e able to be free of Chinese expectations of women. they did not have to learn "to walk in shoes the size of teacups, without breaking". Song indicates that "In America, there are many roads and women can stride along with men". These women were able to experience life as people who were equal to men in society's eyes. If they had stayed in China they never would have had the chance to experience something other then their native culture. Song emphasizes the life of these women in America to point this out. She describes the sad loss of culture in America, the "meager provisions and sentiments of once belonging" and "the possibilites, the loneliness, can strangulate like jungle vines". She refers to how these women speak Chinese, when in America people are "making claims you don't understand". She offers a pale, stereotypical view on the extent of Chinese culture in America, where Americans "are tapping into your communication systems of laundry lines and restaurant chains". They lost the cultural experience that the previous generation was able to have and gained freedom. These women were admirable because of a different kind of strength. It takes a certain combination of dertermination and stubbornness to choose to flee their homeland. These women were, in fact, a very rebellious generation. Jade is referred to over and over in Song's poem. She states that "even the peasants named their first daughters Jade". She uses "a jade link" to symbolized women who were born into Chinese culture, specifically "handcuffed to the wrist" of the generation of Chinese-American women. Song almost berates this generation, claiming that they "need China" and lost their culture in "the unremitting space of your rebellion". She also states how neither generation left any "footprints", as one was "footless" and the other left "an ocean in between". These two generations of women were different and the same. They both had the strength to...
