post structural feminism

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POSTSTRUCTURALIST FEMINISM AND THEPROBLEM OF FEMININITYIN THE DAODEJING mW

Judith Chuan Xu

This article probes the feminine images in the ancient Chinese Daoistclassic the Daodejing MWM (Classic of the way and virtue) and their relation-ship to contemporary Western poststructuralist feminist theories on sex andgender.1 I intend to show how poststructuralist feminist theories on sex andgender and the DDJ's views on the feminine can inform each other on the

problem of femininity. On the one hand, the poststructuralist feminist decon-struction of traditional concepts of sex and gender helps to prevent a patriar-chal appropriation of the feminine images and values in the DDJas the defini-tion of femininity. On the other hand, the mutually complementary female andmale cosmologica! principles within the Dao M(Way) present a vision that tran-scends gender dichotomy. Therefore, a poststructuralist feminist reading of the

I would like to acknowledge the JFSR s reviewers for the advice they gave on an earlier version ofthisarticle.

1 Also named after its alleged author, Laozi %, the Daodejingis the most significant earlyDaoist text and has exerted a profound influence on Chinese culture. (The Daodejingwill be referred

to as DDJhereafter.) There have been numerous debates among modern Daoist scholars regarding

the authorship of this classic and the time of its composition. Contemporary scholars date the DDJ

between roughly 400 B.C.E. and 200 B.C.E., and believe that it was the product of collective wisdom

ratherthan the work ofa single author. (For the purpose of this article, I will consider Laozi to be the

authorofthe DDJ.) The earliest DDJmanuscripts discovered so far date to approximately 200 B.C.E.

For further information concerning the origin ofthe DDJ, see William H. Baxter, "Situating the Lan-

guage ofthe Laotzu: The Probable Date ofthe Taoteching," in Laotzu and the Taoteching, ed.

Livia Kohn and Michael LaFargue (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1998), 23154;

Stephan PeterBumbacher, "The Earliest Manuscripts ofthe Laozi Discovered to Date," Asiatische

Studien/Etudes Asiatiques 52, no. 4 (1998): 117584; John Emerson, "A Stratification of Lao Tzu,"


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48 Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion

DDJcan contribute to feminist struggles to overthrow the sex/gender system,eliminate gender dichotomy, free women and men from patriarchal ideologies

of Woman and femininity, and hence liberate women from gender discrimina-tion and oppression.

Before undertaking this study, it may be necessary to consider the risk ofapplying contemporary Western feminist and gender theories to the ancientDaoist text. Would such a cross-cultural reading be superimposing a Westernframework onto a Chinese text? To prevent this from happening, I shall treatthe DDJand the poststructuralist feminist and gender theories as equal dia-logical partners, and I will pay close attention to the cultural and historical con-

texts of the DDJ. Further, I would like to caution the reader that we should notread the DDJas a "feminist" text, as it would be anachronistic to do so.Also, given that feminist criticism has challenged the traditional male/fe-

male, man/woman gender dichotomy at its metaphysical basis and thus hasshaken the fundamental ground for gender identities, and given that post-structuralist feminism sees all gender identities as cultural constructions, oneneeds to be extremely careful when it comes to the use of gender terminology.Hence I shall now clarify my understanding of the gender terminology in thisarticle.

1. "Female," "feminine," and "femininity": Female refers to the biologicalfeatures of the sex that bears young, whereas feminine and femininity consistof a set of culturally defined gender characteristics for women. As Toril Moicautions us, we must not "collapse feminine into female."2 As I will show, thedistinction between sex and gender can be blurry at times, because the conceptof sex may be tainted by culturally constructed gender ideology. Therefore,what is construed as "female" may actually be "feminine."

2. "Woman/woman" and "women": Woman/woman refers to the culturalconstruction of what it means to be a woman, which entails, for example, beingthe "second sex," subordinate to men, as described by Simone de Beauvoir.3

Women, on the other hand, indicates the social group that has historically beenoppressed on the basis of presumed female biological identity.

3. "Man" "male" "masculine" and "masculinity": These concepts are cul-tural constructions just as their counterparts woman, female, feminine, and

femininity are.

According to anthropologist Gayle Rubin the cause for omen's oppres


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Xu: Poststructuralist Feminism 49

by traditional concepts of sex and gender, lies in what she calls the "sex/gendersystem," that is, "the systematic social apparatus which takes up females as raw

materials and fashions domesticated women as products" as well as "the socialorganization of sexuality and the reproduction of conventions of sex and gen-der."4 Thus, an effective way to expose and derail the sex/gender system is todeconstruct "biological sex" by revealing its constructed nature, so that theground for biological determinism that takes the culturally constructed femalenature as that which determines women's identity or femininity will no longerexist.

