Female Friendship As a Way to Survive Under Chinese Patriarchal Culture in Lisa See’S Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

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FEMALE FRIENDSHIP AS A WAY TO SURVIVE UNDER CHINESE PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN LISA SEE’S SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

NURFADILA ANITA SARI

Student Number: 124214135

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2016 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

FEMALE FRIENDSHIP AS A WAY TO SURVIVE UNDER CHINESE PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN LISA SEE’S SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra in English Letters

NURFADILA ANITA SARI

Student Number: 124214135

ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAM DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY YOGYAKARTA 2016

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A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

FEMALE FRIENDSIDP AS A WAY TO SURVIVE UNDER CmNESE PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN LISA SEE'S SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRETFAN

By NURFADILA ANITA SARI Student Number: 124214135

Approved by

Elisa Da.8.S., M. Hum. August 15,2016 Advisor

Ni L:2:rtani' S.S., M. Hum. August 15,2016 Co-Advisor

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A Sarjana Sastra Undergraduate Thesis

FEMALE FRIENDSHIP AS A WAY TO SURVIVE UNDER CHINESE PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN LISA SEE'S SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN

By NURFADILA ANITA SARI Student Number: 124214135

Defended before the Board ofExaminers on August 29,2016 and Declared Acceptable

BOARD OF EXAMINERS

Name Chairperson : Dr. F'x. Siswadi, M.A. Secretary : A.B. Sri Mulyani, M.A., PhD. Member 1 : E. Arti Wulandari, PhD. Member 2 : Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. Member 3 : Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum.

