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of m asculine dominat ion over w om en. Buck here t ried t o show about a w om an nam ed M adame Wu t hat st ruggles t o have t he sam e right as m en in
som e aspect s of life. The m al e dom ination and Chinese culture force M adam e Wu to be a wom an t hat has no right t o have a good education.
M adam e Wu lived in the era of t he Second World War w hen m any foreigners cam e and visit ed China. It is also the era of w om en’s movem ent in
Europe and America. How ever, China st ill m aint ains t heir t radition and beliefs t o rest rict w om en. They believe t hat w omen are not allow ed to work out side
of the house because t hey do not have a smart brain like m en. Women just become w ives t hat give birt h, nurture t he babies and do
t he household m at t ers. It also happens t o M adam e Wu. She did and handled t he household mat t ers like choosing a w ife for her sons, doing accounting,
and designing t he house. How ever, in her fort iet h birt hday she realized t hat she had to do som et hing for her freedom from the rest rict ions.
Based on those aspect s, t he researcher w ould like t o analyze t he charact erist ics, sym pt oms and effect s of fem inism as shown in Pearl S Buck’ s
Pavilion of Women novel, and t he title is: GENDER EQUALITY IN PEARL S
BUCK’S PAVILION OF W OM EN NOVEL 1946 .
B. Theoretical Foundation
Pat riarchy lit erally means t he fat her’s rule. Originally, it w as used t o describe a male-dominat ed family – t he large household of t he pat riarch
w hich included wom en, junior m en, children, slaves and dom est ic servant s all under t he rule of t his dominant m ale. It is now used m ore generally t o refer t o
m ale dominat ion, to t he power relat ionships by which m en dominat e w omen, and t o charact erize a syst em w hereby w om en are kept subordinat e in a
num ber of ways Bhasin in Abeda, 2011: 2. Pat riarchy refers t o t he m ale dominat ion both in public and privat e
spheres. Feminist s mainly use t he term ‘ pat riarchy’ t o describe t he pow er
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relat ionship bet w een men and women. Thus, pat riarchy is more t han just a t erm; fem inist s use it like a concept, and like all other concept s it is a tool t o
help us underst and w om en’s realities. In this pat riarchal syst em , m en and wom en behave, t hink, and aspire
different ly because t hey have been t aught to think of masculinit y and femininit y in w ays w hich condit ion difference. Pat riarchal syst em show s in or
accept s t hat m en have, or should have; one set of qualit ies and charact erist ics, and women anot her such as masculine qualit ies st rengt h,
bravery, fearlessness, dominance, com pet it iveness et c., and fem inine qualit ies caring, nurturing, love, t imidit y, obedience et c..
Act ually, the m ale’ s dominat ion in pat riachal syst em is made by t he m ale. And t he male condit ions the female as inferior, passive people, and
subordinat ed human. The ale usually uses t he physical violence t o m ake t he female obey t hem and to cont rol the fem ale.
Nat urally, w om en are condit ioned as inferior. Example of t he discrimination tow ard w om en is t hat women have sm aller brains t han m en
and less int elligence; t hey are more emot ional and unst able. W om en have been conditioned t o believe t hat t hey are inferior t o m en, and they have
assumed t hat it is a fact of nature M ont agu, 1953: 23. In the past , gender discrim inat ion w as clearly seen as w om en are
t reat ed unfairly. Wom en them selves f eel t hat t hey are w eak and inferior. The feeling of w eakness m akes t hem m uch w eaker. In most of t he cult ures
w om en are considered t o be a sort of low er being; a creat ure human enough, but not quit e as hum an as the male M ont agu, 1953: 27.
In early feminism t hat is in t he lat e ninet eent h -and early t w ent iet h- cent ury t here is a w om en movem ent called Liberal fem inism. Liberal fem inism
is t he w om en’ s movem ent t o gain individual freedom, and equalit y of opport unit y and education is t he w eapon t o gain t hem . The liberal emphasis
on t he individual st resses t he import ance of the individual and individual
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autonom y which are prot ect ed by guarant eed right, economic just ice, and equalit y of opport unit y M adsen, 2000: 35.
The liberal movem ent arose as t he result of cult ural and ideological construction about wom en. Gilm an, as cit ed by M adsen, said that the fallacies
t hat wom en w ant t o be dependent on men, their am bitions and aspirations are less t han men’ s, t hey do not w ant educat ion or professional att ainm ent or
live out side hom e, are exposed as t he product of social condit ion t hat work t o t ransform individual people into sexual st ereot ypes. Therefore, w om en w ant
t o have equal opport unit y in many aspect s of life such as having job, good educat ion, et c M adsen, 2000: 41.
