Submission in the Golden Age of China

During the Song Dynasty women were once again placed under a very strong patriarchal society. Under the Tang dynasty the women of the time had many more freedoms allowed to live outside the house. These dynasties existed one right after the other. Economic changes and a return to Confucianism lead to a  more restricted life style for aristocratic women in China.

The Song dynasty was very economically prosperous. Technological advances lead to increased food and products which allowed them to support their growing population.  Women were removed from the process of making silk cloth, by more industrialized processes being used. This removed women from their position of power in a couple of ways; they no longer had control over the most lucrative part of the silk making process, and more women were working in other industries including the sex trade. That may not seem like a significant influence upon aristocratic women this influenced aristocratic women's influence on their husbands.

Confucianism places women in subordination to males, and emphasizes the need to separate women from men. Women were expected to be "docile" and subservient under Confucianism if there was to be order in the world.  In China during the Golden Age of the Song dynasty women were kept in inner quarters and their beauty was enhanced by the binding of their feet. This binding while supposedly making their feet look beautiful made it difficult if not impossible to walk for long distances. Mothers did this to their children to ensure that they would be attractive to the husbands. I found it interesting that this was also one way in which they tried to compete against the consorts and concubines the husband had. I guess one will resort to all kinds of discomforts when power is removed and you need to do anything you can to regain control of some part of your life.

This portion of our text reminds me of  "The Handmaids Tale" a dystopian novel by Margaret Atwood. She writes about a women in a future society that has removed the rights of women. In her novel Atwood is telling how quickly women's rights were removed by a patriarchal society and how most women just went along with what happened to them.. In this novel only certain women are allowed to have sex and procreate. These  women have a special status, but it is a complicated relationship they are considered holy ( almost) but also despised. They are scorned by other women. I think considering both the actual history of China and the imaginary history of this novel that if we are to ever change into a more egalitarian relationship between men and women we will need to find a way to stop women from competing with each other for the attention of men.

Just my two cents worth.