Filed under: Asian
If there’s one thing that makes me loathe my cultural identity, it’s Confucius and his philosophy of sexism and ageism. An educated woman is a worthless woman, he said. A woman belongs to three men in her life time– her father, her husband, and her son. Respect your elders. I’m usually a very calm person, but if there’s one topic that riles my blood, it’s this son of a bitch– no offense to his mama.
There is nothing I can say to defend his chauvinistic view toward women– all I can surmise is maybe he had a very small penis and, as a result, developed a huge complex that could only find solace in trampling on the softer sex. I don’t accept his teachings at all. It’s not that I don’t agree old people deserve respect, for example– I’m a big supporter of respectful behavior. However, I don’t believe respect is reserved for people on the basis of age. Every being, old or young, is worthy of respect. I don’t think it’s okay to say that a forty-something year old deserves more respect than a thirteen year old. What for? Because the forty-plus person has lived longer? What fucking difference does that make? Having lived longer does not equate to having lived richer or wiser or better.
Confucius came from China and China, self-proclaimed center of the world back in its glory days and near future days, influenced much of Asia, including Korea (which was a tribunal state to China long ago in history). I should hope the shit about women belonging to men has ended– Confucius would do well to be reincarnated in the Gulf Arab region– but I know respect for elders is still a big deal, even if the geezer is a miserable old bastard. If you’re young, tough– you just swallow your vexation now and take it out on someone younger than you when you’re old enough to claim automatic respect. I see this everywhere all the time– young people are treated like crap and spoken to in the rudest of manners because they’re younger than the person addressing them. What the fuck is that all about?
It’s a big fucking problem, in my opinion. Did you click the video feed above? It’s big news in Korea currently– what appears to be a middle school boy is slapped and kicked multiple times by his teacher. The boy is standing outside the bus– was it a field trip?– and the teacher is inside the bus, slapping him on his face and kicking him in the groin. And did you notice that the kid just stood there and took it? That when he was kicked away, he resumed his stance and allowed his teacher to kick him again and yet again?
This is Confucianism, people– we have two templates here. First, the teacher-student relationship– teachers are to be respected by students, period. Second, the senior-junior relationship– seniors are to be respected by juniors, end of story. It’s sickening. It seems people forget that they need to earn respect and that they need to behave with respect in order to receive respect. It would be nice if respect were automatic– for all people, not just old ones– but that’s just not possible because how can you respect someone automatically if that person displays he or she is unworthy of respect? Furthermore, giving respect doesn’t mean a person will behave accordingly– as illustrated by the teacher beating the crap out of her student in the video.
I guess you could dole out respect by default but be prepared to revoke it as a person’s less than respectable nature is revealed; or, you could take the opposite approach and reserve your respect until a person has earned it. The point I’m trying to make is that this Confucian order of respect by birth order and rank is terribly misguided.
I hate Confucius with a vengeance. I don’t know all of his teachings because of what little I do know, I know I know enough to not want to know more. He was not a nice man from what I can gather and I can’t even say he was a wise man– more like a wise misogynist. I really hate him and it’s this aspect of my cultural background that makes me the self-loathing American born Chinese girl that I am.
(And just for your information regarding the video: the latest news is that the boy’s parents have filed a lawsuit against the teacher. Meanwhile, internet forums show support for the boy as well as the teacher. School officials will announce disciplinary measures next week.)
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ABC Girl: A Bit Confused.
Questioning her identity, her origins, and her perception.
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girlabc 
🙂 your post is quite interesting. I do not know much about Confucius, but I’ve read that Arthur Schopenhauer (the philosopher) held similar beliefs with regards to women and their “purpose” – which seems to be, to obey and serve others. Similar beliefs are relayed by Manu in the Manu Smriti (which is work that is associated with the Upanishads). The Upanishads form the basis of Hinduism (a religion widely practiced in India). Looks like Confucius was not alone in reducing the status of women to nothing!
Comment by Lakshmi July 11, 2012 @ 9:58 amSchopenhauer’s views on some other topics are exceedingly interesting and quite insightful. What is amazing is that a person with such wide and open views on various subjects is so skewed when it came to some others. Either I am being biased in my judgement because I am a woman or maybe there is some deeper meaning in it that I don’t get!
Absolutely loved your post (oh well not the profanities, but everything else!). I too, really loathe this philosopher who could not keep his thoughts for himself but instead spread them worldwide and making lives miserable for women in Asia. He might have said some wise things, but they do not outweigh the misery created by him and the likes of him.
Comment by Zhen May 1, 2014 @ 11:44 pmOn the other hand, a few days ago I read about something I would never have imagined would happen under his teachings. Supposedly, in Vietnam(long time ago) there were small groups who thanks to Confucianism strengthened their equal rights… Or was it that they became radical feminists? I don’t quite remember the details, but I know it was something good. I read it in the book “the history of Vietnam” – by Hans Hägerdal
“There is nothing I can say to defend his chauvinistic view toward women– all I can surmise is maybe he had a very small penis and, as a result, developed a huge complex that could only find solace in trampling on the softer sex.”
Why do you equate small penises with misogonistic behaviour. Due to a chromosomal defect I myself have an exceptionally small penis, but I also have a wife and daughter of whom I have the greatest respect for and am forever evaluating how I interact and evaluate women.
Saying that I have friends with large penises who I feel are much more sexist and disrespectful to their wives and girlfriends.
I think comments like this just are just a cheap and thoughtless defence that strengthen negative stereotypes of people with irregularities.
Comment by andrew September 8, 2014 @ 12:24 amHells yeah! Confucius can suck it! suck it….haaaaaaaard! I despise Confucianism!!
Comment by Garrett February 25, 2015 @ 3:59 pmI stumbled upon your blog when I surfed the net, and I can’t agree more with you!
Those unbalanced relationships created throughout Asian society is actually harming everyone in it! I saw many Hong Kongers were raised with either dissatifsfaction or submissiveness because they were treated disrespectfully and required to obey so much that they have lost themselves and their own identity! So many people succumbed to ‘standards’ set by society and ‘seniors’ such that they still struggle with identity and confidence problem when they’re adults!
What you wrote is so true!
Comment by Libertas December 19, 2016 @ 8:02 am