Yogyakarta, August 31, 2016 Faculty ofLetters ~'<\!~,ij;!ta Dharma University \ Dean i

~~~':RIJ'P. Ari Subagyo, M. Hum.

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LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLlKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

Yang belianda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma

Nama : Nurfadila Anita Sari Nomor Mahasiswa : 124214135

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dhanna karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul

FEMALE FRIENDSHIP AS AWAY TO SURVIVE UNDER CHINESE PATRIARCHAL CULTURE IN LISA SEE'S SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data,) mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin kepada saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.

Demikian pemyataan,jni saya buat dengan sebenamya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal: 13 Agustus 2016

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STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I cel1ify that this undergraduate thesis contains no material which has been previously submitted for the award of any other degree at any university, and that, to the best of my knowledge, this undergraduate thesis contains no material previously written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text of the undergraduate thesis.

Yogyak311a, August 13,2016 ~

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“O you who have believed, seek help through patience and prayer. Indeed, Allah is with the patient.” – Quran Surah Al-Baqara: 153

“Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.” – Frank Ocean

vii

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This undergraduate thesis is dedicated to my beloved parents, to my beautiful sister, to my wonderful friends.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank Allah SWT for giving me health and strength in the whole process of writing this thesis until I can finish this thesis.

Secondly, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S.,

M. Hum. as my thesis advisor for being so patient to guide me and help me improve myself throughout the learning process of this thesis writing. I am also grateful to have Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M. Hum. as my thesis co-advisor for reading my thesis and giving me correction for the betterment of my thesis.

I would like to give special thanks to my wonderful parents for their unconditional love and support they provided me throughout my entire life, especially during my college years. I must acknowledge that I could not have done my undergraduate thesis without their prayers for me and faith in me. I also want to thank my sister for always cheering me up.

I am also grateful to my friends Kezia, Tyas, Yanzher, Dewi, Ade, and Indri for their friendship which is full of support, care, help, silliness, and happiness.

Moreover, I would like to thank Tutu Club Sanata Dharma which becomes a wonderful place for me to develop myself and create friendships which is full of memories that will never be forgotten. I also thank all of my classmates of 2012 to the unforgettable moments we have spent together.

Nurfadila Anita Sari

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ...... ii APPROVAL PAGE ...... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE ...... iv LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH .. v STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ...... vi MOTTO PAGE ...... vii DEDICATION PAGE ...... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ...... x ABSTRACT ...... xi ABSTRAK ...... xii

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 A. Background of the Study ...... 1 B. Problem Formulation ...... 3 C. Objectives of the Study ...... 3 D. Definition of Terms ...... 4

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ...... 5 A. Review of Related Studies ...... 5 B. Review of Related Theories ...... 6 C. Theoretical Framework ...... 17

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ...... 18 A. Object of the Study ...... 18 B. Approach of the Study ...... 19 C. Method of the Study ...... 20

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS (RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS) ...... 22 A. The Difficult Conditions of Living under Chinese Patriarchal Culture Depicted through the life of the Main Characters ...... 22 B. How the Friendship between the Main Characters Contributes to their survival in the Difficult Conditions of Living Under Chinese Patriarchal Culture ...... 37

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ...... 52 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 55 APPENDIX ...... 57

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ABSTRACT

ANITA SARI, NURFADILA. Female Friendship as a way to survive Under Chinese Patriarchal Culture in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2016. Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a novel that discusses about the difficulty of women’s life under the patriarchal system in China in the nineteenth century. Therefore, having a bond in the form of female friendship (Laotong relationship) becomes very important to them. This study focuses to analyze how the bond in the form of female friendship of these women can help them survive in Chinese patriarchal culture. Based on the chosen topic, two problems are formulated. The first problem formulation is to find the difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal culture depicted in the life of the main characters. The second problem formulation is to analyze how the friendship between the main characters contributes to their survival in the difficult condition of living under Chinese patriarchal culture. There are several steps that the researcher conducted in the process of this thesis writing. The first step was to find the difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal culture depicted in the life of the main characters. The second step was to analyze how the friendship between the main characters contributes to their survival in the difficult condition of living under Chinese patriarchal culture. The last step was to make a conclusion from the answers found from those two problems formulation. The researcher applied feminist perspective since the main focus of this analysis is about women who are oppressed, primarily by patriarchal culture. The result of the analysis shows that there are three important points which becomes the root problems that brought women into the condition of suffering and oppression; footbinding, arranged marriage, and domestic violence. Chinese women should follow the tradition of foot binding to get a pair of small feet. A pair of small feet is not only as a symbol of social status and beauty, but also as a precondition for an arranged marriage. After getting married, a woman becomes the property of the husband so the husband has the right to do anything toward her including doing domestic violence. Although women’s life is very difficult, the two main characters, Lily and Snow Flower, can survive in this Chinese patriarchal culture with a bond in the form of female friendship. Female friendship is a means for women to influence each other, exchange ideas, share the joys and sorrows, and help each other. Lily and Snow Flower indeed survive in Chinese patriarchal culture, but they survive by following patriarchal system. They do not realize that they have unwittingly become agents that help to perpetuate Chinese patriarchal culture as doing the tradition of footbinding to their children and grandchildren and becoming an ideal wife in accordance with Chinese patriarchal culture. xi

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ABSTRAK ANITA SARI, NURFADILA. Female Friendship as a way to survive Under Chinese Patriarchal Culture in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma, 2016. Novel karya Lisa See yang berjudul Snow Flower and The Secret Fan adalah sebuah novel yang membahas tentang sulitnya kehidupan wanita di bawah sistem patriarki di China pada abad kesembilan belas. Oleh sebab itu, memiliki ikatan persahabatan wanita (Laotong relationship) menjadi sangat penting bagi mereka. Fokus penelitian ini adalah menganalisa bagaimana ikatan persahabatan wanita ini dapat membantu wanita China bertahan hidup di budaya patriarki China. Berdasarkan topik yang dipilih, penulis menyusun dua rumusan masalah. Rumusan masalah pertama adalah untuk menemukan kesulitan-kesulitan hidup di budaya patriarki yang dialami oleh dua tokoh utama. Rumusan masalah yang kedua adalah untuk menganalisa bagaimana persahabatan wanita antara dua tokoh utama memberikan kontribusi terhadap kelangsungan hidup mereka selama hidup di budaya patriarki. Ada beberapa langkah yang penulis lakukan dalam proses penulisan tesis ini. Langkah pertama adalah untuk menemukan kesulitan-kesulitan hidup di budaya patriarki yang dialami oleh dua tokoh utama. Langkah kedua adalah untuk menganalisa bagaimana persahabatan wanita antara dua tokoh utama memberikan kontribusi terhadap kelangsungan hidup mereka selama hidup di budaya patriarki. Langkah yang terakhir adalah membuat kesimpulan dari kedua rumusan masalah. Penulis menerapkan pendekatan femininisme karena fokus utama analisis ini adalah tentang wanita yang tertindas, utamanya oleh budaya patriarki. Hasil analisis menunjukkan bahwa ada tiga poin penting yang menjadi akar masalah yang membawa wanita ke dalam kondisi penderitaan dan penindasan; pengikatan kaki, perjodohan, dan kekerasan dalam rumah tangga. Wanita China harus mengikuti tradisi pengikatan kaki untuk mendapatkan sepasang kaki kecil. Sepasang kaki kecil tidak hanya sebagai simbol dari status sosial dan kecantikan, tetapi juga sebagai syarat untuk melakukan perjodohan. Setelah menikah, wanita menjadi hak milik suami sehingga suami berhak melakukan apapun terhadap istrinya termasuk melakukan kekerasan dalam rumah tangga. Walaupun kehidupan wanita sangat sulit, dua tokoh utama, Lily dan Snow Flower bisa bertahan hidup di budaya patriarki dengan sebuah ikatan persahabatan wanita. Persahabatan wanita merupakan sebuah wadah untuk saling mempengaruhi, bertukar pikiran, berbagi kebahagian dan penderitaan, dan membantu satu dengan yang lain. Namun, Lily dan Snow Flower memang bertahan hidup di budaya patriarki, tetapi bertahan hidup dengan mengikuti budaya patriarki. Mereka tidak menyadari bahwa mereka ikut menjadi agen yang melestarikan budaya patriarki, seperti melakukan tradisi pengikatan kaki ke anak dan cucu mereka dan menjadi seorang istri ideal yang sesuai dengan budaya patriarki. xii

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Novel is a work of art that relies on written language as its appeal. As a work of art, the novel is not only a form of entertainment that is fun for the readers but also the novel contains elements that are useful in enriching knowledge. By reading the story in the novel, the reader will know the problems that exist in a certain society at that certain time. This happens because there are some novels that were made by adapting the existing conflicts in society as the main focus. Therefore, when a reader reads a novel that tells the existing problems in a country at that time, the reader will get an overview or can imagine about the life that occurred at that time.

There are many examples of novels that adapt the existing conflicts in society as the main focus. The novel by Lisa See, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, is one of them. Lisa See uses the life in a rural area of southern Hunan Province, a country in China, as the main focus. She wants to show the life and the problems happened in China in the nineteenth century, especially women’s lives. China is categorized as patriarchal culture. According to May-Lee Chai and Winberg Chai in China A to Z:

Everything You Need to Understand Chinese Customs and Culture, men have the highest position and are the most powerful in the family, thus, women are at the lowest position. Chinese women are not only used to produce children, but they have

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an obligation to serve the needs of their husbands and also serve the husband’s

family. Therefore, men are considered more valuable than women (2014: 114).

Living in such a patriarchal culture in which men were superior to women,

made women had to obey the culture. Women followed all the rules in order to

survive under patriarchal culture even though it was very hard for them. As an

example was footbinding. Since in the age of six or seven years, Chinese women had

to do a painful tradition of footbinding. They had to perform the procedures that

broke their bones which their feet must fit in a three-inches long shoe, called “Lotus

Shoes” (Blake, 1994: 691). These procedures were done in the hope of changing

their lives for the better. If the footbinding was successful, they could get the

husband of a wealthy and respectable family. On the contrary, if footbinding failed,

their feet would not be as normal as before and they ended up either sold as servants

or they just became little daughters-in-law.

The condition of Chinese women during the nineteenth century is indeed

saddening. However, there are women who manage to survive living under Chinese

patriarchal culture. They are the main characters in this novel - Lily and Snow

Flower. Lily and Snow Flower have a special relationship which is Laotong

relationship. Laotong relationship is a friendship that involved two girls from

different villages that usually lasts forever in their entire lives. The friendship of Lily

and Snow Flower is actually the most prominent in this novel. Therefore, the topic

of friendship in the novel Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is worth to discuss as

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friendship is really important for Chinese women especially living under Chinese

patriarchal culture. In this study, the researcher is interested in analyzing how the

friendship between two women can make way for their survival under the oppressive

patriarchal culture.

B. Problem Formulation

1. What are the difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal

culture depicted in the life of the main characters?

2. How does the friendship between the main characters contributes to their

survival in the difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal

culture?

C. Objectives of the Study

Based on the problem formulation, this study is conducted to analyze more

