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Alondra Blanco
Professor Holly Batty
English 102 (V 25031)
October 18, 2017
Masculine Monsters and Feminine Fighters

In todays time we have opened our eyes to explore new things that were not once common in

the world that we know today. We now take into account other peoples judgment and points of

views. With so much diversity, we begin to question ourselves due to the opinions of other

people. We now question our country, which was once known as the land of opportunity and

freedom, but has recently restricted such opportunities and freedoms. Through this way of

thinking we ask ourselves this were we always this controlled by a specific hierarchy of that

care for no one but themselves and if so, how were we so blind to it. we weren't blind to it,

thats just how Americans have been taught to look at their country. Another thing that is getting

a lot of attention these days are people feeling safe and confident enough about their sexuality

and coming out into the world to be normal human beings, as it should be. Things weren't

always like this though, there was always a taboo about being homosexual and people were

taught to be uncomfortable with who they were for the longest time. David Henry Hwang takes

in so much from the western culture as he does from communist China and Vietnam on views

about sexuality, masculinity, and devotion to one's country. Although many would argue that

you can not associate gender roles with power, I am suggesting that through power the countries

and personas of M. Butterfly are classified by gender roles. We will first identify how

postcolonialism generates a division between how each country sees themselves, secondly how

through stereotypes certain people are portrayed with a different gender expression, and lastly
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how a sense of pride and sexuality are very different but exactly the same in either western

culture or china through their ancient ways of seeing things.

As someone who has lived in the United States her whole life I was taught that the United

States has always gotten what it has wanted simply by becoming better than everyone else.

History classes didn't play too much attention to slavery or Native American genocide, because it

focused more on all the world wars and Nazi Germany and other worldly flaws that did not taint

the United States name, this is because in the Western World there is no wrong doing. We abuse

our power by stealing other people's land and territory for your own just because you have the

weapons and money to do so, This was not seen wrong but as a victory in M. Butterfly, we see

Beijing, China through a western point of view, through this point of view China is described as

awful, dirty, and it's its people ignorant. This is because any place that is not conquered by the

west is considered not worthy, this of course is by the people who want to conquer all this

territory. The French Diplomats in M. Butterfly treat their mission in china like a chore and

really only talk about France when they complain about something in china and want to compare

it to something better in their homeland. The west have had this way of making themselves

always look like the heros.

The opera Madame Butterfly, is a western invention that created problems throughout the drama

since it was first mentioned in scene six, the opera creates a western character that is very

masculine and powerful; but partners that role with a weak, feminine asian woman falling in

loving with him, coming at his every beck and call. In this play there is already a division in

ethnic groups. Song later mentions that if the roles were reversed then this play would be no
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tragedy but simply an act of tomfoolery. You can see that there is a hint of postcolonialism due

to the fact that the western writers of the opera feminize an entire country to show superiority to

their own country. A research paper by Songfeng Wen titled The subversion of the Oriental

Stereotype in M. Butterfly describes that the way that most Americans and Europeans in the

dram views the east is through Not only a reinterpretation, but also a subversion of how

westerns stereotype Asia and its people. Meaning that apart from stereotyping asian culture they

also have this implanted in their way of thinking of the east.

Throughout the play there are many example of gender roles and gender expressions that are

used to symbolize a certain image that people have been bred to bear. It isnt even about females

being feminine or males being masculine, but as some characters being portrayed with different

or opposite traits. Gallimard is seen as weak and almost feminine because he can not accomplish

the things that his male companions can do. An example of this would how his friend helped him

lose his virginity and how his wife only married him for convenience. Gallimard doesnt like

viewing himself through that kind of light, in fact he does whatever he can in order to surround

himself with people that express the opposite of what he is. Gallimards friend Marc is entirely

different than Gallimard, in that he outpours in masculinity and has no respect for beautiful

women, thinking that they are property to only be used up by men, Gallimard looks up to him

because he knows he can not accomplish this type of behavior. Marc isnt the only one in

Gallimards life that surround him in Masculinity, the women of the west are also seen as

masculine due to their straightforward attitudes. While Song is not female, he created this vision

of a woman that is shy, weak, and honoring. These are two different types of women, both very

feminine in actual gender and in expression of gender; yet they couldnt be more apart in the way
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that they are looked at by each country. The character Renee was a western woman that

