![]() ![]() Lisa See's Peony in Love (2007) depicts the struggles and predicament of Chinese women who had to repress their desires due to their gender. As such, women's desires are attributed abject qualities due to their ability to disrupt the boundaries of the dominant system and are thus subject to censorship. To follow their desires would mean going against the gender norms of the society. Female desires are viewed as a form of abject as they do not conform to the female codes of behaviour assigned by the patriarchal system. This oppressive practice placed women lower in the hierarchy as, unlike men, they were denied the means and avenue to express their subjectivities and, consequently, had to repress their desires to conform to a collective identity. Based on these Confucian principles of patrilineality and patrilocality, women were expected to portray exemplary feminine virtues that required them to remain subservient and obedient to the men in her family. Abstract: The establishment of the Manchu led-Qing dynasty in 1636 led to the continuation of Confucianism as the dominant belief system in China. ![]()
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