deeply about Chinese patriarchal culture especially the difficult conditions that

women experienced, the main characters at that time. After understanding the

difficult conditions that main characters experienced living under Chinese

patriarchal culture, this study analyzes the ways of friendship of the main characters,

Lily and Snow Flower, can make way for their survival under the oppressive

patriarchal culture.

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D. Definition of Terms

1. Culture

Edward Burnett Tylor defines culture as “that complex whole which includes

knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and

habits acquired by man as a member of society” (Tylor, 1871: 1). Therefore,

culture is the behaviors, beliefs, and values that society accepted as their way

of life and it usually continues from one generation to the next generation.

2. Patriarchy

In Theorizing Patriarchy, patriarchy is defined as “a system of social

structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women”

(Walby, 1990: 20). Therefore, patriarchal culture is system that is developed

in society where men are superior to women. Men tend to dominate, control,

and suppress women.

3. Survival

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the term survival is

defined as “the state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or

danger: the struggle/battle/fight for survival” (2010: 1505). In this study, the

term survival means women survive to get through the difficult conditions of

living under patriarchal culture. Women find their way to survive living under

the oppressive patriarchal system.

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CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is one of the best works of Lisa See. Some critics have elaborated their ideas, critics, and comments to show how interesting this novel is to be analyzed. One of the studies that have been done is by Nofiatun

Titi Lestari, a student of English Education Study Program of Ahmad Dahlan

University in 2007, through her thesis entitled Socio Cultural Study on Chinese

Women in the 19th Century as Reflected in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret

Fan. Lestari is interested in finding the socio cultural on Chinese women on the 19th century through the novel. After doing her research, Lestari finds that there are recurrent socio cultural in Chinese women in the 19th century, which are procreation and sexual life, ideological factors, legal status, property relation, foot binding, friendship, marriage, young girl, daughter in law, wife, concubines, mother, and the widow.

Another study is by Agatha Piscesia Paskalin, a student of English Language

Education Study Program of Sanata Dharma University in 2011, through her thesis entitled Male Domination in Footbinding and Secret Writing of Nineteenth-Century

Chinese Women as seen in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. After doing her research, Paskalin finds that male dominance is clearly associated with the

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practices of foot binding and secret writing. Women in China have to do foot

binding in order to get a better life and they do the secret writing because they do not

get the same opportunities as men to get education.

Paskalin states that

Footbinding was an obligation for Chinese women because it could bring them to the life’s perfection. Footbinding dealt with being marriageable and the improvement of social status and the bright future as well. Furthermore, the bound feet became sexual fetish for men to achieve sexual pleasure. Then, the ideal that Chinese women were not allowed being outside the house caused them to be very far from having equal opportunities with men. Their right to education was not recognized. To escape from this situation, they wrote nu shu to communicate with their friends and their natal families and to express their feelings and creativities. (Paskalin, 2011: viii) This study uses the same object which is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by

Lisa See but focuses on the friendship between Lily and Snow Flower. Thus, this

study complements what Lestari and Paskalin did not deeply discuss, i.e. the female

friendship. This study analyzes more deeply about how the friendship between Lily

and Snow Flower can make way for their survival under the oppressive patriarchal

culture.

B. Review of Related Theories

To answer the problems in the problem formulation, the researcher uses three

theories that are needed as the foundation to solve the problem. The first theory is

theory of characters. The second is patriarchal culture. The last is theory of

feminism. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

1. Theory of Characters

In literary work, the characters are one of the most important elements

because they drive the story as a whole. As stated by M. H. Abrams in A Glossary of

Literary Terms,

Characters are the persons, in a dramatic or narrative work, endowed with moral and dispositional qualities that are expressed in what they say–the dialogue–and what they do–the action (Abrams, 1971: 21). Through these characters, through what they say and what they act, the researcher is able to find out their life that they are in difficult conditions.

2. Theory of Patriarchy and Patriarchy in China

There are many writers who are interested in discussing about patriarchy.

Madsen said in Feminist Theory and Literary Practice

Patriarchy is a cultural (ideological) system that privileges men and all things masculine, and a political system that places power in the hands of men and thus serves male interests at the expense of women (2000: xiii). Based on the quotation, Madsen argues that men, through these privileges, can

get more benefits and better life than women. Moreover, men feel that they are

superior because they have power to control women.

Since this study is about Chinese patriarchal culture, the theory is focused on

the patriarchy in China. This study explains more deeply about the practices of

patriarchy in China. Chinese culture has long been shaped by Confucianism as their PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

system how they live. There are so many concepts in the doctrine of Confucianism.

However, the obvious and main concept that applies in Chinese society is the

concept of Li (the rules of propriety). Fan Hong explains that

Using the rules of propriety as a means of social control to contain and yet provide satisfaction for human desires, the Confucian institution of Li has left very distinctive marks on Chinese culture and mentality. It succeeded in enclosing the personality of the individual within the parameters of his or her prescribed roles, to the extent that individuality was hardly differentiated from those roles. For this reason, in a traditional Confucian society, all interpersonal relationships were held together by a hierarchy of social roles. Each role functioned in the manner prescribed in the Confucian texts. (1997: 5) Because of the creation of a hierarchy of social roles, based on Confucianism

men are clearly in superior position. It can be clearly seen in a family.

Within a household unit or clan organization, men held authority and decision-making power; women were subordinate to men. In such a system, the man had authority over all members of the family, including his wife and concubines, his sons and grandsons, their wives and children, his unmarried daughters, and his collateral relatives who were junior to him. The man controlled the family finances and made the final decisions about family affairs. (Tsai in Leng, 1989: 227-228)

The quotation above describes the power of male dominance in Chinese

family. Father or husband not only has a powerful authority over his wife and his

children but also to all his family’s members. All family members have to obey

every decision the father or the husband makes.

Because of this patriarchal system, women have to live in difficulty. “Women

have to respect their husbands, fathers, older brothers, and other related senior PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

males; if they do not, they will find themselves becoming social outcasts” (Hsu,

1971: 209).

Confucianism doctrine is adopted by Chinese society to confine the

movement of women. Chinese culture creates an efficient way to force women stay

at home by footbinding.

Footbinding was one of men’s conspiracies to keep women home as slaves physically and mentally, to turn them into sheer objects of men’s lust and perversity. (Fangqin in Ping, 2000: 43) To achieve the goal of making women stay at home, Chinese culture creates

the standard of beauty for women.

In order to have women completely in its control and its disposal, the Confucian-dominated society also invented and forced upon women an odd and appalling concept of feminine physical beauty – the small, bound foot. It became the symbol of women’s subservience. (Hong, 1997: 22)

Footbinding is not only the measurement for the beauty but also as the symbol

of social status. No one ever knows who the first person to do the practice of

footbinding. However, most research says that footbinding began spread and popular

to all over China by the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Footbinding was once widely

accepted as feminine beauty by society as explained by Wang Ping,

For upper-class women, footbinding was the marker of their hierarchy. For girls from the lower class, footbinding gave them an opportunity to move upward in the marriage and service market. (Ping, 2000: 32) PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Moreover, Chinese women believed that having bound feet is a requirement

that they should fulfill to get a better life and survive in the Chinese patriarchal

culture. A pair of perfectly bound feet was not only a requirement for the marriage

market but also an effort that women should undergo to secure their survivability in

a patriarchal society. Ping states that “during the two years of binding process, the

mother has imprinted her secret knowledge of female survival onto the flesh of her

daughter” (Ping, 2000: 6). Therefore, mothers in China bound their daughters’ feet

when they were still little girl. Even though the mother knew exactly the painful of

footbinding as she had also experienced it, as a woman, she did not have another

option beside did the same practice of footbinding to her daughter. The mother tried

her best to make her daughter get a pair of perfectly bound feet. The mother forced

her daughter to keep her walking by beating her with the sticks if she did not want to

walk. The mother kept forcing her daughter to walk until the bones were broken.

Wang Ping states about the painful of footbinding that women should undergo:

For about two or three years, little girls go through the inferno of torture: the flesh of her feet, which are tightly bound with layers of bandages day and night, is slowly putrefied, her toes crushed under the soles, and the insteps arched to the degree where the toes and heels meet. Loving mother suddenly turn into monsters that beat their sobbing girls with sticks and brooms, forcing them to hop around to speed up the rotting of flesh and make sure the bones are broken properly. (Ping, 2000: 3) This circumstance shows that how women complicit their own oppression.

Women had experienced the cruel tradition of footbinding when they were young. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Later on, when they became mothers, they continued the tradition of footbinding to their daughters. It is like an oppression that never ends.

Marriage in China is part of patriarchal culture. Marriage is a family matter so

if a woman does not like her future husband, she cannot resist him. She must obey

his father’s decision and she should remain married to her husband. Therefore, a

marriage in China is actually not to build a family that leads to a romantic

relationship between husband and wife but it is just for continuing family line. Tsai

Wen-Hui in Leng Shao Chuan states that

In traditional China, marriage was arranged by the parents and often through a mediator or go-between, without the consent of the young people concerned. There was no romantic love, no dating, and no courtship in mate selection for it was feared that the free choice of a partner would threaten the dominance of parental affection, loyalty, and authority. Arranged marriage thus strengthened parental control over sons and especially over daughters-in-law. (Tsai in Leng Shao- chuan 1989: 228)

Moreover, marriage in China is done to achieve only one purpose which is to

have sons. Therefore, in a family, girls are children who are not expected to be born.

This is because “Girls were considered less valuable than boys, as girls would marry

and move away whereas boys would stay nearby and take care of their parents in old

age” (Chai, May-Lee and Winberg Chai, 2014: 114). PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Simone de Beauvoir in The Second Sex also agrees that the purpose of

marriage in China is done to have children. Through marriage, women in China are

totally controlled by their husbands.

Through marriage woman is now no longer lent from one clan to another: she is torn up by the roots from the group into which she was born, and annexed by her husband’s group; he buys her as one buys a farm animal or a slave; he imposes his domestic divinities upon her; and the children born to her belong to the husband’s family. (Beauvoir, 1989: 82) 3. Theory of Feminism

Maggie Humm in The Dictionary of Feminist Theory states that

feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches is the belief that women suffer injustice because of our sexes. (Humm, 1990: 74) The quotation above clearly describes that the birth of feminism is an effort to

counter the control of men over women and the struggle to abolish the paradigm that

has developed in the society about the condition of women. Feminist believe that the

condition of women, where women are controlled, oppressed, exploited derived

from gender inequality. A gender role that governs the roles of women and men who

are appropriate and acceptable in the social norms formed the man to be someone

who is more superior and tended to dominate or control the women.

The oppression of women is not caused by the natural factor. The condition of

women is socially constructed. As stated by Ashley Montagu in The Natural

