Women’s Inferiority to Men in Their Eyes Were Watching God
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, different themes portray women’s inferiority to men. In other words, various events in the book mostly relate to how men are superior to women. Throughout the novel, men treat women like objects, oppress women, provoke women, and silence women. All four actions conclude that the males are stronger than the females within the book. First, the theme of gender roles consistently occurs throughout the entire story, where women are perceived as the weaker gender. Another recurring theme in the book is discrimination, where women are depicted as the burdened sex. Also, men’s voice conveys Hurton’s theme of dignity. Finally, Hurston carries the theme of freedom versus captivity throughout the novel; where women are characterized as captives while men are their wardens. Each theme expresses how women are inferior to men in a distinct way.
Women’s weakness in their relationship to men expands on the book’s theme of gender roles. Men use women to show their strength (Racine).
Basically, men want to own women for power. For example, in Chapter 4, Joe tells Janie, “A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you” (Hurston 26).
The Essay on Evas Man theme
While reading the novel Eva?s Man, written by Gayle Jones, an evident theme is established. This is a twisted story of love and betrayal in the engrossing psychological portrait of Eva Medina Canada. The author intertwines recollection of actual events and imaginativeness to expose an existence plagued by sexual and emotional revilement. It is a narrative which will definitely remain in one?s ...
Joe calls Janie a “doll”, which is generally an object. This relates to how men want to own women for superiority because people can control objects. In this context, men think that women are possessions that can make them look good in front of others, which, in society, will help them show their power. Another example that shows how men use women to show their strength is when Joe tells Janie to tie her hair up. “That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others” (Hurston 31).
Janie is depicted as a desired object that Joe needs protect from all the other men. Without thinking about Janie’s thoughts and feelings, Joe orders Janie to tie her hair up. Here, the reader understands that Joe takes advantage of Janie by treating her like a possession, as if she doesn’t have any emotions, to maintain a good reputation and climb to superiority. Surely, men’s relationship to women elaborates on Hurston’s theme of gender roles because men’s desperation for power triggered men’s perception of women as objects. Hence, due to women’s submissiveness in being looked upon as objects, men are more powerful than women (Racine).
However, women aren’t just seen as the weaker gender because men use them to show their strength, men also dominate them, which can be associated with Hurton’s theme of discrimination.
Men oppress women to prove their manliness, which portrays Hurston’s theme of discrimination. Throughout the novel, there is extreme racism between the whites and the blacks, but the discrimination between men and women is more significant (Simmons).
In society, white men are superior to black men, making them feel weak; as a result, black men oppress black women instead of confronting the white men. For example, Nanny says, “So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks” (Hurston 44).
Since black men are inferior to the white folks, they consequently burden black women in order to feel manly instead of facing the people who make them feel powerless. This links back to Hurston’s theme of discrimination because men treat women unjustly due to their attempt of establishing superiority over other men. Not only do men oppress women to prove their manliness, but they also oppress them for their own pride, which leads to Hurston’s theme of dignity.
The Essay on Tea Cake Janie Hurston Tuh
... to illustrate this. Treece 3 Through Janie, Hurston gives an example of a woman in society who follows her ... is a major theme of this novel. There are several women who aid in demonstrating Hurston's ideas. Hurston uses Janie's ... marriage. She was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen. She had an inside ... world picked out black and white for mourning, Joe didn t. So Ah wasn t wearin it ...
Men’s voice against women connects to Hurston’s theme of dignity. Women are weak because they are passive and silent, which causes men to take the benefit of using speech to torment them (Racine).
Men’s excessive self-confidence in insulting women’s appearance relates to how badly they want to show their dignity to their peers. For example, in Chapter 6, Janie doesn’t speak up when Joe offends her, “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows … sho don’t think none theirselves” (Hurston 67).
Here, women are put on the same level as animals, or any living organisms other than human beings, which is often offensive. Men say these scandalous comments to show their dignity to all the other men, knowing that women will accept their judgments (Simmons).
Thus, because women don’t stand up to prideful men who unkindly judge them, women are weaker than men. Another example that shows how women are passive and silent is when Janie remains quiet even when she disagrees with Joe about something. “Janie took the easy way away from such a fuss. She didn’t change her mind but she agreed with her mouth” (Hurston 59).
The word “easy” emphasizes the emotion of comfort made by Janie when she decides to set aside her argument and pretend to agree with Joe. This proves that Janie feels more comfortable with staying quiet, which is why Joe is able to use his voice against her and increase his dignity by saying whatever he wants to say. Nevertheless, it’s not only men’s voice that makes women inferior, it’s also the way they treat them, which links to Hurton’s theme of freedom versus captivity.
Women appear as the weaker sex because their men silence them, which represents Hurston’s theme of freedom versus captivity. In the book, Hurston makes it clear that speech is the key to power (Simmons).
Men confine women by not allowing them to speak their mind, which therefore causes women to be the weak individuals. For example, Joe silences Janie in front of everyone: “…but ma wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat” (Hurston 43).
The Essay on Janie Logan Joe Years
From the time Janie was a child she had problems fitting in with her peers. This was partly because of her nice clothing, wonderful complexion, and long beautiful hair. Janie's grandmother encouraged her to be different from her peers. She wanted to make up for her past mistakes raising children by having Janie become the person that she never was able to be. During Janie's early childhood she ...
Joe takes away Janie’s right to speak, which indicates how he is also restricting her freedom. He is imprisoning Janie and blocking her path to self-expression, which makes him the stronger one. Another example that shows how men confine women by silencing them is when Joe cuts off Janie from the Eatonville citizens. “Janie loved the conversation and sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge” (Hurston 53-54).
Joe’s restrictions point out that he does not support the fact that Janie is a human being who has the innate right to speak. He appears to be shaping her into the person he would like her to be by not allowing her to express herself and by captivating her. Thus, Joe is more powerful than Janie because he is confining her by silencing her, which signifies that in the book speech is the route to power. Clearly, women are considered inferior to men because the way they are treated makes them the subordinate sex, which perfectly illustrates Hurston’s theme of freedom versus captivity.
In conclusion, many themes within the book express how women are inferior to men. Most importantly, both genders’ characteristics cause women to be weaker than men. First, men’s relationship to women elaborates on Hurston’s theme of gender roles because women’s passivity in being viewed as objects makes men more powerful than women. Moreover, men treat women unfairly for their own advantage of gaining power, which links to Hurston’s theme of discrimination. Also, women are weaker than men because they don’t take on men who use them to increase their dignity. Lastly, men confine women by silencing them, which delivers Hurston’s theme of freedom versus captivity. Overall, all four themes as well as both genders’ qualities make women inferior to men.
