Assault or Love

In “No Name Woman” by Maxine Hong Kingston, she illustrates the struggles present while being raised in a traditional Chinese family. The narrator is an American-Chinese woman who has a family that still resides in China. She is told a story about her aunt to whom her father does not speak about. This story illustrated a struggle that not only is present in traditional Chinese villages but in modern societies across the globe.  She is taken advantage of by a man and is left to bare his child alone and shamed. By being raped and becoming pregnant while not married has shamed the family to the point where she is not even considered part of it let alone a person. Men maintained a tremendous amount of power and exploited women with no remorse. Being brought up to obey men, her aunt “ always did as she was told”, even if it meant to shame her honor (Kingston 6). This topic is evident in the present day with adultery, rape, and sexual abuse. This not only still shames them in their family, but in society as well. As the narrator talks of the tragedy that happened to her aunt, she could not stop mentioning how disgraced her father was. I think the showed how tight knit the Chinese families were and how they truly believed in traditions and purity. They were in charge of continuing the family name and maintaining the same traditions that were passed onto them.

Rape is as present now as it was in China where the aunt’s story takes place. Men overpower women and sexually assault them for satisfaction and dominating power. Threats such as “if you tell your family, I’ll beat you. I’ll kill you” are still a psychological deterrent from turning in ones attacker (7). Although this is not the woman’s fault, she has become a victim and ultimately an outcast who has been forced against her will to perform acts. When a child is conceived through these acts it becomes and even greater problem due to its involuntary nature. There are also cases where people develop adulterous relationships and happen who conceive a child. This poses another threat to the family and to society and it is a terrible act. This act changes from rape to plain old cheating but masking the byproduct, a child, of the relationship is the hardest part. Conception requires two people and if one is not present the questions begin to arise. Threats, bribes, and love can deter people from reveling someone’s identity but the woman is usually the one who takes the brunt of the humiliation.

I believe though after finishing the short story, that the narrators aunt truly loved the person who she was having sex with. When she says, “ She kept the man’s name to herself throughout her labor and dying”, it shows that either shame or affection were present (11). Had she wanted to tarnish his name, she would have come out and said it. She was hiding it to hide the true identity of her lover. The intro raid was the only thing that contradicted my thought, but maybe the feeling was not mutual. The man who is responsible for the baby is trying to cover himself by instilling fear. Any form of sexual assault has an oppressor and oppressed, the narrator’s aunt was the oppressed.