Superiority of Women PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Women have been conditioned to believe that they are inferior to men, and they have assumed that what everyone believes is a fact of nature. Because men occupy the superior positions in almost all societies, such superiority is taken to be a natural one.(Montagu, 1953: 23).

Simone de Beauvior also agrees that the condition of women is constructed from the society. Simone de Beauvoir in Bressler states that women should have the courage to break what all this time they believed that the position of women in society was not born, but it was created by the society through the patriarchal system.

Women should establish their own identity if they want to be free completely as autonomous beings (Beauvoir in Bressler, 1998: 182).

Because the condition of women is socially constructed, feminists believe that

how to change the condition for women is to break down the patriarchal system. As

stated by Rosemarie Tong in Feminist Thought, to liberate women from oppression,

male control over women must be eliminated. Men and women have to eliminate

patriarchal ideology that exaggerates the differences in men and women biologically

(Tong, 2009: 52).

In the world of male dominance, women are forced to obey and submit to men

and patriarchal system. They will get the consequences if they do not follow the

patriarchal system as stated by Deborah L. Madsen in Feminist Theory and Literary

Practice

Women are defined as ‘other’ or they are ignored, rendered invisible and silent, if they do not fit the patriarchal scheme. Outside the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

dominant definitions of male-dominated culture women exist only as insane, inarticulate or irrelevant. (Madsen, 2000: 18)

Besides being alienated by society, there will be other risks. As the quotation of Dworkin in Madsen’s Feminist Theory and Literary Practice, women are under threat of male violence if they do not become passive and put themselves lower than men. In order to prevent the violence from men (rape, wife beating, forced childbearing, medical butchering, sex-motivated murder, and sadistic psychological abuse), women must demonstrate compliance with the men by internalizing the patriarchal values, which remain the stereotype that men are more powerful than women, show the loyalty to men, and do not even try to resist male control (Dworkin in Madsen, 2000: 16).

In dealing with the issues of gender inequality, feminism made various efforts

that can be done to fight the injustice that disadvantage women. Living in an

oppressive environment make women plan a strategy or system actions that will be

run to resist patriarchy. Women might develop a guerilla tactic to resist patriarchy by

creating a female bond to support each other, as is the case of this novel.

Therefore, a female bond in the form of female friendship is very important

for women to survive living under patriarchal culture. Female friendship is important

especially after women get married. It is because “women were forced to break with

their natal families at marriage and begin as strangers in their husbands’ families”

(Raymond, 2001: 105). By facing these conditions, female friendship is very PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

important for women to survive in Chinese patriarchal culture. By the existence of

female friendship, women will feel they are not alone in this world because there are

their fellows who were expecting their presence. As it is known that “the Chinese

female was likely to be unwanted from her first days of existence” (Raymond, 2001:

106). Female friendship gives strength for women to want to stay alive.

The existence of female friendship also makes a positive contribution for the

better future of women. Women who are in a relationship of friendship will deliver

an important aspect of female friendship. As stated by Janice G. Raymond,

When women cease believing in the primacy and primordiality of hetero-relations, they will see that the first goal of feminism is not to bring women and men together but to bring women together. Female friendship is the process by which this goal is achieved. (Raymond, 2001: 43) Sasha Roseneil in Kathy Davis, Mary Evans and Judith Lorber also agrees

with the importance of female friendship. As Roseneil states that feminism values

female friendship because female friendship “is seen as political solidarity, as

constitutive of feminist movements and the basis of collective identity, and it is seen

as a mode of personal support, intimacy and care, and, as such, productive of self-

identity” (Roseneil in Davis, Evans, and Lorber, 2006: 323-324).

One of the terms used by Raymond in female friendship is Gyn/Affection.

Gyn/Affection is a synonym for female friendship. Affection means “the state of

influencing, acting upon, moving, and impressing, and of being influenced, acted PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

upon, moved, and impressed by other women”(Raymond, 2001: 8). Therefore,

affection is an important feeling in female friendship. This is because the power of a

woman to influence her friend in the action of changing her life. Without this female

friendship, women do not have spirit and motivation to make movements.

Women who have decided to have a friendship will be mutually helping one

another. A sense of solidarity will appear automatically for helping one another so

that they can survive. Facing the same experience makes them bound and allowing

them to strengthen their friendship.

Moreover, Elizabeth Ann Bartlett uses Albert Camus’s thought of rebellionas

an idea to find the true meaning of rebellious feminism. In Rebellious Feminism:

Camus’s Ethic of Rebellion and Feminist Thought, Bartlett finds the connection

between Camus’s thought and feminism. According to Camus, friendship is a

concept of rebellion. It means that it is one of the actions taken to rebel. As he states

that “…while “rebellion” does involve a negative activity of resisting oppression, it

also acts in a positive way to affirm human dignity, solidarity, friendship, justice,

liberation, and beauty” (Bartlett, 2004: 1). Therefore, the meaning of rebellion in this

study is because women live under patriarchal society, women need to affirm their

friendship because friendship is very important for their survival. Women need to

affirm friendship because female friendship provides emotional support which is

very helpful for their survival living under patriarchal culture. By affirming PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

friendship, women who are in friendship relationship can get human love from each

other.

C. Theoretical Framework

There are some theories which are applied in this study. The purpose is to

obtain deeper understanding of the topic. This study uses the selected theories that

are related to the problem formulation.

In analyzing the difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal

culture, the researcher needs several theories about the practices of Chinese

patriarchal culture. The researcher explains the practices of Chinese patriarchal

culture based on the theories from Wen-Hui Tsai, May-Lee Chai and Winberg Chai,

Francis L.K. Hsu, Fang Hong, Fangqin, Wang Ping, and H. M. Parshley.

After the difficult condition of women living under the practices of Chinese

patriarchal culture are found, the researcher uses the theory of feminism. The theory

contains the theory of feminism in general and feminist idea about friendship from

Maggie Humm, Ashley Montagu, Deborah L. Madsen, Janice G. Raymond, Sasha

Roseneil and Elizabeth Ann Bartlett to analyze how female friendship can make way

for the survival of women living under Chinese patriarchal culture. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is novel entitled Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.

This novel was written by Lisa See. She is a New York Times bestselling author.

Besides Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, her other works which are also well-

known and the New York Times Bestseller are On Gold Mountain (1995), Flower

Net (1997), The Interior (1997), Dragon Bones (2003), Peony in Love (2007), and

Shanghai Girls (2009). Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was published by Random

House, Inc. in 2005. This novel consists of 258 pages and is divided into four

chapters. In 2011, this novel was made into a film version.

On the surface, this novel tells about the lives of two women who live in the

nineteenth century which was very strict on the rules and customs, particularly

patriarchal system. Lily and Snow Flower are destined to be soul-mates, friends for

life at the age of seven years. They have many similarities that can make them

became soul-mates/friendship. They were born in the horse’s year, in the same

month, on the same day. Their height is also identical, equal beauty, and the most

importantly is their feet were bound on the same day. Lily and Snow Flower should

follow the tradition of the painful foot binding before they enter puberty. After the

binding, they just spend their youth at the upstairs women’s chamber. Every day,

18 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

they learn to sew, weave, make shoes, and carry out the activities of women. They are forced to spend their time to carry out the activities of the women until they meet their husbands through arranged marriages. Lily and Snow Flower move to their husbands’ home after they get married. In this study, the researcher found an interesting thing to be analyzed which is their friendship. Their friendship can make way for their survival living under the oppressive Chinese patriarchal culture.

B. Approach of the Study

In analyzing Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See, the researcher applied feminist perspective. This approach is relevant because this research discusses about the life of Chinese women in patriarchal system in the nineteenth century especially the difficult conditions that women receive because of living under the oppressive Chinese patriarchal cultures. Feminism views the system of domination is rooted from patriarchy. Patriarchy has a system to control and order women what they should do in the society and certainly the system gives disadvantages for women.

Charles E. Bressler states that

Women must not be like the traditional Cinderella: dependent creatures who blindly accept the commandments of their patriarchal society. Unlike the traditional Cinderella, women must not weep about their lot in life, but take an active part in creating and determining their own lives and their own futures (Bressler, 1999: 178).

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Bressler clearly states about what women should do in dealing about their lives living under patriarchal society. Women actually have choices about what they should do for their lives. It depends on their willingness and bravery in taking the opportunities and utilizing those opportunities to make their better life happen.

Therefore, in this study, women try to find the best way in dealing with a hard and unfriendly life for them. Women use a bond which is female friendship to help their survival under patriarchal society. This study shows how female friendship is really important for women who live under the oppressive patriarchal society. By using feminist perspective, the researcher will be able to find out how female friendship can make way for the main characters - Lily and Snow Flower’s survival living under Chinese patriarchal culture.

C. Method of the Study

In order to find the answer of each question in problem formulation, the researcher used library research as the method of the study. The researcher collected the data from books, papers, journals, and internet.

There were two sources used in this study. First is the primary source which was the novel itself Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (2005) by Lisa See. Then, the secondary sources were books, papers, journals, and the internet. These sources used as references for the analysis on the topic. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

There were several steps to complete this study. First, the researcher chose a literary work for this research which is Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. After that, the researcher did close reading with the aim of better understanding the novel in every detail. Then, the researcher chose a topic and determined problem formulation as the focus of analysis.

The second step was to find some references that support for the analysis of the topic. The references included theories, criticism, and approach that were relevant to the study.

The third step was to answer every question in the problem formulation. In answering the first problem formulation, the researcher should comprehend the theory of Chinese patriarchal culture. The theory of Chinese patriarchal culture was used to find and analyze the difficult conditions that the main characters experienced. In answering the second problem formulation, the researcher used the theory of feminism. After comprehending the theory of feminism and feminist idea about female friendship, the researcher applied the theory to analyze the ways of female friendship can make way for the survival of the main characters living under

Chinese patriarchal culture.

After all the problems were completely answered, the last step was drawing a conclusion. The conclusion contained the crucial points of this study based on the results of the analysis. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

Because there are two problems formulated, this analysis is divided into two

sections. The first part will reveal the difficult conditions of living under Chinese

patriarchal culture depicted in the life of the main characters – Lily and Snow

Flower. The second part will analyze how the friendship between the main

characters contributes to their survival in the difficult condition of living under

Chinese patriarchal culture.

A. The Difficult Conditions of Living under Chinese Patriarchal Culture

Depicted through the life of the Main Characters

The theory of characters is used to understand the characters which are presented as the persons who even have the moral qualities in a literary work through what they say and what they do. In this novel, Lily and Snow Flower are included in what is meant by M.H. Abrams as characters. The researcher makes an overview of the characters through what they say or they do and their conversations with others.

