Their Eyes Were Watching God Gender Analysis

During the 1900’s, women, specifically black women, were considered to be property of men in the United States, especially down south, in states such as Florida and Georgia. Legally, women had no voice. For example, if a woman was abused by her husband, the court system would not acknowledge it even if it did really happen. In the article “Sexism in the Early 1900’s”, Becca Woltemath states that “…a woman’s job is to take care of the house and to bear children. She’s no good for anything else. She’s just a simple thinker.” Women were forced into submission and there was nothing they could do about it. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston shows the

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a gender role is defined as the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. In modern day America, gender roles have been slowly dissolving, but nonetheless is still very much relevant. In our society, women have the capability of doing everything a man can do, but, in the eyes of some, women are still seen as the inferior gender. In general, women are still associated with the responsibilities of taking care of the household and the children. They are also perceived as being fragile and submissive. On the other hand, men are associated with being the primary breadwinner and were viewed as being strong and brave. In most civilizations, these associations have been and

Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most unsurpassed writers of twentieth-century African-American literature. Published in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the life of Janie Crawford, an African-American woman, who is in search of true love and ultimately her true self. In the novel, Janie shows us that love comes in all shapes and forms, and love is different with each person you choose to love. In the opening of the novel, Hurston uses a metaphor to say that, while men can never reach for their dreams, women can direct their wills and chase their dreams. Hurston uses this metaphor to make a distinction of men and women gender roles, and Janie went against the norms that were expected of her.

Feminism and gender equality is one of the most important issues of society today, and the debate dates back much farther than Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. To analyze Janie’s existence as a feminist or anti-feminist character requires a potential critic to look at her relationships and her reactions to those relationships throughout the novel. Trudier Harris claims that Janie is “questing after a kind of worship.” This statement is accurate only up until a certain point in her life, until Janie’s “quest” becomes her seeking equality with her partner. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s main goal pertaining to her romantic relationships undergoes multiple changes from her original goal of a type of worship to a goal to maintain an equal relationship with her husband.

In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston Tea Cake becomes an unlikely hero because of the way he saves Janie physically and emotionally. Before Janie met Tea Cake she was emotionally abused from Joe Starks treating her terribly for over twenty years. When Janie met Tea Cake it was as if she was seventeen again and was just starting her life with someone she had known forever because their love was so intense. Tea Cake not only saved Janie emotionally, but he actually saved her life during the hurricane twice. First from drowning then when she was about to be bitten by a rabid dog.

Traditional gender roles are typical roles for men and women based on biological and social differences. The book describes two benefits of traditional gender roles for males as: Higher Income and Other Job Related Advantages and Less Domestic Work and Marital Stress. Men are expected to always provide a stable income for the home. As personal experience in my household, my dad’s paychecks were always higher than my mom’s. He worked as head of security of a grade school making over $3,000+ a month, meanwhile my mom working as a homecare nurse made only $2,000. Because my dad’s income was higher, he was always expected to pay majority of the bills such as rent, cable, lights, car notes, and insurance. My mom paid for the smaller bills such

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, a young woman travels through difficult life experiences in order to find herself. Hurston portrays the protagonist as an adventurous soul trapped in the binds of suppressing marriages. Janie experiences three different types of marriage learning from each one what she values most. From these marriages she learned she values love and respect, finally achieving them in her last marriage. Each new marriage brought something new to the table for Janie and no matter the situation or the outcome of the relationship Janie grew into her own independent individual because of it.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, she sets the protagonist, Janie Mae Crawford as a woman who wants to find true love and who is struggling to find her identity. To find her identity and true love it takes her three marriages to go through. While being married to three different men who each have different philosophies, Janie comes to understand that she is developed into a strong woman. Hurston makes each idea through each man’s view of Janie, and their relationship with the society. The lifestyle with little hope of or reason to hope for improvement. He holds a sizeable amount of land, but the couple's life involves little interaction with anyone else.

