Color Purple Gender Inequality Quotes

Celie was consistently raped and physically abused by the male dominant figure in her household--she mothered both a daughter and son from her father’s abuse.

Firstly, oppression is evident through various types of abuse through the main characters, Aminata and Celie. Both have faced several forms of abuse such as physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse that have stripped away their identity and dignity. For instance, Aminata fights for her freedom throughout her entire life, only to suffer from physical abuse almost everyday on the slave ship and to suffer from sexual abuse on the plantations. Moreover, Aminata

It is clear that Celie’s father commits several forms of violence against her when she quotes, “he [Pa] never had a kine word to say to me… First he put his thing up gainst my hip and sort of wiggle it around… When that hurt, I cry. He start to choke me, saying You better shut up and git used to it. But I don’t never get used to it.” (Walker, 1-2). As a results of this, Celie finds herself in situations where she has trouble identifying with her sexual orientation as well as, becoming numb to sex after repeated sexual abuse. Moreover, not only is he physically violent with her by raping her, but later on in the novel, one discovers that he sells Celie’s children away- just like Aminata’s children- causing her to face emotional damage as well. Moreover, Celie’s father does not respect her as a human being, for the fact that he calls her ugly and does not say anything kind to her, but he also forces her to keep quiet about the way he is treating her, thus dehumanizing her. All in all, numerous forms of abuse have severely crippled Aminata and Celie, displaying oppression caused by men in their daily lives.

Over the course of the novel, Celie, became a confident, independent, strong woman. The novel begins with fourteen year old, Celie, who had been repeatedly raped by her father and bore two of his children as a result. Celie is scared into silence about her mistreatment and prays to God to, “give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me” (1). As the novel progresses, Celie, is sold into marriage to Mr. ______, who continues to abuse Celie physically and emotionally. Celie continues to remain passive to the abuse and writes, “all I can do not cry.

You black, you pore, you ugly, you a woman. Goddam, he say, you nothing at all.” (Walker, pg75). Celie’s is still oppressed by her relationships with authoritative male figures and her sense of self is yet to be discovered by this point in the

One example of inequality is sexism. The main victim of sexism in this story is Curley's wife. First of all, in the story she is

Both men and women face a vary of challenges with pay gaps, and other social class treatments but women still are beneath men periods. Throughout Toni Morrison’s novel “The Bluest Eye” she introduced the challenges both men and women in poverty faced, but the men were still the breadwinners of the family. Also in Alice Walkers text the “ The Color Purple”. Walker tells a tales about a black Woman struggling with poverty, and abuse. During the time of The Color Purple, most black men own the property and were the workers.

From the beginning of the novel, Celie is abused physically and emotionally; her perspective of superiority is carved by her step-father. Celie’s step-father sexually exploited her many times; this portrays how men, of any race, feel as if they are dominant towards women:

One family member in particular named Sofia is a stubborn, hard-headed woman who is Harpo’s (Celie’s stepson) wife. She usually does not listening to Harpo’s commands, and one day, Harpo gets frustrated. In a discussion with his father, Mr.___ (who is also Celie’s new husband), Mr.___ tells his son that “wives is like children […] nothing can do that better than a good sound beating” and concluded his lecture convincing Harpo that “Sofia needs to be taken down a peg” (Walker 36). Poor consultation and guidance is seen here in the exchange between father and son. It can be inferred that Mr.___ grew up being taught that disciplining a companion or a wife needs to be done in order to teach a lesson.

Through her whole life Celie is at the bottom of the food chain. The African American males treat her badly. All she is to them is a sexual toy and a punching bag. She is expected to take the abuse and harassment they send her way, and continue cleaning their house, caring for the children, and feed the men. Women at this time are not allowed to defend themselves and talk back to the men. Celie kept quiet about everything that happened to her especially when she was young and was being raped by her father, mainly because he had told her “You better not never tell anyone but God. It’d kill your mammy” (Walker

Throughout the story, several women were extremely mistreated by men. The oppression of women is unmistakable in The Color Purple. It is particularly exposed in association between Celie and her farther. At a very young age Celie was subjected to oppression. Celie was raped repeatedly and pregnant twice by her stepfather and was told to keep quiet about it. "You better not never tell nobody but God, It'd kill your mammy" (stepfather). I believe this is when Celie began to fear men for most of her life. This act towards any woman is very demeaning.

Nettie always had the strength that Celie did not have. She knew right away that Mr.____ was abusing her. She even wrote to Celie and told her "You've got to fight and get away from Albert. He ain't no good." (Walker, pg.

Social inequalities like racism and sexism can result in silence and a lack of independence. Firstly, from a young age, Pa orders Celie against her own will, to obey and submit to him without any objection. Pa takes advantage of Celie to get back at what her mother could not give him. Celie details what Pa does to her:

In The Color Purple, Alice Walker illustrates the lives of a female African American before the Civil Rights Movement. A novel that describes female empowerment, The Color Purple demonstrates the domestic violence women faced in the South. Walker tells the story through Celie, a young African American girl who faces constant hardships until she stands up for herself with the help of her closest friends – other women undergoing the same difficulties. Even though men controlled females in the South, the author emphasizes the strength of female empowerment because females struggled to survive during this time.

Considerably the most dominant theme in the novel is one of feminism and the struggle of women, both in America and in Africa, to be free of oppression and discrimination based on their gender. Although the suffragette movement in the US was active from 1848 , it was only in 1920 that women were given national voting rights votes in America. Women clearly had little political voice and black women less so. Primarily through Celie and Shug, Walker represents the inner struggles black women faced in order to free themselves from the dominance of men, additionally conveying how Christian views on the position of women in society strengthened the oppression they faced.