In the battle against biological determinism, Beauvoir made a historical

breakthrough by distinguishing gender from sex. Beauvoir declared that thetraditional conception of Woman is a patriarchal fiction and a distortion ofwomen. Woman as conceptualized by the patriarchal mind is not born so but,rather, is created by the patriarchal culture. Hence, "one is not born, but ratherbecomes a woman."5 For Beauvoir, sex may be a biological factthat is, the in-variant, anatomically distinct aspects of the female bodybut gender is a so-cial construct, namely, the cultural meaning that the female body acquires.6

Thus, traditional concepts of Woman and femininity are myths of patriarchalculture. Furthermore, as the title of her landmark book suggests, Beauvoir ar-gues that such culturally constructed binary gender categories situate womenas the "second sex," inferior to men.

Beauvoir s views are carried forward by poststructuralist feminists whoseek a complete demolition of "the myth of woman"7 by deconstructing the no-tion of biological sex and challenging the male/female gender dichotomy. Re-sorting to gender studies in French poststructuralist philosophy and modernscienceparticularly genetic and cell biologypoststructuralist feministsargue that biological sex itselfis a social construct. The deconstruction of bio-

logical sex shatters the ground for the patriarchal sex/gender system as well asthe myth of Woman and femininity, and severely challenges gender dichotomy.

The DDJis a groundbreaking work of ancient Chinese philosophy. Usingtraditional feminine images such as the female, mother, valley, and water tosymbolize the Dao and advocating humility, yieldingness, and receptivityfeminine characteristics attributed to women by the patriarchal cultureasvalues of the Dao, the DDJushers a different voice into the traditional Chinesepatriarchal world. Indeed, the DD/s insight into the Dao has always been a re-

freshing and challenging voice in traditional Chinese patriarchal society.4 Gayle Rubin, "The Traffic in Women: Notes on the 'Political Economy' ofSex," in Toward


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Nevertheless, a patriarchal reading of the DDJ that identifies femaleness

with the metaphoric usage of the traditional feminine images in the DDJ can

reinforce a patriarchal ideology that keeps women subordinate. The poststruc-

turalist feminist critique of the notions of sex, gender, and femininity exposes

the fallacy of the patriarchal ideology of Woman and femininity, and the con-

structed nature of female identity. This helps to make the needed distinction

between women and the traditional feminine images as symbols for the Dao,

so as to prevent misappropriation of these feminine images in the interest of

patriarchal ideology.

By recommending feminine ways to the male sage as the way to govern the

empire, however, the DDJ both implicitly and explicitly breaks down tradi-tional norms and conceptions ofMan and Woman. Moreover, the DDJ's nondi

chotomous cosmology, that is, the Dao as the undifferentiated ultimate reality

and the origin of the universe as well as the mutual complementarity of the

cosmic forces yin and yang as the Dao in action, offers poststructuralist femi-

nists a new horizon for transcending the patriarchal gender dichotomy. With a

nondichotomous worldview, Laozi advocates feminine values for men. This in-

dicates that in a nondichotomous universe, what is considered feminine in the

patriarchal culture can be free and available to all individuals.

With the foregoing understanding, in this article I shall discuss poststruc-

turalist feminists' views on sex and gender and shall analyze the problem of

femininity in the DDJbased on these views. The research and discussions here

proceed in three steps. First, I present the feminine images and values in the

DDJ. Second, I investigate the poststructuralist feminist critique ofthe notions

of sex and gender by feminist theorist Judith Butler and feminist biologists. In

this section I also examine the ways in which these poststructuralist feminists

deconstruct the notion of biological sex and therefore dismantle the myth of

Woman. Finally, I analyze the feminine images in the DDJ and their implica-tions for femininity in light of poststructuralist gender theories, and elaborate

on the impact and ramifications of a poststructuralist feminist reading of the

DDJ.

Feminine Images in the Daodejing

Forthe sake ofa proper understanding ofthe feminine images in the DDJ,

it is helpful to look first at the concept of the feminine in the broader contextof ancient Chinese culture.

Th i t Chi d t di f th f i i i fl t d i th


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kun are the primordial cosmic creative forces. Qian is heaven, the masculine.Kun is earth, the feminine. The Yijing states, "Qian which symbolizes Heaven

directs the great beginnings of things; Kun which symbolizes earth gives tothem their completion."9 As cocreators, qian and kun are mutually comple-mentary. Nevertheless, qian, the male principle, plays the leading role,whereas kun, the female principle, follows the influence ofqian obediently andmaterializes qian s designs in creating the myriad things (Zhu, 55; Legge, 214),and the position o kun is lower (Zhu, 284; Legge, 348). Again, whereas qian isstrong (gangM), kun is gentle and docile (roushun ^Hi); its role is to be recep-tive and to follow (Zhu, 55, 61; Legge, 214, 418-19).