Therefore, through the characters, through what they say and what they act, the researcher finds out that they talk about the difficult conditions of women living under Chinese patriarchal culture. As an example of the dialogue that shows the difficult conditions of women living under Chinese patriarchal culture is found in

22 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Lily’s words. Women in China are considered worthless, even their birth was never expected because they will become burden of a family.

I was a third child, a second worthless girl, too little to waste time on until it looked like I would survive my milk years. She looked at me the way all mothers look at their daughters–as a temporary visitor who was another mouth to feed and a body to dress until I went to my husband’s home. I was five, old enough to know that I didn’t deserve her attention, but suddenly I craved it. (See, 2005: 12) The other example is from the action that shows the difficult conditions of women living under Chinese patriarchal culture. Chinese women should follow the tradition of footbinding. They should experience the painful process of getting a pair of tiny feet. As experienced by Lily,

I wanted to run to the lattice window and peek out, but already my feet ached as the pressure on my bones built and the tightness of the bindings blocked my blood’s circulation. (See, 2005: 27) Therefore, by analyzing what is said and what is experienced by the characters, the life of the main characters can be found. These characters talk about their difficult conditions of living under Chinese patriarchal culture.

The patriarchal system that happened in China is influenced by Confucianism.

Confucianism is like a system of social ethics that rules the live of people in society.

There are so many doctrine that Confucianism had. However, the main doctrine of

Confucianism is Li (the rules of propriety). As Fang Hong states that “The rules of

propriety is important to control the social roles. By using the rules of propriety, men

and women act according to a hierarchy of social roles.” (Hong, 1997: 5). The rule

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

of propriety has regulated the accepted behavior of how men and women live in

Chinese society. Therefore, men and women should follow the standard of life that is

applied in Chinese society. Women especially should know their position because

based on the hierarchy, women is in the lowest position. Women should act

according to the doctrine that Confucianism had. Lily as one of the main characters

also acknowledges that women should live based on the Confucianism doctrine.

I also understood that two Confucian ideals ruled our lives. The first was the Three Obediences: “When a girl, obey your father; when a wife, obey your husband; when a widow, obey your son.” The second was the Four Virtues, which delineate women’s behavior, speech, carriage, and occupation: “Be chaste and yielding, calm and upright in attitude; be quiet and agreeable in words; be restrained and exquisite in movement; be perfect in handiwork and embroidery.” If girls do not stray from these principals, they will grow into virtuous women. (See, 2005: 24) Women are taught about their role and how they should behave in the society

since their childhood. Women should keep that Confucianism doctrine in their mind

and implement the rule as long as they live in Chinese society. Women have been

taught to always obey and prioritize men whether he is father, husband, and sons.

1. Footbinding

“In order to have women completely in its control and its disposal, the

Confucian-dominated society also invented and forced upon women an odd and

appalling concept of feminine physical beauty – the small, bound foot” (Hong, 1997:

22). Women in China underwent the painful tradition of footbinding. Footbinding

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was a cruel procedure that was done for the purpose to have tiny feet. As stated by

Pang, the process was surely painful because the toes were forced pressed tightly to

the sole of the foot by using a bandage to tie it. There would be blood and pus

coming out after the feet bound with the bandage. The main goal of the process was

until the toes broke (Pang, 2000: 3). The process of footbinding was not only painful

but also dangerous. There was a possibility that the girl whose feet were bound die

due to infections and other health issues. Even though women knew that the practice

of footbinding was really painful and dangerous, women still apply this practice.

Lily, one of the main characters in the novel said she just realizes that the practice of

footbinding is really dangerous for her as a woman. The people around her never tell

the truth of the danger of footbinding when Lily was at a young age at the time of

her footbinding.

No one said I could die. It wasn’t until I moved to my husband’s home that my mother-in-law told me that one out ten girls died from footbinding, not only in our county but across the whole of China. (See, 2005: 25) Chinese women bet their soul to do the practice of footbinding. They did the

practice of footbinding by relying of the luck. The existence of the standard of

beauty has influenced the mindset of women. The high pressure in the Chinese

society about the standard of beauty has forced women to evaluate their physical

appearance. This condition makes women feel inferior when they cannot fulfill the

standard in society. Women will feel that they are not beautiful and not attractive

when they do not have a pair of tiny feet. They will think that they are really a

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

woman and are considered as a truly woman by society if they did the practice of

footbinding. By doing the practice of footbinding, women will feel that they are also

part of Chinese society. Therefore, women did the practice of the painful and

dangerous footbinding to fulfill the standard of beauty in Chinese society.

The practice of footbinding really complicated the lives of women. At the age

of six or seven, women were forced to experience this cruel procedure. The practice

of footbinding did not only hurt them physically but also made women lose their

childhood. At the age of six or seven, when children were supposed to enjoy their

lives such playing with their friends and developing themselves, women stayed at

home instead and prepared their selves to do the practice of footbinding. They were

forced to obey the standard of the society about the perfect feet. In the novel, Snow

Flower does not want to undergo the painful tradition of footbinding. Although she

refuses by hiding and begging her father not to bind her feet, she still has to undergo

this torture of footbinding practice. “My mother bound my feet–and me to the chair–

even tighter the next time” (See, 2005: 56).

In the novel, many mothers in China do not have another option except to do

the same practice of footbinding to her daughters. As Ping states, “during the two

years of binding process, the mother has imprinted her secret knowledge of female

survival onto the flesh of her daughter.” (Ping, 2000: 6). Even though the mother

knows exactly the pain and the hate of footbinding because she had also experienced

it from her mother, the mother still has to force her daughters to do the practice of

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

footbinding. The mother tells her daughter that she will also survive in Chinese

patriarchal culture if she did what her mother formerly did which is footbinding. As

Lily’s mother said to Lily in the process of her binding. “A true lady lets no ugliness

into her life. Only through pain will you have beauty. Only through suffering will

you find peace. I wrap, I bind, but you will have the reward.” (See, 2005: 30)

What makes the practice of footbinding become very concerned is the fact

that Lily also does the practice of footbinding to her daughter when she becomes a

mother. She also says exactly as what her mother said to her when her feet bound.

I took my feelings and harnessed them, driving my daughter back and forth across the floor of our upstairs room, wrapping her bindings even tighter on those days that her feet were rewrapped, and chastising her– no, crying bitterly at her–with what my mother had drilled into me. (See, 2005: 223) Therefore, Lily does not only experience the painful of footbinding when she

was a little girl but also the pain of doing the same practice to her daughter. She

knows exactly the pain and the torture of footbinding. The process of getting perfect

feet really torments her. In order to make her toes quickly broken, she is forced to

walk with the feet bound. The effect after her feet are bound made her unable to eat.

Although her stomach is empty, she always throws up because of the unbearable

pain (See, 2005: 28). As a mother, Lily feels sad because her daughter should feel

the same painful torture because of footbinding. When Lily is a little girl, she

considers her mother as a bad mother because does the painful practice of

footbinding to her. Likewise, when she does the practice of footbinding to her

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

daughter, she is the one that is considered as a bad mother by her daughter.

Therefore, Chinese women experience the cruel tradition of feet bound when she is a

little girl and then she does the same practice to her daughter. It is like a suffering

that keep continues from generation to generation. This footbinding is like an

obligation that women should do in their lives if they want to live in Chinese society

which means that their sufferings never stop. Women do not have another option

because as being a part of society, they should follow the existed rule in that society.

Women were freed from footbinding when this practice of footbinding was legally

banned at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Footbinding was not only used to measure the beauty but also as the symbol

of social status. As Wang Ping states, “For upper-class women, footbinding was the

marker of their hierarchy. For girls from the lower class, footbinding gave them an

opportunity to move upward in the marriage and service market.” (Ping, 2000: 32).

Because in Chinese patriarchal culture women were degraded, it made women feel

worthless in society. To show that they were valuable women, women had to raise

their status by doing footbinding not only for upper-class women but also the lower-

class. For lower-class women, it was a great chance to earn their social status. They

would have an opportunity to get married with a rich family that meant it would

change their life in terms of economy and social. Parents from rich family would

look for women who had a perfectly pair of tiny feet as their daughter-in-law. As

experienced by Lily that also has to follow the tradition of foot binding “In one

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instant I had changed from being a worthless girl into someone who might be useful

to the family” (See, 2005: 23).

By having a pair of tiny feet, women will show that they are also valuable.

They want to prove their status as a valuable woman.

My small feet would be offered as proof to my prospective in-laws of my personal discipline and my ability to endure the pain of childbirth, as well as whatever misfortunes might lie ahead. My small feet would show the world my obedience to my natal family, particularly to my mother, which would also make a good impression on my future mother-in-law. (See, 2005: 34) By the existence of the practice of footbinding in Chinese society, the goal of

Confucian society-Chinese patriarchal culture to control women by making women just stay at home could be realized. As stated by Du Fangqin, “Footbinding was one of men’s conspiracies to keep women home as slaves physically and mentally, to turn them into sheer objects of men’s lust and perversity.” (Fangqin in Ping, 2000: 43). By doing the practice of footbinding, women would experience physical constraints.

With the change of the size of the feet, women would find difficulty to walk because the feet and their body became unbalanced - tiny feet had to bear a big body. Because of the size of the feet and the body was not balanced, it made them feel sick quickly when standing or walking for long time and even doing hard physical activities. Due to the reason of physical constraints, women were placed in the home. Women only needed to be at home and take care of domestic activities. The effect of Confucianism doctrine for Chinese culture clearly divided the role of men and women especially in

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

a household. The area for women was in home. Even a place for women to gather together with other women was in home, the upstairs women’s chamber.

Whether you are rich or poor, emperor or slave, the domestic sphere is for women and the outside sphere is for men. Women should not pass beyond the inner chambers in their thoughts or in their actions. (See, 2005: 24)

Because of this division of labor in the household, at the young age, Lily has

been placed at women’s chamber so she can see directly what she should do as a

woman. At women’s chamber, Lily lives with the other members of family which

are the older women – mother, sisters, aunts, and other relatives. By seeing directly

the activities of the older women, she can take a conclusion that she just need to take

care of the household. She is directed to think that house will be a place that she

belongs to and she needs to take care of it. As a housewife later, she is required to be

a good housewife that is good to take care of the all household chores such as

cooking, doing the laundry, doing the ironing, cleaning the house, and taking care of

the children and the family members. Lily knows exactly the role of the women in

the family from her mother. Her mother tries hard to be a good housewife and

always careful to act in front of her husband in order to make her husband satisfy

and be kind to her. “He rarely hit my mother and he never took a concubine, but her

caution with him made us all heedful” (See, 2005: 12).

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That kind of pressure in the society that regulates what women have to do in

order to make them survive in the society makes women do not have another choice

