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Gender Inequality as Family Drama in Ang Lee's Eat Drink Man Woman
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East Asian Languages and Cultures (Bi-College)
Weaver, Kristin
Advisor: Kwa, Shiamin
Department: Bi-College (Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges). Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures
Type: Thesis
Access Restrictions: Open Access
Terms of Use: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Permanent URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10066/18815
In this thesis, the primary source of my analysis lies with Ang Lee's film, Eat Drink Man Woman, which was released in 1994. In this paper, I maintain that in Eat Drink Man Woman, Ang Lee's depiction of the clashing between modernity and tradition allows for him to redefine the definition of success; thusly turning away from the traditional gender expectations of Taiwanese society and towards personal fulfilment. Through analysis of tradition and modernity as it appears in the film, I examine how Mr. Chu and each of his daughters find success despite the gender expectations within which they exist as a turning point in the understanding and interpretation of tradition, especially as it applies to sexism, in Taiwanese society. To gain a better understanding of the operation of sexist ideologies in Taiwanese society during the time at which Eat Drink Man Woman is set, I took a socio-historical approach in exploring the main socially embedded manifestations of patriarchal beliefs in Taiwan, looking at language, depictions of gender biases in the Taiwanese media and music industry along with the participation of women in the Taiwanese workforce. Thus, with this film, Ang Lee was ultimately able to flip normative understandings of traditional Taiwanese gender constrained definitions of success on its head. In the many years that have passed since the film's release, it is found, however, that the struggles of the women in Eat Drink Man Woman are felt in Taiwanese society today, evidencing that Ang Lee's message on the attainment of success has ultimately gone unheeded by modern Taiwan.
Kristin Weaver was a Bryn Mawr student.
Name: 2016WeaverK.pdf
Description: Thesis
Name: 2016WeaverK_relea ...
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