The Yijing associates qian with men and kun with women: "The attributesexpressed by qian constitute the male; those expressed by kun constitute the fe-male" (Zhu, 285; Legge, 349). Thus, the female role in ancient Chinese cultureis to be docile and submissive. This is confirmed by the chapter on the mean-ing of the wedding rite in the Liji (M1B (Book of rites), which says that the sub-missiveness of the wife will bring harmony to the family and will secure its longcontinuance. Therefore, when the future wife offers a sacrifice to the ancestorsas part of the preparation for the marriage, the sacrificial fish must be accom-panied with waterweeds to symbolize the wife's submissiveness.10 As Min Jiayinpoints out, the low position ofkun in Yijing's cosmology and its association withwomen later became the basis for male superiority in Chinese culture.11

During the Warring States Period (480-222 B.C.E.), the concepts ofyin Hand yang B as the dialectic feminine and masculine cosmic principles becamewidely accepted by the different philosophical schools, and they have domi-nated Chinese cosmology ever since. Yang corresponds to qian, the masculine.Yin corresponds to kun, the feminine.

B.C.E.), whereas the appendixes, or further commentaries on the hexagrams, were written and com-piled by Confucians during the early years of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 CE.). A History ofChinese Philosophy, trans. Derk Bodde (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1983), 1:412.

9 For the text of the Yijing, I have consulted Zhu Xis * commentary on the Yijing, ZhouyiBenyi IM%#&) (The true meaning of the Zhou yi) (Tianjin, China: Tianjinshi Guji Shudian, 1989);Nan Huaijin SBI and Xu Qinting ii , Baihua Yijing M*l (An interpretation of the Yijing)(Changsha, China: Yuelushushe, 1988); and James Legge s translation, The Yi King (Oxford: Claren-don, 1882). Hereafter, I shall indicate the page numbers in Zhu s text and Legge s translation, inparentheses, for my quotations from the Yijing. I have modified some of Legge s translation. Thisquotation is from Zhu, 286; and Legge, 349.

10 Shisanjing zhushu (+HMt) (Notes and commentaries on the Thirteen Classics), ed., RanYuan ETC (Nanchang fu, Jiangxi: xuekai, 1815), reprint (Taibei: Yiwen Yinshuguan, 1976), vol. 5,


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The yin/yang theories found full application and development in Daoism.In Daoist cosmology, yin and yang are the Dao in motion. Ultimately, the Dao

is the undifferentiated nonbeing (wuM) that is the origin of being (youW) (DDJ40). Yin and yang are the instruments by which the Dao operates as it gives riseto the myriad things. The Dao creates and directs the course of the universeby the change and movement ofyin and yang, and dwells in the myriad thingsas yin and yang.

Whereas in the Yijings cosmology the female principle kun is subordinateto qian, the male principle, the DDJemphasizes the mutual complementarityand harmony ofyin and yang, the female and male cosmic principles. Thus,

"the myriad things carry on their backs the yin and embrace in their arms theyang."12 Moreover, the DDJgives precedence to the female and the feminine.The preference for the feminine is obvious in statements such as "When thegates of heaven open and shut, / Are you capable of keeping to the role of thefemale?" (DDJ10; Lau, 66) and "Know the male, / But keep to the role of thefemale" (DDJ28; Lau, 85). Above all, the DD] adopts feminine rather thanmasculine images in conveying the Dao, which, as the mysterious origin andruler of the universe, is ultimately ineffable.

Therefore, whereas the male principle plays the leading role in the Yijingscosmology, the DDJexalts the female and all that is lowly and feminine as sym-bols of the Dao. Hence, in the DDJ, the mother, the female animal, and the fe-male reproductive organs emerge as the dominant symbols of the Dao as theorigin of the universe. Indeed, in the DDJ, the traditional notions of feminin-ity are transformed into symbols of the Dao.

The feminine images in the DDJcan be divided into two groups. The firstgroup centers on the mother and the female body as symbols for the Dao asthe mysterious origin of the universe. The second group consists of images tra-

ditionally associated with women and femininity as metaphors for Daoist val-ues.

The notion that the Dao is the mother of the universe appears in DDJ1,25, and 52, and is most explicit in chapter 25:

There was something undifferentiated and yet complete,

Which existed before heaven and earth.

Soundless and formless,

It depends on nothing, and does not change.

It operates everywhere and is free from danger.

12 F h E li h l i f h DD] I h l d D C L L T T T


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It may be considered the mother of the universe.I do not know its name;

I call it Dao. (Chan, 152)

Feminine images suggesting and symbolizing the fertility of the Dao are

rich and abundant in the DDJ. Besides the mother, the valley is another out-standing symbol of the Dao s fertility:

The spirit of the valley never dies.It is called the mysterious female.The gateway of the mysterious femaleIs called the root of heaven and earth. (DDJ6; Lau, 62)

The image of the valley as a downward-tending emptiness through which

water flows suggests the uterus or the female genital organ. The valley in the

natural world is the source of fertility, bringing forth and nourishing life on

earth. Hence, the valley image symbolizes the Dao as the everlasting source of

the universe. In fact, the notion of the Dao s inexhaustible fertility occurs re-

peatedly in chapters 4 and 5, where the Dao is depicted as the emptiness that

is inexhaustible and pours out ever more. Therefore, the Dao as the eternal fe-

cundity of the universe that continuously produces the myriad things is sym-bolized in a feminine image, the valley, which suggests the uterus and female

reproduction.13

Feminine images promoting the ways of the Daolowliness, softness,

yieldingness, quietude, and inactivityare prevalent in the DDJ. Among them,the valley and water are the exemplary symbols of the Dao.