but to accept that reality. As Lily’s mother affirms “I don’t like the girls wandering

around the village when they should be working at their house learning” (See, 2005:

33). Therefore, Lily also has to learn about the duties to be a woman and the

important thing to be a good housewife so her future husband will treat her well and

it also prevents the possibility of domestic violence. Lily has to learn about

household chores, practical arts – learning to sew, and learning nu shu (a secret

writing of women).

2. Arranged marriage

Because women just stay at home and the area of women is at home, women

do not have an opportunity to go outside the house to find their partner of life.

Unmarried women just leave the house for a few emergency exceptions like

attending funerals of family members and going to pray at the shrine. And they are

allowed out of the house because they leave the house with their families. For

Chinese unmarried women, going out of their area that is home is extremely

forbidden. This is tantamount to violation of the rules that exist in the society if they

leave the house. Therefore, women do not have any other choice but to do arranged

marriages. Tsai Wen-Hui in Leng Shao Chuan states that in traditional China,

marriage was arranged by the parents and often through a mediator or go-between,

without the consent of the young people concerned (Tsai in Leng Shao-chuan, 1989:

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228). Women do not have the freedom to choose her husband. Marriage is a business

arrangement. After getting married, women will live at the home of men’s family.

Women should obey the husband’s family, especially mother-in-law. “The girls

would have all married out to distant villages, where they would be too busy with

their children and obeying their mothers-in-law to have time for old friendships”

(See, 2005: 13).

Lily gets married at the age of fifteen. She does not only prepare her physical

condition but also her mental in dealing with her new life as a married woman.

However, there is a custom that complicates her. She does not have another option

so she should obey the custom even though it tortures her.

I may have been brave and looking forward to my new life, but my body and soul were weak from hunger, because a bride is not allowed to eat for the final ten days of her wedding festivities. Do we follow this custom to make us sadder at leaving our families, to make us more yielding when we go to our husband’s homes, or to make us appear more pure to our husbands? How can I know the answer? All I know is that Mama–like most mothers–hid a few hard-boiled eggs for me in the women’s chamber, but these did little to give me strength, and my emotions weakened with each new event. (See, 2005: 106) After Lily moves to her husband house, she tries very hard to be a good

housewife. She obeys all of the rules of her husband house. Lily’s mother-in-law is

very strict with the rules. Lily does her duties as a housewife as well as possible so

she will not get into trouble with her mother-in-law and her husband.

She watched over me as I did the same chores that I did in my natal home–making tea and breakfast, washing clothes and bedding,

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preparing lunch, sewing, embroidering, and weaving in the afternoon, and finally cooking dinner. My mother-in-law ordered me about freely. (See, 2005: 140)

Because Lily and Snow Flower have the differences in class, Lily turns into

one of the members of an honorable family is forbidden for having laotong

relationship with Snow Flower – her friend for life by her mother-in-law. Her

mother-in-law wants Lily to stop meeting Snow Flower. Lily is very sad and angry

because laotong relationship supposed to last in their entire lives. Lily considers

Snow Flower as a precious person in her life because Snow Flower is the only

person who she can talk to and share grievances. Lily’s husband is a busy person and

he rarely speaks to her. Lily is also not close to her mother-in-law so she does not

have the courage to speak first to her mother-in-law even if to talk about her feelings

or her sadness after getting married. Because of those circumstances, Lily needs

Snow Flower. Although Lily is prohibited to have laotong relationship with Snow

Flower, Lily secretly keeps in touch with Snow Flower via nu shu–their secret

writing. They write nu shu texts on fans.

With her bold act, I realized the true purpose of our secret writing. It was not to compose girlish notes to each other or even to introduce us to the women in our husband’s families. It was to give us a voice. Our nu shu was a means for our bound feet to carry us to each other, for our thoughts to fly across the fields as Snow Flower had written. The men in our households never expected us to have anything important to say. They never expected us to have emotions or express creative thoughts. The women–our mothers-in-law and the others–put up even greater blockades against us. But from here on out, I hoped Snow

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Flower and I would be able to write the truth of our lives, whether we were together or apart. (See, 2005: 160) Lily also ventures to leave the house and make arrangements to meet with

Snow Flower.

But if I visited her against my mother-in-law’s wishes, I would be committing one of the worst crimes possible. Sneaking around to write or read letters paled in comparison to this, but I had to do it if I wanted to see my laotong. (See, 2005: 160) This shows that Lily is bold enough to see Snow Flower, her friend. Lily wants to do anything to meet her friend even though her action may harm her.

3. Domestic violence

Parshley states that

family, she is the property of her father because the father is the one that give her

food, clothes, and place to sleep since her birth. The father is the one that ensure her

life in terms of economy. Therefore, the father has power over her. The father can do

anything to her daughter even to sell her if the family has a bad economic condition.

The father is free to decide the life of her daughter. When Snow Flower’s family

goes bankrupt, the life of Snow Flower’s family changes dramatically. Snow Flower,

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who is still a child trying to survive facing her life. Their situation worsens when

there is a famine due to crop failure. Snow Flower’s father is not ready to face

reality. Snow Flower’s father is a tobacco addict so he chooses to smoke his pipe

and ends up neglecting his family. Their house is often visited by debt collectors.

Because of that bad economic situation, Snow Flower is almost sold by his father as

a little daughter-in-law which is in Chinese society, a little daughter-in-law will be

treated worse than a servant.

“He thought he would sell me.” “Not as a servant!” “Worse. As a little daughter-in-law.” (See, 2005: 122).

Then, when a woman gets married, she becomes a property of the husband

and she does not belong to the father anymore. It is because when a woman is

married, the husband gives a dowry to her family. That dowry is like a symbol of the

husband that has bought the woman. The one that got the dowry is the woman’s

family. Therefore, since a wife is a property of the husband, the husband can do

anything to her and treat her freely even do domestic violence. Snow Flower has to

experience domestic abused done by her husband. Having sons is a very difficult

duty for women who live in Chinese patriarchal culture. A son is a very precious

child in a family because he will be a family successor. As May-Lee Chai and

Winberg Chai states that “Girls were considered less valuable than boys, as girls

would marry and move away whereas boys would stay nearby and take care of their

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parents in old age.” (Chai, May-Lee and Winberg Chai, 2014: 114). Because of such

pressure, Snow Flower experiences domestic violence in the form of verbal by her

husband. Her husband does not want to have a daughter so he says the harsh words

when Snow Flower is pregnant. “Because my husband says it is better to have a dog

than a daughter” (See, 2005: 163).

Snow Flower is not only experiencing domestic violence verbally but also

physically abused. Their second child passes away. Her husband is very sad because

he has lost a son which is very valuable for the family.

When Snow Flower asked where her son was buried, the butcher turned and hit her with such ferocity that she flew back a couple of meters and landed with a thud onto the hard-packed snow. He proceeded to beat her so badly that she miscarried in a violent gush of black blood that stained the icy slopes throughout our campsite. (See, 2005: 207) Snow Flower cannot fight back or gets angry for the actions of her husband.

She knows her position as a married woman is to respect her husband. As Hsu states,

“Women have to respect their husbands, fathers, older brothers, and other related

senior males; if they do not, they will find themselves becoming social outcasts.”

(Hsu, 1971: 209). Therefore, Snow Flower must respect every decision that her

husband does even the decision that can hurt her physically. She cannot do anything

but should endure the pain of the physical abuse.

She passively accepted beating after beating. Her body weakened from the loss of blood from the miscarriage. Her body bruised and tore from

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the daily punishment her husband rained down on her. (See, 2005: 207) This shows the suffering that woman has to receive because of patriarchal culture. As a wife, Snow Flower has to endure the pain of domestic violence because she cannot fight the mistreatment of her husband had done to her.

B. How the Friendship between the Main Characters Contributes to Their

Survival in the Difficult Condition of Living under Chinese Patriarchal

Culture

Patriarchal system in China is very strong. Men have a way to maintain power

and always make a woman into an inferior creature. Patriarchal system is set up so

neatly that there is no loop hole at all for women to refuse. Patriarchal culture makes

women to have always depended on men. The strong patriarchal system is very

visible in the home. As the leader of the family, the father has a powerful control

over his family members (Tsai in Leng, 1989: 227-228). He looks for money to

provide for his family life. A wife has no power because her duty is to be at home to

take care of everything related to the household. This ultimately makes the wife to

be always submissive and obedient to the will of the husband because the wife does

not have the strength in terms of economy. This is also true for daughter. The

daughter is not only obedient to her mother but she also must always be obedient to

her father and her male relatives. Later, when she becomes a wife, she must obey her

husband as the husband is the one who gives her food and clothes. It is apparent here

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that the women must live in the same pattern from generation to generation.

Patriarchal culture has the power to make women always depend on men and

eventually makes women can be controlled.

Women actually have an awareness of gender inequality. As Humm states,

“feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation since intrinsic in all its approaches

is the belief that women suffer injustice because of our sexes” (Humm, 1990: 74).

Women only have the awareness that women and men should be treated equally, but

they do not have the courage to refuse the patriarchal system. Women should have

courage to face the challenge to free them from the suffering they experienced. As

the quotation of Simone de Beauvoir in Bressler’s Literary Criticism: An

Introduction to Theory and Practice, women should have courage to break what all

this time they believed that the position of women in society was not born, but it was

created by the society through the patriarchal system. Women should establish their

own identity if they want to be free completely as autonomous beings (Beauvoir in

Bressler, 1999: 182). However, not all women are brave enough to take the

challenge because there will definitely be many risks that will be received. There are

many women who are not sure of themselves and they have already felt comfortable

with their lives by submitting themselves to patriarchal system. They feel fear and

doubt that when they make a change as expressing their opinions in public, their

opinions are not heard even rejected because it is considered as worthless. This

ultimately leaves them with no other choice but to follow the patriarchal system.

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They do not have the courage to take risks as alienated by society and prefer to

submit to patriarchal system.

Because the system of patriarchy is so powerful, the most serious problem is

women do not realize that they become the agent of this patriarchal culture. They are

not an agent of change but the agent who participates in perpetuating Chinese

patriarchal culture. As an example is the practice of footbinding. Even though

women know that the practice of footbinding is very painful, they continue doing

this practice to their daughter when they became a mother. Women do not have any

other choice because it is the way they should take to survive in Chinese patriarchal

culture. As mentioned earlier the importance of footbinding for women who live in a

patriarchal culture makes women must give up one of the most important parts of his

body were tortured to get a perfect feet according to Chinese patriarchal culture. The

main characters in this novel, Lily and Snow Flower, join to continue the painful

tradition of footbinding to their daughter. Lily and Snow Flower enter into the

patterns of patriarchy. Lily and Snow Flower force their daughters to do the practice

of footbinding because when they were children, they had been brainwashed to

accept that the practice footbinding is a reasonable or normal practice they need to

do to live in a patriarchal culture. As Lily said before she started footbinding “All I

knew was that footbinding would make me more marriageable and therefore bring

me closer to the greatest love and greatest joy in a woman’s life–a son.” (See, 2005:

25). It is obvious that since childhood, the thought of women have been formed to

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accept that their purpose in life is to be married to someone, taking care of the

