As new generations take on the responsibility of passing on the history and culture of their people, ancestral customs are maintained but altered to fit the standards current societies. Through Maxine Hong Kingston's autobiography The Woman Warrior, a memoir of her mother's myths and tales, the author is given a sense of empowerment as she discovers her own identity and, therefore, her place in the world. Growing up, Kingston struggled with his dual heritage, not knowing whether to follow his family's Chinese customs or live up to the cultural and social norms of American society. As a Chinese American, Kingston adapted the tenets of these two distinct cultures to fit her own lifestyle, which led to her double oppression by both American and Chinese culture and society; her mother often ignored her opinions because she considered her “half a ghost”; a Chinese American. Although the autobiography does not reveal much about Kingston's personal struggles, the narratives within it reflect and follow the discovery of his personal identity. Her mother's parenting skills to conform to and contradict stereotypes of Oriental women allowed her to visualize the potential to achieve a better life and to be the exception to the ongoing stereotype of the submissive Oriental woman. By rebelling against some aspects of her Chinese heritage, Kingston set high standards for herself and other Chinese-American women and this serves as an inspiration to other oppressed Eastern women. Unsure of her identity, Kingston relied on her mother's stories to help her in the process of finding her independence and discovering who she was. Although Brave Orchid has often imposed Chinese customs on her daughters, she often contradicts...... middle of paper ... her heritage and the difficulties of being a first-generation Chinese American, projects a message of self-empowerment among women who suffer from oppression or come from a culture of oppression. She recognizes her determination to succeed by not respecting the role of the submissive oriental woman. Although she does not submit to the norm of women's oppression, Kingston continues to follow other Chinese customs and constantly reminds herself of women's past oppression and how she is unwilling to continue the ongoing cycle. Caught between two distinct social standards, Kingston suffered from identity confusion. While Kingston's autobiography reveals a message of women's empowerment and oppression, her autobiography lives on among viewers; leaving the reader with a final thought: women will overcome male dominance.