The Joy and Luck Club by Amy Tan Is it right to judge someone based on their gender? In traditional Chinese culture, many judgments about a person were made simply by looking at their gender. Woman was considered an inferior being. They had little to no status in society and little was expected of them. They were discriminated against when they tried to defend themselves. Chinese culture was usually dominated by men. The male was expected to do most of the work and the woman was expected to stay at home with her mouth shut. This custom leaves an unwelcome feeling in a woman's heart. They have the feeling that no one cares and this makes it much more difficult to live with an optimistic outlook on life. In the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan, reviews the lives of three Chinese women, Ann-Mei Hsu, Lindo Jong, and Ying Ying St. Clair. These women grow up in traditional Chinese homes, where sexism reigns. They face serious problems that corrupt their lives. Through perseverance and the passage of time their lives return to normal. Ann-Mei, Lindo and Ying Ying are subjugated by males due to their gender and Chinese tradition. Ann-Mei was oppressed in many ways. His mother was invited to spend time at the home of a wealthy merchant named Wu Tsing. At night he entered Ann-Mei's mother's room and raped her. Although Ann-Mei is emotionally scared, this shows the lack of respect for women in China. Ann-Mei's mother is forced into concubinage due to her lack of power as a woman. She becomes the third wife. As the third wife she maintains very limited status in Wu Tsing's household. Ann-Mei's family disowns her mother because, by becoming the third wife, she brought shame to her family. “When I was a little girl in China, my grandmother told me that my mother was a ghost.” Ann-Mei is told to forget her mother and move on with her life. The fact that Ann-Mei is told to forget her mother because she has become something she can't control is absurd. She was raped and forced into concubinage. The lack of appreciation for a woman causes this feeling of shame in the Mei family. Since rape and polygamy are accepted in China, it seems that what Ann-Mei's mother did was wrong, and what Wu Tsing did was right and normal..