Gender Roles in The House on Mango Street Essay

Have you ever been ashamed of your body, or hated what you looked like because of your gender? Billions of women around the globe have experienced some form of sexism. That can be catcalling, lower wages than men, societal gender roles, lack of an education, or abuse because of your gender. These acts of sexism severely diminish a woman’s view of herself. In The House On Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the main character Esperanza and the other women in her community face the constant…

“perfect” woman standards by implying her gratefulness of possessing any dolls at all. Through this struggle, the girl learns to cope with her burdened lifestyle while also encountering gender roles and values. Cisneros wrote this story in relation to her own childhood, motivated by the social standards of gender roles and body image in relation to the Barbie doll. Sandra Cisneros,…

of them step up to change this common opinion and also prove that they can shape the future. In the novella, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, the role of women is discussed. Esperanza is a girl who is not proud of who she is and is still trying to find her place. Through her struggles, she often looks up to the women she grows up with. Esperaza has a variety of female roles in her life. Many are trapped in abusive relationships, waiting for others to change their lives. Some are…

CHARACTERS/ PLOT SUMMARY SYMBOLS, MOTIFS, IMAGES, THEMES, SIMILES, METAPHORS, CONNECTIONS, QUESTIONS The House on Mango Street They move to Mango St. Esperanza compares it to the house that she wants to live in (does not measure up). American Dream (theme) disappointment (theme) TT/ TBE: connection (looking to media for standard TS connection: moving from apt to house Nuns: SYMBOL/ motif of SHAME (another theme) Hairs She describes the type of hair that her family members have. Her…

I wonder if she made the best with what she got or was she sorry because she couldn’t be all the things she wanted to be…” (Cisneros 11). By continually interfacing the window picture to the trapped women on Mango Street, Cisneros delineates a column of third-floor apartments as prison cells. A portion of the women are stuck in these cells in view of their spouses, however Esperanza infers that some of them could accomplish more to change their circumstances. Women…

In Sandra Cisneros’ bildungsroman The House on Mango Street, we see the main character, Esperanza struggle to find her place in Chicago, as well as within her own culture’s idea of the “perfect” woman, the ideal woman of her community and the ideal woman of the 80’s. In Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson, we see two girls’ journey after they are abandoned by their mother in a small town located in Northern Idaho. Set in the 1950’s, we see Ruth and Lucille develop as they find their place within…

any credit. She did not want her future to be like that and was forced to feel out of place with no where to turn. Bone wished to be a man so as to not be trapped in the life of being born to be a mother (Allison). These gender roles are still present today and play a negative role by pressuring women to take jobs that men view as inferior, such as stay-at-home mothers, librarians or secretaries. The inequality between men and women in today’s society can clearly be seen with examples like the…

A Woman’s Role Women in society have always received the short end of the stick. For centuries, women have always been pushing and changing the mold. In some cases, individuals have to push the mold for them to be looked at in a more respective light, while other times society has to shift the mold for women to be able to achieve more rights and acceptance in the strife for equality. In the story, The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza grows up and becomes an independent young…

moves back and forth from Chicago to Mexico, making her feel not integrated in either culture. As Robin Ganz declares, Cisneros “derived inspiration from her cultural specificity and found her voice in the dingy rooms of her house on Mango Street, on the cruel but comfortable streets of the barrio, and in the smooth and dangerous curves of borderland arroyos” (1). In her short story, “Woman Hollering Creek”, Cisneros describes the life of a Mexican woman, Cleofilas that marries a man from “el…

famous for is her book “The House on Mango Street,” and dedicated this book “A las Mujeres,” “To the Women.” (Cisneros) The House on Mango Street is centered on one of Cisneros main themes, feminism, it’s a story about a young Mexican-American girl named Esperanza Cordero and she is experiencing her coming of age. As well in Woman Hollering Creek, Cisneros expresses feminism through Cleófilas the protagonist is trapped in a constricting, culturally assigned gender role due to her being alone,…