The image of the valley is a typical example of a feminine image based on

feminine characteristics traditionally attributed to women. Its low position con-

notes the socially assigned role of lowliness to women. The DDJ says,

Know the maleBut keep to the role of the femaleAnd be a ravine to the empire.If you are a ravine to the empire,Then the constant virtue will not desert youAnd you will again return to being a babe

Know honorBut keep to the role of the disgraced

And be a valley to the empire.If you are a valley to the empire,


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And you will return to being the uncarved block. (DDJ28; Lau,85)

A ravine is a small-scale valley, sharing the qualities of lowliness and dis-

grace with the valley. In the preceding text, "the role of the female" and "therole of the disgraced" respectively parallel the "ravine" and the "valley." Hence,the ravine and the valley embody the traditional female rolereceptivity, hu-

mility, submissiveness and yieldingness. These characteristics constitute "theconstant virtue," for they represent the ways of the Dao. Both the "babe" and"the uncarved block" symbolize the original form of the Dao. Therefore, as

long as the sage can be the ravine or valley to the empire, that is, can put him-

self or herself below and behind the people of the empire, then he or she isabiding by the Dao. Thus, says Laozi, "the highest virtue is like the valley"

(DDJ 41 ; Lau, 102).While the valley symbolizes the highest virtue, water represents the high-

est good. Laozi says,

Highest good is like water.Water benefits the myriad things without competing with them,

And settles where none would like to be.

Therefore it comes close to the Dao. (DDJ8; Lau, 64)

Water is a typical feminine symbol in traditional Chinese culture. Like the val-ley, water abides in low places. It benefits the myriad things without compet-

ing with them; it is content with low places that others disdain. Therefore,water exemplifies lowliness and humility, hence is near the Dao and the sym-bol of the highest good.

Moreover, water demonstrates the power of softness and weaknesstheways in which the Dao works. According to the DDJ, "Weakness is the func-

tioning of Dao" (DDJ 40; Chen, 152). Hence, "the soft and weak overcome thehard and strong" (DDJ 36; Chen, 141), and "to abide by the soft is calledstrength" (DDJ 52; Chen, 178). Water can carve and penetrate the hardestrocks. Thus, it is the best example of how the soft and the weak can overcome

the hard and the strong:

Nothing under heavenIs softer and weaker than water,Yet nothing can compare with it

In attacking the hard and strong. (DDJ78; Chen, 225)

Therefore water is the epitome of the true way and the true power of the Dao


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feminine images and transforms them into images of the Dao. Based on these

images and the values they represent, femininity in the DDJconsists of mater-

nity, humility, lowliness, submissiveness and yieldingness that are typical femi-

nine attributes in a traditional patriarchal society. Nevertheless, unlike the Eu-

ropean hierarchical male/female dichotomy, as described by Beauvoir, which

makes the female the second sex, for Laozi the relationship between the fe-

male and the male is one ofmutual complementarity and harmony, and the ex-

altation of the feminine.

However, as Karen Laughlin and Eva Wong caution us, the Dao is bigger

than male or female; it is the ineffable mystery. The Dao is nameless, shape-

less, and formless. Ultimately we cannot know or speak of Dao. The feminineimages ofthe mother, the valley, and water are all attempts to characterize the

Dao. Each captures some aspects ofthe Dao but not its totality.14

Furthermore,

as the undifferentiated cosmic origin, ultimately the Dao is without any kind of

dichotomy. As metaphors for the Dao, these particular qualities are therefore

detached from their binary gender connotations. In other words, they tran-

scend the concepts of femininity and masculinity, and are simply symbols of

the Dao. After looking at pertinent poststructuralist feminist views on sex and

gender, I will return to this point and render a feminist analysis of these femi-

nine images and their implications for femininity in the DDJ.

Critical Views on Sex and Gender, and Deconstruction

of Biological Sex in Poststructuralist Feminism

Simone de Beauvoir s distinction between sex and gender has been crucial

to feminist efforts to demythologize the myth of Woman that is based on the

claim that femininity is determined by the female anatomy. Yet sex remained a

biological mystery. Poststructuralist feminists take the deconstruction of themyth of Woman further by deconstructing the notion of biological sex. Fol-

lowing French poststructuralist thinkers such as Jacques Lacan, Jacques Der-

rida, and Michel Foucault, who attack and deconstruct our concept of the sub-

ject as having an essential identity and an authentic core that has been

repressed by society, poststructuralist feminists regard the category Woman as

a fiction and aim at deconstructing and deessentializing the concept of

Woman to its core.15

Seeing that biological sex is the last stronghold for patri-

archal gender myths, particularly the myth of the biological Woman, post

structuralist feminists endeavor to deconstruct the notion of biological sex.