Gallimard encounters after his confidence has been increased by Song. Song being a timid

woman that offers Gallimard everything except sexual attention causes Gallimard to build up

enough courage to say yes when Renee asks him for sex. She didnt care about Renes well-

being, she was a westerner who only needed Rene to complete her desires. In this way we are

able to see even female characters having masculine aura and do not necessarily have to be

attracted to men, as Galimard and his male companions do. Song goes through many transitions

as a spy and an actor. Born biologically male, Song seems to have no attraction to Gallimard at

the beginning of the drama, when speaking to Comrade Chin, he refers to himself as a

professional and he seems to be taking on his role as a woman very seriously. Song says that it is

to strongly convince Gallimard of his performance, but I believe that eventually Song begins to

develop real feelings when he goes to live with Gallimard in France.According to Michelle

Balaev analysis paper titled Performing gender and fictions of the nation in David Hwangs M.

Butterfly. the relationship heterosexual relationship that Gallimard wants and Song performs

have reflected national values that in turn demonstrate how men are attracted to women in

western culture. To Gallimard, Song is just someone that he can control and take over due to

her weak notions and non-resistful nature.

Anyway that you look at it you can see that David Henry Hwang intends to demonstrate that

Postcolonialism is trying to be overshadowed in his Drama. Song even say to Gallimard that

Western culture is Whitewashing history, That Madame Butterfly is nothing more than a

western culture invention to perceive the Orient as weak and submissive. Hwang also addresses

political problems that are shared in both China and France, there are many elements of political
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scandals and law breaking that have been done in order for things to go a certain way that appeal

to each party. Both Gallimard and Song experience some sort of punishment through their

political exploitation, Leighton Grist Cinema Journal titled Its only a piece of meat explains

how there was no real punishment for Song other than a same-sex relationship that is

outlawed in Maoist China, implying that Songs spying represents and imposed punishment for

the crime of his relationship with Gallimard. Gallimard on the other hand, traded important

governmental secrets with Song and China in order to get his son to france and to make Song

happy. Gallimard turns the Drama into a tragedy when he commits suicide over not having the

perfect women in his life, a lie that was created by Song. I dont believe that Gallimard ever did

question his relationship with Song, this was not because he was blind to it, he simply never had

a reason to question it.

M. Butterfly was a drama that represents of what one country (western) thinks of the other

(Eastern) in a way that has been presented to us (the audience) for many years. We are able to

see feminine and masculine roles interchanging throughout the story and even question what we

once thought about certain characters. Being feminine isnt directly linked with women and

masculinity isnt always tied with men and in M. Butterfly we can see that Song doesnt really

ties with either. M. Butterfly does demonstrate postcolonialism in a way that shows how the

West views the East and its people and Vice Versa. However, the East sees the West for what it

really is, they dont view it as a hero that is there its help, but as a monster that wants to rule over

everything that it considers weak and feminine, whether it be the country or its women.
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Work Cited

Balaev, Michelle. "Performing gender and fictions of the nation in David Hwang's M.
Butterfly." Forum for World Literature Studies, vol. 6, no. 4, 2014, p. 608+. Literature Resource
Center,
library.lavc.edu:2077/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=lavc_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA3982
53065&asid=da20bbd4eba63f055df6dc0dad4851a7. Accessed 18 Oct. 2017.
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Grist, Leighton. "'It's only a piece of meat': gender ambiguity, sexuality, and politics in
The Crying Game and M. Butterfly." Cinema Journal, vol. 42, no. 4, 2003, p. 3+. Literature
Resource Center,
library.lavc.edu:2077/ps/i.do?p=GLS&sw=w&u=lavc_main&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA1604
18995&asid=aa56668493fc341b7bcaead28db28755. Accessed 18 Oct. 2017.

Hwang, David Henry, and Giacomo Puccini. M. Butterfly. Plume Books, 2017.

Wen, Songfeng. The Subversion of the Oriental Stereotype in M. Butterfly. M. Butterfly:

An Intentional Subversion of the Butterfly Stereotype, vol. 3, no. No.2, ser. 2013, 26 Apr. 2013.
2013, citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.838.6330&rep=rep1&type=pdf.