Expectations and Characterizations of Female Gender Roles

One important element in David Henry Hwang’s M. Butterfly is the characterization of female gender roles. To a certain extent, the view of Western and Eastern women can be very similar because both women have the tendency to abuse their sexuality and entangle themselves in affairs. The American girls, as Hwang described, come “On trucks. Packed in like sardines. The back flips open, babes hop out, we’re ready to roll” (Act 1, Scene 5, p. 8). They do not seem to regard highly of themselves and lack the self-esteem and self-respect they deserve as humankind. Willing to be let loose and be treated like property, these girls belittle their own potential and power and subject to their sense of gender inequality. Likewise, upon their first acquaintance, Song left Gallimard with an open-ended statement, “…sometimes, it is also mutual” (Act 1, Scene 8, p. 22). In a way, Song is hinting that this refers to their love tension because by impersonating a modest yet provocative woman, “she” has taunted and captured Gallimard’s interest from the very start. By placing this complicated burden and act on “herself”, Song confessed that as a Chinese government spy, this was “her” way to gather information and attend to the diplomatic affairs of “her” country. In essence, the author points out that the despite the geographic difference between the West and the East, women’s human nature germinates from the same root of having to associate and submit to a greater force, such as men, in order to fulfill and be acknowledged with a solid defined position in this aspect of society.

On the contrary, different nations have taken different approaches in response to this act and behavior. On behalf of the French embassy, Toulon confronts Gallimard with his keeping of a Chinese mistress and remarks, “Now you go and find a lotus blossom…and top us all” (Act 2, Scene 4, p. 46). This indicates that the Western’s liberal views gives freedom to the choice of love engagement. They were in terms less in meddling with an individual’s affinity and relationship affairs. In contrast, Song’s duties had to comply with the principles of the Communist Party. When she “allowed [herself] to be corrupted by a foreigner…and engaged in the lowest perversions with China’s enemies” (Act 2, Scene 9, p. 70) and stretched beyond the limits of “her” role, this was not accepted as the norms of society. Thus, Song was regarded as a disgrace in the eyes of the East and was ultimately kicked out of “her” country.