Gender Roles in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Essay

During the 1900s, wowork force, specifically black women, were take uped to be property of men in the coupled States, especially down south, in states such as Florida and Georgia. Legally, women had no voice. For example, if a wo musical composition was abused by her economise, the court system would not allow it even if it did really happen. In the article Sexism in the Early 1900s, Becca Woltemath states that a womans job is to constitute care of the dwelling house and to bear children.Shes no good for anything else. Shes vertical a simple thinker. Women were forced into submission and there was nothing they could do around it. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching god, Zora Neale Hurston shows the issue of gender business offices by dint of the story of a young woman named Janie, who struggles through an arranged unification. finished multiple characters, as well as the plot, sexism beds to the surface.As soon as the novel begins, it is evident the roles of men and women play a very man-sized part in this novel Ships at a distance bear all mans wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail foreverNow, women forget all those things they dont want to remember, and remember everything they dont want to forget (Hurston 1). In this opening paragraph of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston compares the wishes and dreams of men and women in a particularly interesting way.By using the sea as a symbol, she is saw that men can never really control their dreams, just wait for them to come true. While women on the other hand, can take their dreams into their own hands, molding them as they see fit. Making this comparison establishes the floor of gender divergency throughout the novel, and ultimately foreshadows the fact that Janie is going to struggle, n iodintheless go away stop at nothing to achieve what she sets her mind to. aft(prenominal) first setting the tone, nurse is introduced. Her traditional values of woman ly roles such as cooking and cleaning lead us to believe that Janie will be the same way. But when Janie kisses Johnny Taylor, her view of men changes by and by seeing a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom the kilobyte sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the channelize from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage She had been summoned tobehold a revelation (Hurston 11).This paragraph is one of the most important, if not the most, in the whole book. Comparing love to the birth between a bee and its flower, Janie suddenly craves, love, passion, and above all, someone she can consider her equal. Unfortunately, though, equality was a foreign concept during this time period. Men were seen as all-powerful, considered the sole providers and the only ones allowed to hold any sort of say-so or high-status job.Women, on the other hand, were the complete opposite. In an article in dite by Dorothy W. Hartman, a historian, she states Womens God-given role, it stated, was as wife and mother, keeper of the mansion Womens God-given role, it stated, was as wife and mother, keeper of the household Many people, including blacks, believed in this sort of household the men being on top, with the women considered far inferior.In Janies first relationship, it is clear this is not the equality she has hoped for. Logan Killicks- an elderly, black man her grandmother has arranged for her to marry- treats Janie want a servant and not like a wife at all. There is no love present, and every day is a chore.Even though Nanny knows Janie is not happy, she insists the marriage is a good one Heah yo is wid de onliest organ in town, amonst colored folks, in yo parlow. Got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land by rights on de big roadLawd have mussy Dats de very prong all us black women gits hung on (Hurston 23).In Nannys speech, Hurston is trying to emphasize that t he females only role is to marry and look good, and let the man do all the work. similarly in her article, Hartman says that due to the fact that the man was almost always functional, bittie room was left to develop a connection between husband and wife love was a foreign concept., which describes what Janie and Logan have together exactly. in spite of being given all she should want, Janie seeks more.When Joe Jody Starks appears out of nowhere, Janie feels like her dreams have at last come true. But after a while, the marriage turns out to be little more than the stint with Killicks. Starks, like Killicks, treats her as property and not as someone he actually loves. One example is how Jody makes Janie induct her hair up in a wrap while working in the store, ratherthan leave it down.Another is when he publicly criticizes her appearance, saying she is starting to show her age, when he is clearly at least ten dollar bill years older You aint no young courtin gal. Youse uh old woman, nearly fourty (Hurston 79). Joe feels the need to tear down Janie, in hunting lodge to make himself feel more important, which was an important part of being a man during this time.By reading the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, one could immediately pick up on the difference gender played during the late 1800s and into the early 1900s. While women were evaluate to stay at home and clean and take care of children, men worked to provide for their families and were considered far superior.While these prejudices have slowly gotten better over time, most of them still exist to a small extent in todays society. Through the characters attitudes and narratives, especially Janies relationships, and the societys feelings as a whole, Their Eyes Were Watching God clearly displays the kindly issues of sexism and gender roles.Works CitedHartman, Dorothy W. Womens Roles in the Late 19th Century. Conner Prairie interactional History Park. Conner Prairie, n.d. W eb. 24 Mar. 2013. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York Perennial Library, 1990. Print. Woltemath, Becca. Sexism in the Early 1900s.Worldbook Encyclopedia. Worldbook, 11 Dec. 2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2013.