女性化与边缘化——《骨》中的食物书写与男性气概

Feminization and Marginalization:Food Writing and Masculinity in Bone

社会学研究表明,食物及其实践带有性别化编码。在父权社会,与食物相关的性别劳动分工被视为女性化,因此从事烹饪工作会对男性的性别气概造成威胁。在华裔美国女作家伍慧明的作品《骨》中,由于歧视性法律和社会经济实践的影响,利昂长期被迫从事女性化的烹饪工作,致使其男性气概受到损伤。与此同时,由于利昂缺少建构和维系男性身份所必需的资源和权力,所以他无力对抗主流社会对其的实施种族阉割。主流社会为了维持“白人至上”的意识形态,又进一步将华裔男性的“女性化”刻板印象永久化。另一方面,对与食物相关的空间描写不仅表现了主流文化对华裔美国男性的空间阉割,而且还体现了歧视性法律法规对华裔群体内部造成的分裂和隔绝,进一步导致了以利昂为代表的华裔美国劳工的集体去势。通过人物与食物的互动关系,伍慧明揭示了美国歧视性移民政策对华裔美国男性的性别身份所产生的持续性的负面影响。

Sociological studies show that food and its practice are gendered.In a patriarchal society,the gender division of labor related to food is regarded as being effeminized and therefore,cooking poses a threat to men’s masculinity.In Chinese American woman writer Fae Myenne Ng’s novel Bone,influenced by discriminatory laws and socio-economic practices,Leon is forced to engage in feminized cooking,which undermines his masculinity.On the other hand,the descriptions of food-related spaces not only show the spatial castration of Chinese American men by mainstream culture,but also reflect the division and isolation inside Chinese American communities caused by discriminatory laws and regulations,which finally lead to the collective emasculation of Chinese American male laborers,represented by Leon.Through the interaction between the characters and food,Fae Myenne Ng reveals the persistent impact of the discriminatory immigration policy on the gender identity of Chinese American men.