The Girl from Hunan addresses the struggles that women face in a feudal society that was China. Married off at a young age, Xiaoxiao is not even aware of the man she will marry (Canby, 1988). Through her story, it is possible to understand the daily struggles that rural women face at the hands of fellow ladies and men. The Girl from Hunan comprehensively covers gender issues that exist between men and women, which result in women being a disempowered group

The film excels in identifying the struggles that young brides face in the households of their husbands. Xiaoxiao takes care of not only her husband but the family at large. Notably, they took on a parental role as the husbands they married were mere toddlers (Congwen, 2007, p. 83). Although both parties were young, being married off to a suckling child meant taking on maternal roles, which they were apparently not ready for. The young girl even wakes up in the middle of the night to soothe her husband, Sonny, who is sleeping in the bosom of his mother (Congwen, 2007, p. 83). Worse still, the mother-in-law leaves all of Sonny’s responsibilities to Xiaoxiao when he turns five. In the film, the labor that Xiaoxiao is subjected to as a housewife and young bride only intensify. To this extent, the film succeeds in convincing the viewers that Chinese wives were expected to complete their gruesome daily chores and still make time for their husbands. The film effectively showcases the struggles that young girls experienced in the households of their toddler husbands.

Conversely, society is lenient towards men to whom it confers a lot of power. Men decide the fate of the women and execute them despite the shortcomings of women arising from their engagements with men. At one point, an adulterous widow is caught in an affair with another man. The furious villagers eventually drown her, as was the punishment. However, the man gets off on a lighter sentence of having his legs broken to curb his immoral ways (Canby, 1988). Comparatively, Xiaoxiao gets pregnant from a sexual encounter that she has with a farmhand (Canby, 1988). In the end, it is decided that she is to be married off. However, there is no effort to find the man, who had fled his responsibilities. Suffice to state, the society is chauvinistic. Again, men are taken care of by their wives. Although both parties work, it falls on the girl to nurture her husband until he is old enough to marry her (Congwen, 2007, p. 1929). Equally, in Xiaoxiao’s uncle, alongside other men, decide her fate.Men, even when in the wrong, receive a lighter sentence and partake in subjecting women to harsh punishments.

Again, in a repressed society, women crave modernity, which they are advised against. Xiaoxiao hears infamous stories about the Coedswho exercises in public and sang western music (Congwen, 2007, p. 89). The prospect of even seeing these Coeds excited her. The thought of also joining them as an escape from her grim circumstances is evident that Xiaoxiao felt her social life was oppressive. It is possible that men understood the attractive prospect of straying from the norm and warned them. In most of her interactions with the grandfather. Xiaoxiao was cautioned that this educated populous would make her a maidservant and she should be afraid (Congwen, 2007, p. 89). Equally, Xiaoxiao envies other young girls who go to school and are allowed to interact freely with boys. Such instances were not allowed because of the strict morals that girls were to observe. Modernity is shunned by the conservative society, making women desire the freedom that such a lifestyle avails.

Women tolerate and even promote the gender oppression that they face. Xiaoxiao does not have any objections when she is married off by her uncle despite her reservations about being a mother bride (Congwen, 2007, p. 82). Further,the film is excellent at portraying this notion through the relationship between Xiaoxiao and her mother-in-law. Xiaoxiao mother-in-law is anything but understanding of the young bride’s fate. Women perpetrating abuse on other women could be the result of social beliefs that they have not only accepted but insist that they are followed. Notably, Xiaoxiao’s mother also rejects her after the pregnancy and only changes her mind when she hears it’s a boy. Had the child been a girl, she would have banished her son’s bride.

Conclusion

The Girl from Hunancomprehensively covers gender issues that exist between men and women, which result in women being a disempowered group.From the story, it is clear that male dominance meant that women had no control over their lives from birth to death. Moreover, as depicted in the film, men, despite being the downfall of women, got off with a mere punishment. Worse still, women were viewed as commodities that could be traded from one person to another as noted in Xiaoxiao’s story. One may conclude that men used their position and even religion, in this case, Confucianism, to justify their cruelty. The film thus illustrates the widespread gender imbalance issue that was widespread in China.

References

Canby, V. (1988). Film: The Girl from Hunan. New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/04/movies/film-girl-from-hunan.html

Congwen, S.  (2007). “Xiaoxiao.” In The Columbia Anthology of Modern Chinese Literature, edited by Joseph S.M. Lau and Howard Goldblatt, 82-94. Columbia University Press, New York.

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