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Perla Soto

Professor Holly Batty

English 102

12 December 2018

Gender Roles: Society Has No Business In Your Pants

We come into this world assuming that we are who everyone says we are. The moment

we pop out of the cave we receive the almighty, “it’s boy” or “it’s a girl”. We spend our entire

lives being indirectly told that we have to act a certain way because of who we were told from

birth. David Henry Hwang and Ursula K. Le Guin demonstrate to us through their literature that

gender and sexuality are the driving forces within our societies. The manner in which we

function is based on this apparent idea that a woman is dainty and submissive while the male is

masculine and physically superior. Why should people have to live up to the presumptions of

their genders?

In ​M. Butterfly ​we see the story of a romantic tragedy unfold during the time of the

Vietnam war. The main protagonist, is a white western man, named Rene Gallimard, who works

for the French Embassy. This man is fixated with the fantasy of attaining the woman who will

come through with his most wished for desires. In his eyes he has a specific blueprint idea of the

“perfect woman” and an established concept of a genuine “Oriental” woman. To this

misogynistic male the perfect woman is submissive, she is self-disciplined, and has the will to do

anything for her male dominant. This so-called perfect woman is willing to do anything and

whatever it takes to help reach satisfactory level with the male dominant. The will of the
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submissive woman could be shown by the way she decides to dress, from her staying quiet and

only speaking when it is necessary, or by doing things that are unknown and uncomfortable to

her. The time and place where the story of these lovers begins is at the opera. Here is where

Gallimard is immediately intrigued by a performer who was playing the role of Madame

Butterfly, a Japanese woman, who falls in love with a western man in the navy. The man leaves

the woman and she commits suicide. Fascinated by the performance Gallimard goes to look for

the actress who goes by the name of Song Liling. At first impressions Song is not too fond of

Gallimard. To him Madame Butterfly is a beautiful story because the woman committed an

honorable sacrifice for a man who was “unworthy” of her unlimited supply of love. However,

Song sees it otherwise. If the story was the other way around with a skinny, mini, boobie,

blondie who falls in love with a short statured Japanese businessman it would not have the same

value. Picture him treating the woman poorly and leaving her for some time while she sits and

prays for his return. Then when she finds out that the man who she had fallen for has married

another woman, she kills herself. This version of the story would not be glorified by Gallimard

because it is not an Oriental woman who ends her life for a western man (Hwang 18). Even

without having to see the roles changed in that story it is difficult to grasp the concept of

someone sacrificing their life for a person that will inflict emotional pain onto you and not have

any remorse for their actions. What makes the story even worse is that the woman falls in love

with a married man; how is betrayal and heartbreak beautiful? Within this love story are two

people who are both at fault for letting the events escalade to drastic extremes such as, suicide.

This is a perfect example of what a woman should not do. Sure, women are allowed to be dainty

but, that does not mean that she should be easily swoon over by little words that may or may not
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be true. For instance, being told that she is the love of his life even though he is a married man.

In addition, the male in the situation could have avoided all the conflict by telling the woman the

truth and not being so harsh as to leaving her to suffer without a care about how his actions will

affect her.

The truth about the perfect Oriental woman is revealed to the audience when we are told

that Song Liling is really a male spy taking information from Gallimard for the communist

government. It is interesting because although it was all an act, Song never broke character. In

the scenes where she appears without the accompaniment of Gallimard she continues the female

facade. Song is a male who wears clothing that is for “women” like dresses and skirts and things

along those lines. Dresses in general are comfortable so why is it a problem that she wears them?

If Song is comfortable in clothing that is feminine based then she should be allowed to wear it.

When dressed in the feminine clothing Song shows confidence whether it is through her

sexuality or her general way of portraying herself. There is a segment where her fellow Comrade

even protests about the dress she wears; perhaps deep down Song is a cross dresser. She keeps up

the act for over twenty years without ever being questioned by Gallimard. Song pleases

Gallimard without ever showing him what lies beneath her clothes. Many times he would ask her

to show herself to him, but the idea was brushed off by Song reminding him of her conservative

ways. Even though he never got Song to take off her clothes he would still get what he wanted;

she seduced him and acted like his slave.

For humans it is a normal thing to refer to someone as he or she which is what Genly Ai

does in ​The Left Hand Of Darkness t​ o cope with the concept of people not having a specific

gender. In this novel a human is plonked on a planet where the people are androgynous beings.
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Gethenians, which are the residents of the planet, choose to have either male or female sexual

organs for certain days of the month; that is called kemmer. Most of the time they are genderless.