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For poststructuralist feminist thinkers, sex itself is gendered. In otherwords, sex is not a fixed biological or natural given. There is no such thing as a

purely biological body or sex. "Body" and "sex" are already interpreted. There-fore, like gender, sex is a cultural construction. As feminist theorist Judith But-ler puts it, "This construct called 'sex' is as culturally constructed as gender."16

Theories of sex and gender propounded by Butler and feminist biologists fa-cilitate the deconstruction of the myth of biological sex and hence myths ofWoman and femininity.

Judith Butler

In chapter 1 of her book Gender Trouble, Judith Butler points out that thedistinction between sex and gender, originally intended to knock down the for-mula "biology-is-destiny," falls into the trap of cultural determinism. The sex-and-gender distinction implicitly suggests that sex is intrinsic to the body as aninvariant that preexists culture. Hence, gender is to culture as sex is to nature.As a result, bodies are seen as the material on which cultural meanings are in-scribed.17 This implies that the body or sex exists independently prior to gen-der. If we accept the notion of sex and all the assumptions it entails as a bio-logical given and as natural, we allow the ghost of biological determinism tohaunt us. Consequently, the myth of gender will not be completely shattereduntil the myth of sex is thoroughly scrutinized. Along with Butler, we need toask, "Is 'the body' or 'the sexed body' the firm foundation on which gender andsystems of compulsory sexuality operate? Or is 'the body' itself shaped by po-litical forces with strategic interests in keeping that body bounded and consti-tuted by the markers of sex?"18

Indeed, as Butler points out, a body does not bear meaning until it issexed, or assigned a gender. In other words, no sooner do we associate body

with sex than we ascribe gender meanings to the body. Therefore, for Butler,neither body nor sex is separable from gender. The body itself is a construction.The body is already gendered; and sex has been gender all along. Hence, But-ler concludes that sex is no pure anatomical facticity prior to culture, for "thereis no recourse to a body that has not always already been interpreted by cul-tural meanings."19

To further probe sex as a cultural construct, Butler analyzes Julia Kristeva sidea of maternity, and critiques Kristeva by means of Michel Foucault's theo-

16 Judith Butier, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (Routledge: New


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ries on the relationship between sex and culture. To better understand Butler'suse ofKristeva, let us consider some ofKristeva's main ideas.

In Revolution in Poetic Language (1974), Kristeva posits that the produc-tion ofmeaning involves two types ofsignifying processes: "the semiotic" and"the symbolic," which are the inseparable dialectic within language. The semi-otic refers to the presymbolic, nonpaternal, multiple instinctual drives withinthe body, and is the underlying foundation ("genotext") for the symbolic, whichis the paternal, societal, cultural and syntactical expression ("phenotext").20

Later, in Desire in Language (1977), Kristeva identifies the semiotic with thematernal drives and instincts that are the primary causality, namely, the un-

caused cause, which is prior to being, culture, and language.21

On the onehand, the purpose ofKristeva's theory ofthe primal maternal body as the semi-otic was to challenge the Lacanian belief that the paternal law, or the symbolic,is the universal organizing principle of language and culture. On the otherhand, Kristeva intended to offer a ground for the feminine subversion of thepaternal law within language. Kristeva argues that, although the symbolic re-presses and places social constraints on the semiotic, the semiotic expresses theoriginal maternal drives within the terms of language (poetry) and culture, thussubverting the paternal laws.

Butler disagrees with Kristeva in two ways. Butler argues, first, that the ex-istence of the presymbolic semiotic cannot be proved. Because the "presym-bolic" is known only in and through the "symbolic," the so-called presymbolicsemiotic may simply be the "symbolic" itself. If so, the maternal body is thesymbolic, or a cultural construct, rather than a prediscursive semiotic, or thenonsymbolic, nonpaternal causality. Nonetheless, the idea that the maternalbody bears an original meaning that is prior to paternal signification and priorto culture prevents us from considering the possibility that maternity itselfis a

cultural variable. Thus, maternal drives become part ofthe biological destiny.Second, according to Buder, when Kristeva conceptualizes the desire ofgiv-

ing birth as the "maternal instinct" that isontologically prior to the paternal law, shenot only fails to see that the paternal law may in fact be the cause ofsuch a "ma-ternal instinct," but also reifies maternity.22 The truth, Buder says, is this: "The lawthat is said to repress the semiotic may well be the governing principle of the semi-otic itself, with the result that what passes as 'maternal instinct' may well be a cul-turally constructed desire which is interpreted through a naturalistic vocabulary."23

20 Julia Kristeva, Revolution in Poetic Language, trans. Margaret Waller, with an introduction


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Indeed, to identify maternity with the presymbolic (semiotic), nonpater-nal, metaphysical cause is to reinforce the notion of sex as the natural, biolog-

ical invariant. To presume that the maternal body is prior to culture, which isthe paternal structure ordered by paternal power, is to say that sex is precul-tural and natural, instead of a cultural construct. As Butler poignantly pointsout, this theory only covers up the cultural construction of maternity and thefemale sex, making them appear "natural."24

