Traditional gender roles in Chinese films and society

Sociological Illustration; Chinese Women

This paper is an illustration of the traditional role, as decreed by societal norms and parameters, of Chinese women...moreover, the movie will be exclusively based upon the movies, "Break the Silence,") and "The Last Emperor," which is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci. It has 3 sources.

Society, the highly evolved, intangible entity that has developed in practically absolute accordance to the highly advanced and developed characteristics of the various components world that we live in, is one of the most influentially relevant aspects of contemporary life. This is since it is this entity that is exclusively instrumental in regard to governing and influencing virtually all of our behavioral traits in addition to our conceptual as well as perceptual skills; we behave, dress, perceive and observe all aspects of our every day lives in accordance to the norms and parameters as decreed by contemporary societal trends and traditions.

Male and female stereotypes

Taking this into consideration, it if furthermore important to also acknowledge the fact that the roles that we, as members of a particular society, tend to conventionally, almost unconsciously, attribute to males or females within the society is also a decision that subtly shaped and influenced by the sexually biased preconceptions decreed by the norms and parameters of the society in particular. This inevitably leads to the incidence of what is referred to as sexual discrimination; the discrimination of an individual or mass upon the basis of the sex of the individual or mass. This is the reason due to which females are given more respect or equality within certain geographical boundaries in comparison to others; the ideological values of the society as a mass determine this.

Societal relevance of the movies Break the Silence & the Last Emperor

The extremity of this ostensible sociological backwardness or negativity is further emphasized upon and illustrated within the two movies, Break the Silence, in which Gong Li, a famous Chinese actress stars as protagonist, and the Last Emperor, which is directed by Bernardo Bertolucci.

The former is a movie that fortifies upon the deteriorative relevance of the traditional role expected of Chinese women; it depicts the painful legacy of a single mom with a deaf child and her subsequent struggles with the obstacles thrown into her path as a result of the Chinese ideology and perceptions concerning the traditional role of women. The mother is forces, so as to ensure, as far as she possibly can, that her child is not faced with hardships and insults, and weeps after her son is mocked by other children and when his hearing aid, which was expensive for the family, is smashed (China Daily, 2000).

The latter movie, the Last Emperor, is the tale of a little boy, Pu Yi who, as a result of the traditional extremity of adherence to social norms and parameters in spite of obvious discrepancies, was 3 when he first sat on the Dragon Throne as emperor of China, and was 7 when he abdicated. This movie concentrated upon depicting the obvious negativities inherent to the sociopolitical characteristics of China at the time of the publication, and is relevant to the traditional role of women in so much as effectually portraying the drawbacks of the extreme social norms (Ebert, 1987).

Conclusion

Thus speaking and taking into consideration all that has been said and discussed in regard to the traditional role expected of Chinese women, in addition the emphasis brought forth as a result of the acknowledgement of the themes of the two movies, it is quite apparent that the traditional role expected of Chinese women is one that is rather significantly influenced by male dominance and political supremacy.