A great deal of feminism is t o break t he silence on women: disent angling the supposed unities of the family t hat conceal relat ionships of
pow er and subordinat ion; identifying new issues t hat arise w hen w e t urn from t he abst ract ions of humanit y t o put the spotlight on w om en them selves;
draw ing at t ention t o conflict s of int erest bet w een t he sexes; bat t ling on behalf of w om en’s right s or needs. In one part icularly st rong formulat ion of
t his is t hat our understanding of cit izenship has t o be reformulat ed to open up space for t w o figures: one m asculine, one fem inine. Inst ead, t hat is, of
subsuming wom en under t he false universalism s of hum anit y, fem inist s have sought to refram e view s on freedom, equality, or dem ocracy w it h t he
knowledge that there are both wom en and men Susan and Palm er, 2002: 12 .
Buck’ s Pavilion of W omen novel is a st ory about a Chinese w om an. The st ory and the charact ers are influenced by t he Chinese culture. Therefore, t his
st udy is relat ed to women in Chinese culture. Baker 1979: 23 said t hat women in China had different at t itude from
m en. In China, wom en w ere not considered import ant . While sons inherit ed equal shares of t heir father’s est at e, daught ers w ould inherit any propert ies
or im movable goods at all. A girl had a big responsibilit y of t he house-w ork at a very young age, while her brot hers had a m uch longer and freer childhood.
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The boys w ould be allow ed t o go t o school while t he girl rarely had such opport unit y and they were illit erat e.
Chinese t radit ional culture is much influenced by Confucius. The core of the Confucian value syst em w as set of hierarchical relat ionships bet w een
people. For Confucian, harm ony could only be achieved if people adhered t o t heir posit ion in t he hierarchy, w het her it is high or low . The essence of t his
syst em w as t hat everyone w as unequal. The harmony of life is t he posit ion of people in t he hierarchy t hat is a fat her over sons or a husband over his w ife
Smit h, 1991: 34. In Chinese marriage, Sm ith said that the inst rum ent alist underpinnings
t o m at chmaking in China, whet her perform ed by fam ily m em bers or official agencies, has produced a som ewhat blasé at t it ude t ow ard m arriage among
young people. In difficult t im es one should marry w it h a suit able m at ch, not for perfect love. Love is not very im port ant; therefore everyone can get
m arried w ith someone w ithout love 1991: 200. Chinese w om en t ried t o hide their feelings. They do not w ant people
t o know about their feeling. They w ill hide t heir anger, love, or hat e. It is a t aboo thing to t alk about love and sex. The t radit ion and habit influence the
Chinese people, bot h men and wom en, t o think and t reat w om en as inferior individual. Wom en cannot do w hat m en can do such as get t ing a job out of
t he house and get t ing good education. They just w ork at hom e and do t he household matt er like nurturing t he children.
Pre-m odern China, in the m anner of agrarian societ ies, assert ed t he superiorit y of m en over w om en, support ing that percept ion w it h it s et hnical
just ifications, legal codes and custom ary pract ices. Fem ale suffered infanticide
and t he crippling ef fect of bound feet and inferior nurturance in early
childhood that produced a biased sex rat io, confinement t o the hom e t o prevent mixing with unrelat ed m en, opposition to the rem arriage of w idow s
among elit e and aspiring families, exclusion from t he exam inat ion syst em ,
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from educat ion in general and from the direct rew ards of achievem ent in it Hook, 1991: 95.
During the lat e of t w entiet h century, gender equalit y became a major issue in the w orld. In many societ ies, w om en and men are t reat ed different ly.
Typically, wom en face various form s of discrim inat ion that limit t heir abilit y to develop capabilities, enjoy freedom from violence and have t he sam e social
st at us as men. Before t alking about gender equalit y, w e should underst and first about
gender. According to Inglehart 2003: 8 gender refers t o the socially construct ed roles and learned behavior of w om en and m en associat ed w it h
t he biological charact erist ics of fem ales and m ales. Talking about gender is t alking about t he at tit udes, feelings, and behaviors t hat a given cult ure
associat es w it h a person’ s biological sex. Agassi 1989: 164 said that t heories of gender equalit y are based on
t he assumption that all st ereot yped social roles for men and wom en have t o be abolished t o achieve equal st atus. Gender equalit y refers t o t he equal
right s, responsibilit y and opportunities of women and m en. Such equalit y can be achieved w hen women and m en enjoy the sam e right s and opport unit ies
t o all sect ors in the societ y including economic, polit ic and when the different behaviors, aspirations and needs of t hem are equally valued and favored.
Gender equalit y does not m ean t hat wom en and m en have t o becom e t he sam e, but that their right s, responsibilities and opportunities w ill not
depend on w hether t hey are born m ale or fem ale. It means fairness of t reat m ent for women and m en, according t o their respect ive n eeds. This may
include equal t reat m ent in t erms of right s, benefit s, obligat ions and opport unit ies.
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C. Research M ethodology