Furthermore, Butler turns to Foucault s theory on the notion of sex as acritique of Kristeva's concept of the maternal body. Foucault alerts us to thefact that the category of sex is fictitious. The notion of "sex" serves as an artifi-

cial unifying principle to organize a set of anatomical, biological, and sensualelements into a fictitious unity which then turns into a causal principle: "Thenotion of 'sex' made it possible to group together, in an artificial unity, anatom-ical elements, biological functions, conducts, sensations, and pleasures, and itenabled one to make use of this fictitious unity as a causal principle, an om-nipresent meaning: sex was thus able to function as a unique signifier and as auniversal signified."25

Butler comments that here Foucault cautions against the use of sex as thecausal principle as such, for it gives us the false impression that sex is the causeof the structure and meaning of desire, whereas in reality the truth is the op-posite. Also, Butler points out that Foucault distinguishes body from sex. Thebody is not significantly sexed until it takes on the idea of natural or essentialsex, which, according to Foucault, is concocted by culture.26

Thus, Foucault reverses the cause and effect in Kristeva's system. If Kris-teva treats sex as the cause and language as the effect, Foucault proposes thatdiscourse on sexuality creates the notion of sex. Hence, cultural discourse is theorigin of sex. For Foucault, "bio-power," that is, socioeconomic and political

power, determines the way we see biology and sex, and constructs sexuality.Therefore, sex is in fact a product and an expression of power, rather than theoriginal and authentic biological instinct capable of subverting paternal power.Thus, Butler concludes, sex and sexuality are "saturated with power." To es-sentialize sex as ontologically self-sufficient, free from power relations and his-toricity, is to conceal paternal power as the origin of "sex."27

In the light of Foucault's understanding of the relationship between sexand power, it becomes obvious that the maternal instincts and "maternal libid-inal economy" in Kristeva's system are conceptualized within the paternal men-

24 S l M i Witti "O I N t B W " i Th S d W A R d i


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tality, which makes motherhood compulsory for women. Clearly it is society,governed by paternal law, that sanctions and demands that the female body

perform its reproductive function. It is such paternal law that makes maternitythe natural law for the female body. Consequently, instead of subverting pa-ternal law, Kristeva's theory of a prediscursive and nonpaternal biological ma-ternity conceals the working of paternal law in the very institution of maternity,making the paternal construction of maternity appear natural and inevitable.28

Feminist Biologists

Butler s theory that sex is a social construct is supported by scientific evi-

dence. In The Science Question in Feminism (1986), Sandra Harding throwslight on the social construction of perceived sex differences, sexuality, and gen-der from the perspective of science. Harding reports that by the mid-1980s,scientific research in biology, history, anthropology, and psychology all con-tributed to demythologizing the presumption that sexualities, gender roles, be-haviors, and desires are determined by sex differences necessary for reproduc-tion. The biological elements related to different male and female functions inhuman reproductionnamely, that males inseminate and females incubateand lactatecannot explain the gendered and sexual identities, behaviors,roles, and desires, which are evidently constructed entirely by culture.29 Nei-ther is sexuality under the rigid control of genes or hormones.

The extent to which patriarchal ideologies of men and women shape sci-entific understanding of biological sex is demonstrated in contemporary re-search and studies in genetic and cell biology. Even in the late 1980s, Aristo-tle's biological views of the active male and passive female, which reflected thesocial principles ofhis day, was still dominating the mentality of cell biologists,who regard femaleness as the absence of maleness or the passive presence of

the male-determining factor, and assume that the induction of testicular tissueis an active (gene-directed, dominant) event, whereas the induction of ovariantissue is a passive (automatic) event. In fact, sex determination has always beenconceptualized and conducted in terms of male determination. Nevertheless,according to feminist geneticists, "the induction of ovarian tissue is as much anactive, genetically directed developmental process as the induction of testicu-lar tissue."30

28 Butler, 92-93.29 Sandra Harding, The Science Question in Feminism (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,

1986), 134. According to Harding, what accounts for this reproductive difference is defined in terms


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Traditional views on the roles of sperm and egg in fertilization present an-other well-known example demonstrating how patriarchal prejudice against

women has influenced the biological understanding of sex. Until the late1970s, biological narratives of fertilization had not departed from the male-ac-tive, female-passive model. Sperm tales were variants of the conquest storiesof Greek mythological heroes, in which the sperm puts up a heroic fight, sur-viving against all the odds in its journey through the oviducts until it eventuallywins the reward of the egg.31 Here the sperm is the active agent, and the eggis completely passive. With the electron microscope, however, scientists ob-served that sperm and egg are in fact mutually active partners in the fertiliza-

tion process.

32

The way in which gender associations are projected onto cells in narrativesof fertilization is obviously modeled on male-female interaction patterns in thepatriarchal culture. This indicates that the biological understanding of sex andgender bears the profound impact of patriarchal prejudice against the femalesex. Hence, biology is both a privileged oppressor of women and a co-victim ofcultural assumptions.33

These biological study cases indicate that sex difference, sexuality, andgender roles have little to do with natural biology. Hence, the understandingthat sex is a social construct is confirmed by science, for there is no scientificbasis for the culturally constructed notion of biological sex. Consequently,there is no biological sex as basis for the myth of Woman.

