Having been focus on Dude for so long, I start to turn to the only important female character in Big Lebowski: Maude Lebowski. Byers mentioned that she's like Katharine Hepburn. As weird as they might me, I believe many girls admire them for that they can be themselves at any moment, regardless of others' comments on them. And this outstanding personality quickly reminds me of a Chinese celebrity: Huang Hong. Her parents are famous diplomatists in China. So she was arranged to participate in an exchange program to study in the U.S. That was really hard to imagine for China in 1980's. As the above pictures show, Maude and Huang both like to wear weird apparel. Though Huang's white dress may seems really normal to us now, no one would dress like that in China in 1980's, that would be considered a shower towel... Their way of dressing is just a very small part in their similarities. They both come from wealthy family, both are reluctant to copy parents' life style. And they have the interest and hobbies of their own , which compose the most part of their lives. Maude is doing something with regard to art which is far away from the foundations of her mom's. Huang was supposed to be a diplomat after taking the 10-year program in the U.S., but she didn't want to follow the route that was designed by her mom and she's not interested in. So she became a fashion magazine editor as most of her buddies became diplomats. Maude wants a baby of her own without marrige and thus chose Dude. Huang married a movie director when he was nameless but get divorced when her husband became an internationally prestigious director. But still, Maude and Huang aren't exactly the same. Maude is kind of immersed in her own world while Huang is always closely related with her friends, family and public. She's just that free. If Dude represents a special type of masculinity, then women like Maude and Huang stand for an alternative femininity that is free of constraints, and do as they pleased.
It's really interesting to see that you relate Maude with Huang. I think you are right that they share some common traits in terms of life style- they both follow their mind and heart living in the way they feel most happy with. However there have to be some prerequisites to act like this. One would be they have to have sustainable money to support themselves. It is not necessarily say to be rich, though Maude and Huang are actually wealthy. In that way, they don't have to worry about feeding themselves. If one is starving, most likely he will sacrifice spiritual pursuit to physical needs. If Lu Xun hadn't been economically sufficient enough, he wouldn't be able to write influential "Ah Q", instead, he would writes for political party's commission. Desire to survive usually comes first. The other prerequisite is that they have to know clearly how much pay-off they would like to exchange for the free of constraints life style. People tend to either love them or hate them. Either way generates topics and comments no matter universally or within one’s social networking group. If can tolerate the critics and misunderstanding around arise from the public, then you are good to do it. However if you cannot, their ways of living is going to a nightmare throughout the day despite of how much you enjoy it in the short run. So evaluation of one’s tolerance of public critics is essential to live self-consciously like Maude and Huang. So obviously, not everyone one can be like them and that’s why we admire them for that they can be themselves at any moment, regardless of others' comments.
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