household, and having sons. To achieve all that, they have to do footbinding first.

Because Lily and Snow Flower have done the painful practice of footbinding and

eventually they are able to get married and have children especially sons, this makes

Lily and Snow Flower increasingly believe that they also have to do the practice of

footbinding to their daughter. Although it is a hurtful and hard decision, Lily and

Snow Flower still should do the cruel tradition of footbinding to their daughter. “We

sat down and spoke of what was foremost in our minds–our daughters.” (See, 2005:

187).

For women, living under a patriarchal system where women have to follow all

the traditions that have been arranged very neatly in a patriarchal culture and see the

position of women as a human being it is not valuable because being only regarded

as an object is very difficult. It is no wonder there are women who die because they

cannot stand and survive living under Chinese patriarchal culture, such as suicide

and died during footbinding process. However, there are also women who survive in

this Chinese patriarchal culture. Women use a bond to survive in the Chinese

patriarchal culture. The bond of female friendship is very important to the lives of

women who live under Chinese patriarchal culture. Although female friendship has a

very small scale or a narrow but women consider this female friendship as a hope

that can make women survive in Chinese patriarchal culture. Female friendship

helps women to face all kinds of life challenges found in Chinese patriarchal culture.

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Therefore, there are four points that make this female friendship become so

important for the survival of women living under Chinese patriarchal culture.

1. Female friendship creates a condition when women influence each other

As Raymond states, “Female friendship is the state of influencing, acting

upon, moving, and impressing, and of being influenced, acted upon, moved, and

impressed by other women.” (Raymond 2001: 8). From female friendship, women

can influence each other as they share their experiences and stories, and express

themselves. By sharing stories, women get the opportunity to learn from one

another, especially to learn how to survive in Chinese patriarchal culture. Like the

friendship of Lily and Snow Flower. Lily and Snow Flower mutually learn from

each other. Because Snow Flower comes from a wealthy family, she only knows nu

shu (secret writing), how to have a good manners and etiquette, and how to deal with

men, while Lily knows how to take care of the house such as cleaning, washing, and

cooking. Because of this friendship, they learn from each other.

“But you’re the one who taught me. Your embroidery has always been better than mine. And you knew the secret writing so well. You trained me to live in a home with high threshold– “

“And you taught me how to haul water, wash clothes, cook, and clean the house.” (See, 2005: 123)

The activity of influencing each other makes women move or apply what they

have learned to live in Chinese patriarchal culture. Mastering how to be a woman

who is accepted in Chinese patriarchal society is used as a survival tactic. By

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controlling the matters that relate to the household, women have the opportunity to

conquer men. As it is known that men in Chinese patriarchal culture only saw

women as worthless beings that cannot do anything. By showing that women are

also competent in a field as household matters then men will realize that women are

also valuable. As experienced by Lily, Lily has done a good job as a wife. This

finally makes her husband treat her well too - in the sense that her husband never

takes concubines which is in Chinese patriarchal culture is a natural thing for men to

have many wives. In addition, the relationship between Lily and her husband

changes into a better one.

My relationship with my husband turned into one of great companionship. He often came to the women’s chamber to drink tea and talk with me. The solace that he found in the quiet of the inner realm caused his worries about chaos, instability, and corruption of the outer realm melt away. (See, 2005: 249)

This proves that Lily has conquered her husband and survived in Chinese

patriarchal culture. She manages to make her husband become comfortable around

her and there is no distance between them, which in Chinese patriarchal culture, a

marital relationship is very stiff in which the husband and wife keep their

conversation to a minimum in regards of household matter. Lily indeed survives

living under Chinese patriarchal culture, but she survives by following the

patriarchal system. Women have to please their husband first and then they will get

in return as they will be deemed to exist and they will not be neglected by their

husband. As Madsen states, “Women are defined as ‘other’ or they are ignored,

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rendered invisible and silent, if they do not fit the patriarchal scheme.” (Madsen,

2000: 18). This proves that in the world of male dominance, women are forced to

submit to their husband. Women have to follow all the prevailing system in the

society if they want to be accepted in the society.

Besides the risk of being someone who is ignored by the society, there will be

other possible risks that women would get if they do not follow the patriarchal

system. As the quotation of Dworkin in Madsen, women are under threat of male

violence if they do not become passive and put themselves lower than men. In order

to prevent the violence from men (rape, wife beating, forced childbearing, medical

butchering, sex-motivated murder, and sadistic psychological abuse), women must

demonstrate compliance with the men by internalizing the patriarchal values, which

remain the stereotype that men are more powerful than women, show the loyalty to

men, and do not even try to resist male control (Dworkin in Madsen, 2000: 16).

These threats ultimately make women had no other choice. They have to submit and

obey to men if they want to survive in the Chinese patriarchal society. As a result,

they prefer to follow the patriarchal system in order to survive.

Snow Flower also manages to open her husband’s eyes. Her husband admits

that Snow Flower is too precious to him. When Snow Flower is sick, her husband

expresses his regret. Snow Flower’s husband admits Snow Flower has been a good

wife during her lifetime.

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“I cannot bear to see her suffer” were the first words he spoke to me after eight years. He roughly wiped the dampness at his eyes with the back of his hand. “She gave me a son, who has helped me do better at my business. She gave me a good and useful daughter. She made my house more beautiful. She cared for my mother until she died. She did everything a wife should do, but I was cruel to her, Lady Lu. I see that now.” (See, 2005: 234-235).

2. Female friendship creates a condition for women to form solidarity

Female friendship also helps women face the challenges of class and

overcome these challenges. As stated by Rosenel, “Female friendship is seen as

political solidarity, as constitutive of feminist movements and the basis of collective

identity, and it is seen as a mode of personal support, intimacy and care, and, as

such, productive of self-identity.” (Roseneil in Davis, Evans, and Lorber, 2006: 323-

324). Female friendship is able to provide a comfort to women so that women can be

more open with themselves. Women can share their stories, share grief, share their

hopes, and share their dreams comfortably. Because they lived under the same

society, women will be very easy to understand one another and eventually make

them mutually support one another. By female friendship, a woman will think that

she is more alive when living under Chinese patriarchal culture because there are

also people who are care and support her. Therefore, women are very appreciative of

this female friendship.

Class is one of the oppressive systems that live in a patriarchal culture. Class

is a parameter of the life of someone that can be viewed by economic life so there is

class division which is known as upper, middle, and lower class. Female friendship

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can make a woman be able to face the challenges of class that exist in Chinese

patriarchal society. As Lily and Snow Flower have a different life after they are

married. Lily is married to a husband of a wealthy family background so Lily

automatically becomes one of a member of a wealthy family now. Snow Flower on

the contrary, is married to a husband of a more disadvantaged background. Due to

the existence of the differences in class, Lily is forbidden to meet Snow Flower by

her mother-in-law.

Master Lu and I would look favorably on a daughter-in-law who decided to break contract with someone who is no longer a true old same. If you need companionship, I will remind you of the young married women in Tongkou to whom I introduced you. (See, 2005: 157)

However, Lily is still in a friendship relationship with Snow Flower secretly.

Lily rebels for the sake of her friendship relations. As Barlett states, “while

“Rebellion” does involve; a negative activity of resisting oppression, It also acts in a

positive way to Affirm human dignity, solidarity, friendship, justice, liberation, and

beauty” (Bartlett, 2004: 1). Lily is bold enough to face the challenges of class, which

means if Lily still has a friendship relationship with Snow Flower, Lily will be

considered as a dissident because she does not follow the rules that apply in the

society and she will disfigure the family name. Lily is bold enough not to follow the

social expectations by opposing or breaking the existing rules where it is actually

very risky to herself as a woman. Lily does not see any difference between them. By

facing the challenges of this class, Lily develops a new awareness of herself. She has

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the courage to remain in a friendship relationship with her friend and does not follow

the social expectations because she realizes that she is entitled to do as she wants.

By the existence of the differences in class, instead, Lily utilizes the social

status that she has. With her status, she has a power to fight Chinese patriarchal

culture. This power is very visible when her mother-in-law passes away and she

automatically becomes the successor of her mother-in-law. She becomes Lady Lu, a

wife of the most respected in the village, Tongkou. By making woman into the

position of power, she can develop a strategy that allows them to survive, not only

for herself but for others - her friend. Lily makes the family life of Snow Flower

improve economically. The sense of solidarity appears and makes Lily help the life

of her friend. However, Lily asks her husband to help support the life of Snow

Flower’s son.

Although it is not my way to interfere with the outer realm of men, I prevailed upon my husband–who had not only inherited Uncle Lu’s vast holdings but had added to them from the salt business profits and now had fields that stretched all way to Jintian–to find something for this young man to do besides slaughter pigs. He hired Snow Flower’s son to collect rents from the farmers and gave him a house with its own kitchen garden. (See, 2005: 248)

This proves that women are still dependent on men. As Montagu states, “Women

have been conditioned to believe that they are inferior to men, and they have

assumed that what everyone believes is a fact of nature. Because men occupy the

superior positions in almost all societies, such superiority is taken to be a natural

one.” (Montagu, 1953: 23). Women are forced to believe that they are weak and

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have to depend on men. This is supported by looking at the reality actually happens

in everyday life as what Lily did when she asked for help from her husband to help

families Snow Flower. The good thing that happens after that is Snow Flower’s

husband who used to be a father who does not care about his son changes into a

caring person. In addition, he also shows his love for his son and his grandchildren.

Eventually the butcher retired, moved in with his son, and began doting on his grandson, who bought big joy to that home. (See, 2005: 248)

This makes women increasingly believe that they have to depend on men

because with the help of men, Lily can help the life of Snow Flower’s family. When

women are dependent on men, it is considered normal for them to ask for help to

their husband. Women are unaware that they contribute to the perpetuation of

patriarchal hierarchy. Women still put men as superior. By seeing this condition,

women do not have the slightest way out to break down the patriarchal system. As

stated by Rosemarie Tong that to liberate women from oppression, male control over

women must be eliminated. Men and women have to eliminate patriarchal ideology

that exaggerates the differences in men and women biologically (Tong, 2009: 52).

Because women and men are still trapped in this patriarchal ideology, there will be

no changes. By the persistence of this ideology in society that men are superior and

stronger, man will always be dominant and they will maintain this position of

dominance. This will eventually make women be inferior and as a result women will

always accept that they are weak and have to depend on men.

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In addition, Lily also manages to make her offspring and the offspring of

Snow Flower govern the house of Lu’s family. “and yet these days my contentment

comes from knowing that Snow Flower’s and my blood will soon rule the house of

Lu.” (See, 2005: 252). Lily makes her granddaughter become the wife of Snow

Flower’s grandson. Thus, when Lily and her husband pass away, her granddaughter

will be the next successor, becomes Lady Lu and Snow Flower’s grandson becomes

Master Lu. This proves that Lily is able to survive in Chinese patriarchal culture not

only for the sake of herself and her family but is able to help others, her friend.

Female friendship makes women are able to face the challenges of class and

overcome the challenges by survive in a patriarchal culture.

