyond the boundaries of drama and functions in real life. The three witnesses efficiently and effectively embody the playwright’s voice, examining the subjects of his play and making observations concerning the plot. The three witnesses represented one woman and two men; by performing so, he stresses that men are essential in Western cultures because they have two voices compared to a single view of the woman.
In addition, the author identifies the significance of sexual education as revealed in the woman’s testimonial, “I thought the French were ladies’ men” (Hwang 25). It means inherent sexism, a belief that French men may woo any woman regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, or social status. The misapprehension is repeated during the play, articulated by different characters through deeds and words.
Conclusion
In conclusion, feminism is the social movement that champions female human rights, justice, equality, and independence. Feminist models, as the means for women to strive for their rights, are connected to racial and class conflict, as well as significant gender conflict. It implies that feminism and class struggle share similar premises, devastate the hegemony and dominance system, and oppose weak persons against strong people. Feminists refute injustices contributed to by a patriarchal society, philosophy, and history that have made women heterocentric and male-dominated subjects and disciplines egocentric.
Works Cited
Hwang, David H. M. Butterfly: Broadway Revival Edition. 3rd ed., Penguin, 2017.
Saadawi, Nawal E. Woman at Point Zero. 4th ed., Zed Books, 2015.
Satrapi, Marjane. Chicken with Plums. 2nd ed., Pantheon, 2006.