It is said that “boys will be boys”, with their constant “locker room talk” and forceful sexual approaches. Between this and the unspoken of societal rule that defending men from harmful stereotypes is enabling them, there is a large portion of men that get represented in an unfair light. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a feminist novel, showing the struggles of the female protagonist Janie. In the novel, Janie details her three marriages and the issues she faces with each one such as her first husband treating her like a mule, her second husband’s domineering masculinity that the townsfolk encourage, or even her third husband who plays into the same forceful attitude that Janie tries to get away from. However, the novel

In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Tea Cake is killed by Janie, which shows, at the end of the book, that Janie is a strong, independent woman who can make the choice to choose herself over a damaged Tea Cake, despite her love for him. Also, during the trial, which wouldn’t have been possible if he had died from natural causes, Janie is accepted by white people, which is an instance of irony with regard to racism. Additionally, Hurston appears to be very pro-women, and allowing Janie to kill Tea Cake is her way of showing sexism does not dictate her anymore. The author chose Tea Cake’s fate to show Janie has arrived at a place where her own self expression and independence can coexist, and ultimately, be put above love in a novel where a primary theme revolves around her attempting to find her independence.

On December 6, 1894 the short story “The Story of An Hour” was published in the weekly newspaper Vogue. The story features the protagonist, Louise Mallard who discovers her husband is dead. The story was instantly regarded as highly controversial because it went against the standards of the 1890’s and features a female protagonist that feels liberated by the news of her husband's death. Although the idea that women were able to survive without men was a foreign concept at the time, the story resonated with many women. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie the female protagonist also experiences liberation through the death of her husband and faces the stereotype of women needing men in order to survive. This stereotype along with many other gender roles/stereotypes are present in Their Eyes Were Watching God and requires Janie and the many other characters to either adhere or break free of the gender roles/stereotypes they come across. Some of these gender roles/sterotypes is that women need to be married in order to be seen as decent and woman should remain quiet and not be outspoken or attract attention. Jaine breaks free of the respective gender roles by her unwillingness to conform to man in her relationships and succeeding in breaking many of the conventional gender roles. Other characters like Jody, Logan, and Janie’s grandmother adhere to the gender roles/ stereotypes and enforce them.

Approximately 80 years ago, women were often objectified and not treated correctly. Today in society, there are many new standards that we commonly try to live up to. We would like to have equality with many things, rather it be race, gender, etc. But, early in the 1900s, many women were not treated equally. Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is about a woman, named Janie, growing up attempting to find true love. She wants a man who will treat her unlike most women, for she doesn’t want to feel like she is a person of ownership. Women were often seen as owned property. Hurston shows us how women are often viewed as objects of ownership.

Brutal beatings that resulted in bruises, broken bones, and even death. Rape that haunted women until their last breath. Being caged and unable to go “tuh de horizon and back”. These are all things that Zora Neale Hurston tried to combat when composing Their Eyes Were Watching God. Through her novel, she tries to show the American people that women can choose the roles that they long for. In all, women have the right to pursue their desires.

Gender roles is a problem that takes place in both the workplace, domestic conditions, and society. Often signified through the age-old stereotype. That men are required of the more "challenging" or more "advanced" jobs, while women restrict themselves to the less grueling and less beneficial positions. Terms such as "that 's a man 's job" is a leading cause of inequality in the workplace. Not to mention, gender roles and standards are set in the homes of many families everywhere. The so-called "picture perfect family" situation; the husband goes to work while the wife stays home to tend to the children. While romanticized as ideal, this concept is the very essence of a patriarchal society. Meanwhile, the brutally vicious society we live in often berates women 's self-esteems in more way than one. Stereotypes of beauty, or who are skinny, pretty, white, and wealthy, are unfortunately the ideal standard of women and

Gender and the ways gender is portrayed in society varies from culture to culture. Gender roles have changed drastically, especially during the 20th century and continue to evolve to this day. For years now there have been preconceived notions about genders and the roles each one should play in society, home, workplace, etc. Most times gender roles are associated with stereotypes and previous gender roles. Gender role plays different parts in religion, culture, society, time periods, countries, etc. Women rights and power varies in time and location and it is very interesting to look at the events, cultures, and customs that were taking place in that particular time period to get a better idea of the gender role concept.