3. Female friendship is so important because it becomes the reason for women

to survive

All the women in China are pushed to get married and the system of the

marriage is through arranged marriage. Marriage gives the bitter impact for Chinese

women. “Women were forced to break with their natal families at marriage and

begin as strangers in their husbands’ families.” (Raymond, 2001: 105). By facing the

situation where women no longer have family bond with their biological families

and become a stranger in their husband’s families, it makes women left alone.

Women are even forbidden to think of their natal families and they just need to focus

on taking care of their husband’s families. Besides living as strangers in their

husband’s families, women also have to live under the difficult conditions of

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Chinese patriarchal culture. Women are also sad with the fact that their existence as

women in Chinese society is worthless. As stated by Raymond, “the Chinese female

was likely to be unwanted from her first days of existence” (Raymond, 2001: 106).

Therefore, the existence of female friendship is very important to the survival of

Chinese women. Female friendship gives strength and love to each other. Women

can get mutual emotional support from each other. If women do not have emotional

support, they will feel devastated, alone, and want to die. On the contrary, if women

get emotional support from their fellow, they want to live because there are other

people who are their fellow who acknowledge their existence in this world and these

fellows want them to live.

4. Female friendship creates a condition to bring about the change in women

After marriage, women have to stay at their husband’s families. Women

cannot be as intense as the time they used to spend together with their fellows. They

have to focus on doing their duties as wives and serving their husband’s families

properly. Therefore, to make them keep in touch is by using nu shu (secret writing).

They write nu shu texts on fans. They can exchange news, share stories, share the

joy and sorrow with using this nu shu. As time goes by, women realize the true

purpose of this nu shu. Nu shu is a means for the Chinese women to speak the truth

of Chinese women’s lives. As stated by Lily,

With her bold act, I realized the true purpose of our secret writing. It was not to compose girlish notes to each other or even to introduce us

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to the women in our husband’s families. It was to give us a voice. Our nu shu was a means for our bound feet to carry us to each other, for our thoughts to fly across the fields as Snow Flower had written. The men in our households never expected us to have anything important to say. They never expected us to have emotions or express creative thoughts. (See, 2005: 160)

The existence of nu shu (secret writing) can help women survive in a

patriarchal culture. Nu shu as a means that can heal women from a suffering

experience because women use nu shu to share stories, share the grief with her

friend. By sharing, a woman would calm the other woman and it can help heal the

suffering that women experienced. Nu shu also provides an opportunity for women

who are in a female friendship to be able to exchange thoughts, ideas, and dreams.

By recognizing the importance of nu shu, the two women who are in female

friendship will have their heart and mind moved to share their knowledge of nu shu

to other women. As stated by Janice G. Raymond,

Female friendship is an opportunity for women to bring about change in

women. By the existence of female friendship, women find the strength and make a

positive contribution to bring women together towards the better in education.

Although Chinese women do not get a formal education as men get, Lily and Snow

Flower try to make the other women to be able to write and read nu shu. By teaching

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how to write nu shu to another woman, nu shu will grow and there will be many

women are increasingly aware to learn nu shu then they will share their knowledge

with other women and it goes. Lily and Snow Flower share their knowledge about

how to write nu shu to other women. Lily teaches nu shu to her children,

granddaughter, and the friends of her children and granddaughter. Snow Flower also

shares her knowledge. Although Snow Flower passes away of illness, Snow Flower

could prove that she survives in Chinese patriarchal culture during her lifetime. Dead

or alive is not the matter but the most important thing is that how women can prove

that they survive in a patriarchal culture because it cannot be denied that everyone

will die someday. Snow Flower is able to prove that her death is not in vain. Such as

the death of a hero, Snow Flower gives a valuable contribution that benefits others.

“She was our teacher, and we respected and loved her for that.” (See, 2005: 242).

She teaches her three students how to write nu shu. From the knowledge that she

gives just to three women, it will be growing and growing and beneficial for women

because knowledge will never run out. Although it is just a little movement, Lily and

Snow Flower hope they can help the other women of the next generation be better.

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSION

In this chapter, the researcher will draw a conclusion from the analysis. In this

study, the researcher found how Lisa See uses a literary work which is a novel to

show the strong patriarchal culture in China in the nineteenth century, which in turn

makes women helpless. The researcher found that the lives of Chinese women who

live in the nineteenth century are not easy. As experienced by the two main

characters in this novel, Lily and Snow Flower. The researcher finds three important

points to be the root of the problem, which in turn brings women into the hole of

suffering and oppression. They are footbinding, arranged marriage, and domestic

violence. Because China is a patriarchal culture where men more dominating and

holding the power, it makes women as inferior beings. Chinese patriarchal system

has been set up so neatly with the aim to make women always obey and submit to

men. The suffering is first started with the practice of binding the feet. Women

should follow the tradition of footbinding since the age of six or seven years. Having

a pair of tiny feet is not only considered as a symbol of beauty in China, but also as a

symbol of social status. Because women in Chinese patriarchal culture is in the

lowest position or they are regarded as worthless in the society, women are the one

who have to bear the ugliness by raising their self-esteem by doing the practice of

footbinding. For women of the upper classes, having a pair of tiny feet is a mark of

their hierarchy, while for women from the lower classes, doing the practice of

52 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

footbinding is an opportunity to improve their status. By having a pair of tiny feet,

women are considered worthy to be married. The marriage is not marriage that is

based on the will and the love between a man and a woman. The woman just needs

to be present on her wedding day because it has been arranged by the family from

both sides. After getting married, the woman will move into the home of the

husband. The woman should do her duties as a good wife – being a submissive and

obedient wife to her husband, serving her husband, giving birth to children

especially sons, doing housework, and taking care of the husband’s family members.

Marriage has made women become the property of the husband completely.

Therefore, the husband has the right to do anything to her including doing domestic

violence.

Because women are powerless, they just figure out how to survive. Lily and

Snow Flower try to survive as it is something very natural and very human to have

the instinct to survive. The researcher found that although women have difficulties

living under Chinese patriarchal culture, Lily and Snow Flower can survive in a

patriarchal culture. A bond in the form of female friendship contributes to making

their survival in the difficult condition of living under Chinese patriarchal culture.

Female friendship becomes a hope for them to survive in a patriarchal culture.

Female friendship is a means for women to influence each other, exchange ideas,

share the joys and sorrows, and help each other. Despite all the activities done by

women in this relationship looks very simple, these activities have an important role PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

to make women feel comfortable with each other. In addition, women will feel more

respected and more alive because there are people who care and support them.

However, the patriarchal culture in China is very strong. The most important thing is

that Lily and Snow Flower indeed survive in this patriarchal culture, but they cannot

survive without participating in the perpetuation of patriarchy. Lily and Snow

Flower do not realize that they have become the agents that help to perpetuate the

patriarchal culture. Lily and Snow Flower continue the practice of footbinding to

their daughter even though they know that the practice of footbinding hurts and

tortures their daughter. Additionally, Lily and Snow Flower indeed conquer their

husbands but by following the patriarchal system. They should be ideal wives or

wives who comply with Chinese patriarchal society and then they will get in return,

one among others, their husbands’ good treatment. They could have chosen to be

society’s outcasts but Lily and Snow Flower do not have a courage and a willingness

to face the risks. They cannot help to live by following patriarchal system that, sadly,

makes them the agents that perpetuate patriarchal culture in turn.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms: Third Edition. United States of America: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc, 1971.

Barlett, Elizabeth Ann. Rebellious Feminism: Camus’s Ethic of Rebellion and Feminist Thought. United States of America: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Ed. and trans. H. M. Parshley. New York: Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc, 1989.

Blake, Fred. Foot-Binding in Neo-Confucian China and the Appropriate of Female Labor. University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Bressler, Charles E. Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1999.

Chai, May-lee, and Winberg Chai. China A to Z: Everything You Need to Know to Understand Chinese Customs and Culture. New York: the Penguin Group, 2014. (gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=beb7d051ba0e4ad67181d93c05b4e46e). September 12, 2015.

Davis, Kathy, Mary Evans, and Judith Lorber. Handbook of Gender and Women’s Studies. London: Sage Publications, 2006.

Hong, Fan. Footbinding, Feminism and Freedom: The Liberation of Women's Bodies in Modern China. London: Frank Cass, 1997.

Hsu, Francis L.K. Under the Ancestors’ Shadow: Kinship, Personality, and Social Mobility in China. California : Stanford University Press, 1971.

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Lestari, Nofiatun Titi. Socio Cultural Study on Chinese Women in the 19th Century as Reflected in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Thesis. Yogyakarta: Ahmad Dahlan University, 2007.

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Madsen, Deborah L. Feminist Theory and Literary Practice. London: Pluto Press, 2000.

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Paskalin, Agatha Piscesia. “Male Domination in Footbinding and Secret Writing of Nineteenth-Century Chinese Women as seen in Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan”. Undergraduate Thesis. Yogyakarta: Sanata Dharma University, 2011.

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APPENDIX

Summary of Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan

The story of Lisa See’s Snow Flower and the Secret Fan talks about two women who have become friends since they were seven years old. They come from different family backgrounds. Lily does not belong to a wealthy family, while Snow

Flower comes from a wealthy family. Although they come from different family backgrounds, they both have undergone their obligations as a Chinese woman which is doing the practice of footbinding. They spent their childhood in an upstairs room that is specifically designed for women. The upstairs room is a place for women to learn to be a woman who is accepted by the Chinese patriarchal society, especially being a wife who is able to do her duty properly. Lily and Snow Flower learn from each other. Lily teaches Snow Flower about the household chores, such as washing, cleaning, and cooking, while Snow Flower teaches Lily becomes a woman who is more polite, cultured, and has good manners. They also continue to learn to embroider and learn the secret language of women, named nu shu. Nu shu is intended as a medium of communication, so that after they get married, they can still communicate with each other. They write nu shu on fans.

When they are teenagers, their parents have to find a husband for them through the intermediary matchmaker. Lily is lucky because she will get a husband who comes from a wealthy and privileged family, while Snow Flower will get a

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husband with a very low profession, a butcher. A few years later, they were married to their husbands, and they live in their husband’s family home. Their friendship is not as smooth when they are not yet married, such as there will be misunderstanding between them. Moreover, Lily is prohibited by her mother-in-law to meet Snow

Flower because Lily has been a member of a prominent family. However, Lily still meets Snow Flower secretly. They are still in a friendship. At the end of the story,

Snow Flower is the first to leave Lily. Snow Flower is ill and Lily remains at her side faithfully until Snow Flower passes away. Lily who later becomes Lady Lu, the most respected woman in her village, spends her old age by teaching the women in her village who want to learn nu shu. She is also willing to write biography for women who have a sad life story. She write the stories of women who experienced the sufferings of life - not respected, married at young age, feel the pain because separated from their parents, losing their children and dignity, occupy the lowest position, and get domestic violence.