The Effects of Patriarchy on the Lives of the Women Essay

The Effects of Patriarchy on the Lives of the Women - Essay Example Maxine Hong’s tale, ‘No Name Woman’, has an even more glaring depiction of the Chinese patriarchal culture’s expectations of women. Hong, at one point, states that her pregnant aunt, whom nobody ever mentioned by name, could not possibly have been the sole woman to choose to give up everything for some sexual intimacy. Hong states that it is more likely that some strange man simply commanded her to do so; and she had no right to refuse him because she was brought up to have no will of her own (Hong, 3). This is a startling revelation that shows how women were socialized to be virtual slaves to the whims of men. China’s patriarchal system did not allow its women to develop any sense of individuality. In Isabel Allende’s ‘An Act of Vengeance’, it is Senator Anselmo Orellano himself, who, through his thoughts, when being attacked, reveal the dark strain of misogyny that can only be supported by a patriarchal society that views women as the property of men. When he first sees the rabblerousers coming, Senator Orellano locks his daughter Dulce Rosa in the furthest room on the patio. This effectively stops her from hiding in secret places where she may have suspected the men would not know to check. When near death, Senator Orellano then begins to imagine that, once they are finished with him, the attackers will proceed to the room where his child is hidden and â€Å"carry out their duties† (Zapata, 18).