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The House On Mango Street By Sandra Cisneros

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"The House on Mango Street," by Sandra Cisneros is a book about the obstacles Latin women encounter while residing on Mango Street. Men dominate their community and women are treated as if they as inferior human beings to the men. A woman's merit is placed on her outward appearance, as well as her loyalty to the men in her life. Throughout "The House on Mango Street," Sandra Cisneros utilizes the first-person frame of reference, portraying her struggle to augment her sexuality in a feminine fashion along with the firmly embedded longing for independence, amongst a community influenced by societal male gender roles. Cisneros scrutinizes the women who surround her within a parlous and male-dominated community, in which each women's circumstances are predestined by social as well as economic restrictions. For the large majority of the women living on Mango Street, these limitations are too formidable to conquer. Nevertheless, Esperanza exemplifies the potential to look past her lot in life, while the women surrounding her become victims of their society, continuing its vicious pattern.

Many gender roles and themes are observed, throughout the course of this story, in particular, the single mother role. Women are also contrasted with the men as their lives are constrained inside of the home while the men are permitted to enjoy life outside. Divisions in gender are revealed from the very beginning of the book. For example, in “Boys & Girls,” Esperanza communicates the contrast between herself and her brothers, Kiki and Carlos as she states, “The boys and the girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours. My brothers for example. They’ve got plenty to say to me and Nenny inside the house. But outside they can’t be seen talking to girls” (Cisneros 8). Esperanza can only interact with her sister, Nenny, but Nenny is "too young to be [her] friend" (Cisneros 8). Esperanza is lonely and dreams of a true friend. She feels that she is like "a red balloon, a balloon that is tied to an anchor" (Cisneros 9). Esperanza is apprehensive that she will be trapped on Mango Street, like all the other women. This particular situation demonstrates the first indication of gender issues in her community.

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