Yin and Yang

I thought the article was really interesting because to me it showed how Yin and Yang gender dynamics show a clear division between the genders and set up fixed gender roles while not subordinating women to men, as you said. Professor Wang made reference to the Christian creation story as opposed to the Chinese. She said that in Chinese mythology, male and female were created at the same time, as one cannot exist without the other due to their dual nature. In the story of Adam and Eve, Eve is created after Adam and is secondary to him. I think this is interesting because the idea of Yin and Yang femininity and masculinity reinforces some traditional ideas such as the softness of women and strength of men that many would consider outdated today. However, this philosophy places equal value on feminine characteristics as it does on masculine. Therefore, even though it characterizes women as "soft," it demonstrates that softness is just as important as strength, and that they both must co-exist in order to maintain balance. This is different from the idea that feminine softness is "weak," causing women to be subordinate to men.