Indeed, cultural assumptions about men and women, their relative status,and the conventional understanding of sex identities have shaped scientific re-search and theories as well as presumptions about biological sex. Preconcep-tions about sex and gender inform and influence both the hypotheses and thereasoning of biomedical inquiries that seek to establish sex as it is prior to ac-

quiring cultural meanings, resulting in the predicament of differentiating sexfrom gender.34

Schatten, "The Energetic Egg," Sciences 23, no. 5 (1983): 31 ; Butler, Gender Trouble, 107,108,109;Eva Eicher and Linda L. Washburn, "Genetic Control of Primary Sex Determination in Mice,"

Annual Review of Genetics 20 (1986): 328-29.31 See the Biology and Gender Study Group, "The Importance of Feminist Critique for Con-

temporary Cell Biology," in Feminism andScience, ed. Nancy Tuana (Bloomington: Indiana Univer-sity Press, 1989), 175-76. The group cites M. Boylan, "The Galenic and Hippocratic Challenges toAristotle's Conception Theory " Journal of the History of Biology 17 (1984): 110; and W C Keeton


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Summary

The poststructuralist feminist deconstruction of biological sex liberates usfrom the biological determinism that supports the patriarchal ideology ofWoman and her subordination, as well as what Gerda Lerner has called the pa-triarchal "sex/gender system." This indicates that women's subordination andthe sex/gender system are historical rather than natural and thus can bechanged as history progresses.35 With the deconstruction of biological sex,there is no longer a biological basis for the cultural construction ofsex and gen-der. Hence, the cultural construction of the female sex, and femininity as thatwhich defines Woman, are left groundless. Consequently, everything we know

about women, every notion of femininity, must be subject to feminist scrutinyand can no longer be attributed to biology. Furthermore, the deconstruction ofbiological sex may facilitate revolutionary changes in the discourse of sex andgender and thus may cause the eventual elimination of the binary dichotomyof sex and gender.

Conclusion: The Problem of Femininity in the Daodejing

In this conclusion I shall first examine the feminine images in the DDJandtheir implications for femininity in light of the poststructuralist feminist viewson sex and gender. I shall then discuss the ways in which a poststructuralistfeminist reading of the DDJchallenges and informs our understanding of gen-der and femininity, and can contribute to breaking down gender dichotomy.

Let us first investigate whether the maternal imagery in the DDJruns thesame risk that Kristeva's theory on maternal drives as the primary motor forculture runs in reifying maternity. If we take maternity as a natural instinct andregard it as femininity, or that which defines Woman, without realizing thatmotherhood as a compulsory act for women is in fact the product of paternalpower, we reify Woman and maternity. Nevertheless, as Butler points out, ma-ternity itselfis the product of culture, which assigns reproduction and mother-hood to be the meaning of the woman's body. Therefore, we need to keep inmind that, as the mysterious origin of the universe, the Dao is ultimately inef-fable and transcends all imagery, and we must understand the maternal im-agery in the DDJas a means to convey the fertility of the Dao, instead of sim-plistically accepting maternity as femininity.

The poststructuralist feminist view ofsex and gender also enables us to callinto question the concept of femininity drawn from feminine images such as


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After Foucault, Butler, and biologists' deconstruction of biological sex, how-ever, one can no longer assume that traditional concepts of femininity are

precultural and natural. We see clearly, though, that humility, lowliness, andsubmissiveness are typical feminine attributes in a traditional patriarchal soci-ety. They are simply culturally constructed female gender roles and an expres-sion of "bio-power."

Furthermore, in light of the poststructuralist feminist view that the bio-logical body is already interpreted and assigned gender meaning by culture, weneed to be aware that traditional concepts of femininity and the patriarchalideology of Woman are constructed by the patriarchal culture; they do not rep-

resent absolute truth and must not be accepted as the norm to define the seg-ment of humanity called women.Fortunately the DDJdoes not use feminine images to vindicate the tradi-

tional notions of femininity. Since Dao is the undifferentiated cosmic originand is ultimately without any kind of dichotomy, as symbols for the Dao theseimages are no longer within the binary gender system. In other words, the fem-inine images such as water and valley in the DDJare transformed into symbolsof the Dao, hence transcend the traditional concepts of femininity and mas-culinity. In fact, by recommending feminine ways to the male sage rulers

(shengren MA), who were thereby challenged to work against their traditionalgender conditioning, the DDJinherently contradicts and sabotages fixed gen-der categories.