Ai makes the effort to understand and come to terms with the whole idea of gender amongst

people not existing. Imagine living in a place where comparing oneself to the opposite sex is

nonexistent. The one person who he struggles to accept is Estraven, who is the protagonist of the

novel. This conflict relates to our society on how there are people who are not accepting towards

specific genders and to sexual preferences of certain people; such as transgender or bisexual. He

feels hostility and lacks trust in Estraven. In his sexist male point of view there are feelings of

suspicion and inhibition towards someone who feels concern and classifies them as feminine

qualities. On the contrary, features that astonish him or the things he finds to be satisfactory he

classifies as masculine (Cornell). Since the androgynous beings are nothing like his known

customs it is difficult for him to picture a world where a specific, binary, gender is obsolete. Ai

attempts to grasp and clarify the world that is around him. He does so by showcasing his own

culture and using his prefered way of communicating; it is all to make this new world more

relatable and simpler to live in. Although he is trying to get a better understanding of this world

he does it in way that changes who the Gethanians truly are solely for the purpose of him not

feeling uncomfortable with them. As his journey takes place he learns that he should not judge

only on what he sees. The main issue we are presented is the overall struggle Ai faces with

accepting and understanding who Estraven is. It is known that Ai is not fond of Estraven, but

eventually a connection made between the two. It is possible that in the beginning Ai found

interest in Estraven due his soft female-like features and his masculine character when taking

part as prime minister. However, he was afraid to see the reality of Estraven’s true self. Ai
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pretended to not see Estraven for who he was; both a woman and a man. The problem originally

arose from Ai’s need to categorize Estraven in a definite gender rather than just as a person.

People should not be judged on their quirks or certain characteristics they may have, but rather

for their actions and how they treat others in general life situations.

Ultimately, from both works of literature a lesson was learned. Both ​M. Butterfly ​and ​The

Left Hand of Darkness ​demonstrate that it is okay to for a male to be emotional and be in touch

with an inner feminine side. There is no shame in loving whoever it is you love. Also, that a

bond between two people should not be undermined because it makes a third party

“uncomfortable”. We are all made as individuals, with our own thoughts, and each of us have

our own feelings. No one should be told how they should or should not feel. Life would be much

simpler if people did not have labels of confinement, which are genders. Picture the simplicity of

being neutral and not having to think about these black and white concepts. There would be no

need for anyone to assume superiority towards anyone else. If we were to strip ourselves of our

skin, besides the reproductive, and genital organs, we would look and be the same. Under the

skin we are all made of the same materials. If we could simply ignore genders and sexuality we

would have more room for the things that matter the most. Issues like sexism and discrimination

would be less or practically become nonexistent.

The need to have fixed gender roles and sexuality comes from the notion that people have

to be put into categories. We live in a world that is the complete opposite to that of ​The Left

Hand of Darkness. ​In the world we live in people get classified as males or females, gay or

straight, transgender or pansexual, etc. Along with those classifications come the assumptions of

how a person has to act. Gender roles within our societies reckon how a person should act,
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articulate, groom oneself, and dress accordingly to their given sex. Women, for instance, have to

dress in a way that meets the feminine standards, they have to be mannerly, and be the nurturing

figure. Men on the other hand, are strong, show no emotions, and they are the ones who contain

the power. If a person wants to dress a certain way, wants to love a certain person, and do

anything in particular they should be allowed without a problem. The ability that a person has

should not be determined by the gender they were given when they came into this world. If a

male wants to wear a dress or skirt he should be allowed. If the male feels sensitive for whatever

reason, he should be allowed to express his sensitivity. The life that a person wants to live should

not be compromised because of their reproductive organs. Lastly, but certainly not the least, just

because a woman is a woman it does not make her inferior to the male.
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Works Cited

Cornell, Christine. “The Interpretive Journey in Ursula K. Le Guin's the Left Hand of Darkness.”

IIS Windows Server​, Kent State University Press, 2001,

library.lavc.edu:2063/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=b137f521-a25c-4fad-b17c-28fb3276381c%40

sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3D#AN=edsgcl.82469994&db=edsglr.

de Graw, Sharon. “Review of Ursula K. Le Guin's Journey to Post-Feminism by Amy M.

Clarke.” ​Lavc Library ​, Femspec, 2011,

library.lavc.edu:2063/eds/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=b137f521-a25c-4fad-b17c-28fb3276381c%40

sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=edsgcl.82469994&db=edsglr.

Haedicke, Janet V.. "David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly: The Eye on the Wing." ​Journal of

Dramatic Theory and Criticism .​ Vol. 23..(1992): Web.<From Literature Resource Center>.

Le Guin, Ursula K.. ​The Left Hand Of Darkness.​ Ace Books, 1969. Print.

Hwang, Henry David. ​M. Butterfly.​ Longman Publishing Group, 1993. Print.

Shimakawa, Karen. "JHU Press." ​"Who's to say?" or, making space for gender and ethnicity in

'M. Butterfly.'. J​ ohns Hopkins University Press, Oct 1993. Web. <​http://www.press.jhu.edu​>.

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