Alice feels confined by her gender, and states “all that matters is that I can make a good pot of rice, have a pretty face and am fertile.” As a young Chinese woman, Alice is expected to be weak and dependent upon men however, Alice’s story is full of women who constantly push the boundaries created by society because of their gender, and Alice is no different. While watching movies like Stand by Me and Dead Poet’s Society, Alice laments that “the Coming of Age of boys is infinitely more interesting.” Within these films, boys become who they are by testing their courage and forming meaningful relationships, whereas girls are not given the same opportunities within society. Each time Alice’s grandmother, Huyen Thai, tells a story about the birth of one of their ancestors, the father always remains outside the delivery room door, waiting to find out if their newborn child possesses the “desired dangly bits,” and Alice’s modern life isn’t much better.
Throughout her memoir, Unpolished Gem, Alice Pung continually struggles with her status as a woman, both within her Chinese culture and her life in Australian society during the 1980s and ‘90s.
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