Of course, Laozi was no "feminist" and was not concerned about genderissues. The Daoists seek escape from the world of striving and activity and re-treat into a state of passivity and oneness with the natural process. For the sakeof spiritual cultivation Daoist sages would relinquish worldly power and posi-tion, which for the Daoists are nothing but illusions that obstruct spiritual de-

velopment. Thus, one may regard the ideals of Daoism as "feminine" in thesense that Daoist quietism, non-obtrusiveness and yieldingness coincide withwhat is considered feminine in the traditional Chinese culture. Therefore, incontrast with the Confucian patriarchal ideals about sagehood, Laozi employsfeminine images to symbolize Daoist values as well as the Dao Itself. Or per-haps Laozi sees the damage and destruction caused by masculine aggressive-ness, hence recommends the feminine ways as an alternative means of survivaland as the way to govern the world for sage rulers in a chaotic time.

However, if today's feminists wonder about Laozi's view on gender, basedon the DDJ's statements such as "the myriad things carry on their backs the yinand embrace in their arms the yang " and "know the male/but keep to the role


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Ultimate (taijitu i : i ) . Deriving from the Dao, the Great Ultimate, namely,taiji, comprises yin and yang. In the taiji symbol, the seed ofyin is present in

the yang, and vice versa. Thus, the movements oft/in and yang give rise to andfollow one another in a cycle. In such circular movements, neither hierarchynor dichotomy can be formed. It is in such a context that we ought to under-stand the DDJs emphasis on the mutual complementarity of the dialectic fe-male and male cosmic principles yin and yang within the Daothe nondiffer-entiated ultimate reality that is both the origin and the end of the universe.Thus, in the DDJ's cosmology there is absolutely no ground for any form of hi-erarchy or dichotomy.

Therefore, for Laozi, there would never be a hierarchical gender di-chotomy. Instead, there should be gender equality. As a matter of fact, there isfar more gender equality in Daoist religion than in the Confucian patriarchalculture. As Laughlin and Wong note, throughout the history of Daoism womenhave played significant roles as teachers of Daoist arts, founding members ofDaoist sects, heads of Daoist monasteries, and authors of Daoist scriptures.Above all, like their male counterparts, women have attained spiritual perfec-tion or immortality. Therefore, in Daoism there is sexual equality. Or rather,Daoism transcends gender roles.36

Interestingly, Laozi's nondichotomous worldview and poststructuralistfeminist gender theories seem to support one another. On the one hand, But-ler and the feminist biologists seem to back up Laozi's nondichotomous world-view, for they have shown that the gender dichotomy of male and female, mas-culinity and femininity, is culturally determined and arbitrary, lackingmetaphysical ground. On the other hand, the DDJ's nondichotomous cosmol-ogy may provide the metaphysical basis for the feminist endeavor to tear downthe patriarchal cultural construct of gender dichotomy and reconstruct a non-

sexist and holistic worldview. Thus, while the poststructuralist feminist decon-struction of traditional concepts of sex and gender may prevent a patriarchalappropriation of the feminine images and values in the DDJas validations forthe stereotypes of femininity defined by patriarchal culture that confinewomen to their gender roles and subordination, the DDJoffers feminists a wayto transcend gender dichotomy.

Indeed, a poststructuralist feminist reading of the DDJnot only provokesus into rethinking conventional gender categories but also offers us a vision of

freeing humanity from stereotypical gender identities. While the poststruc-turalist feminists point out how misleading gender dichotomy and traditionalconcepts of Man Woman masculinity and femininity are Laozi presents a


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ity, instead of making individuals fit into the preconceived categories of Man orWoman. Thus, along with Laozi's nondichotomous worldview, poststructuralist

feminist gender theories may change our perception and discourse of sex andgender, and hence may contribute to the eventual elimination of the dichotomyof sex and gender.

Overcoming the binary gender system is the first step in setting the cate-gories "femininity" and "masculinity" free, so that the values formerly gatheredunder "femininity" and "masculinity" can become free and equally available toall individuals. Thus, what have been traditionally regarded as feminine virtues,such as gentleness, humility, reverence for nature, peacefulness, caring, and

nurturing, can be embraced as universal virtues to be appreciated and culti-vated by all individuals. Therefore, together with the values that used to beconsidered feminine, women will no longer be trapped within the patriarchalideology of femininity that has been an effective instrument for the patriarchaloppression of women. The dissolution of the gender dichotomy may also de-liver "certain aspects of human personality within individuals" and sexual mi-norities from the oppression of the patriarchal sex/gender system.37 Hence, awoman can be an independent, autonomous, and self-determinate individual,

just as a man is expected to be; whereas a man can be relational, gentle, and

caring, like a woman in the conventional sense. Additionally, there will be re-spect for different sexual orientations.

The disintegration of gender dichotomy and its implications can liberateus from the tyranny of culturally constructed gender roles and from gender dis-crimination and oppression, for it overturns the patriarchal gender assump-tions about women and men, and removes the rationale for practices of dis-crimination against women and the institutional subordination of women.

Finally, with the dissolution of the traditional gender categories of Man,

Woman, masculinity, and femininity, the burden of defining or finding out whowe are falls upon each individual. Perhaps, like the Dao, an individual cannotbe defined. The Dao is constantly in the process of change and creation; it isforever creating, transforming, and transcending. Likewise, individuals mustcreate their own identities and not limit themselves to culturally constructed,stereotypical gender roles.


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