American, Chinese and Japanese cultural depictions of love and relationship purpose

In Xiaoxin Zeng’s lecture the ‘second wife’ was described as a person who sells their bodies, for material. So in Chinese culture it represents the destruction of love and the influences the idea that money is omnipotent. Now the cultural equivalent in the United States would be the term ‘golddigger’ for the person who marries for financial reasons. Even though Chinese and western culture are recognized as different, the terms second wife and golddigger are almost identical, and are both looked down on society by as the destruction of love in marriage. Yet in the extra credit lecture ‘Love and Money,’ the actual idea of marriage for financial/material reasons is a form of love between spouses recognized in Japanese culture. The various three cultures make statements about the significance of ‘love’ in a relationship, and except love as separate ideas, yet the acceptance of appropriate love is a social construction infused by gender regulations.

This social construction brings up questions regarding how love is perceived based on gender. Both men and women are expected to find ‘love’ as in a romantic and structured partnering depicted in popular culture and society. Now money becomes apart of love even though it is discouraged by society. Yet for men the use of money to buy a woman’s attention is recognized as a benefit of abusing financial power, while the woman in this construct is treated with absolutely no respect for selling herself for money because she is recognized as the one who trades love for money and ruins the essence of love. The gender roles place the blame always on the woman as recognized in Chinese culture and American culture, perhaps because financial power has limitless opportunities or men are systematically allowed to find other ways to find partnership. While the ‘second wife’ or ‘golddigger’ is subjected to social criticism of their actions, because the role of women always deals with upholding traditional views of love and marriage in general.

Therefore in the United States and China love is generally more defined by gender and in Japan the definition of love is more freely accepted. Yet although theses ideas are traditional they limit the conceptual ideas of joint love in regard to a relationship.