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The Color Purple Gender Roles Essay

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Throughout the novel several characters challenge their gender roles. When Harpo and Sofia got married, Harpo noticed that Sofia was different from all the other women. Sofia believed that she could and would make her own decisions. Harpo had to learn how to reason with her and obtain her thoughts on things. Harpo doesn't like the way she thinks and goes to his father for advice on what to do. When asking for advice Celie’s husband suggested that Harpo beat her. Harpo’s facial expression shows that he really doesn't want to beat his wife, but Harpo is too concerned with his social status as a “man” to care. When Harpo attempts to beat his wife it makes the relationship between them two worse. When he attempts to beat her, she fights Harpo back and wins. To Harpo this is a big deal because few women are confident enough to fight back. In the novel after this happens Sofia says “I loves Harpo, God knows I do. But I'll …show more content…

Shug is not married in the beginning of the novel which is not normal because most women were married with kids by their early twenty’s. Shug has children but left them with her parents which is also not normal because most women stayed home to raise their kids, but Shug lived a different life. She was a singer and traveled which was not normal for a black woman to do. She is the complete opposite of Celie, but is probably the biggest influence on her. When Shug first met Celie she said “You as ugly as sin”. (Walker, The Color Purple, 1982) As Shug moves in and sees Celie obeying her husband’s demands she starts to see her true beauty. Some people say “The Color Purple” is only a movie, but many black people disagree. After the release of the movie many women stood behind the movie and agreed saying that is accurately reflected their own experience or experience of women they know, but many black men and some black women said that it gives a misleading picture of blacks in America and

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