In The Color Purple, Alice Walker tells the story of a black family living in the South during the early twentieth century. Written from the point of view of Celie, and uneducated and abused black woman. Walker explores the idea of gender roles by writing about how all the characters, both men and women, have suffered at the hands of gender stereotypes. Through her portrayal of the characters in The Color Purple, Walker demonstrates that gender roles can unfairly categorize people, they force women into silence against men, dictate our everyday behavior. Then, once we rise above these labels we can discover how to love ourselves and be liberated from the chains of gender stereotyping.
With gender norms, women lose the ability to speak up …show more content…
When Shug tells Celie that she should wear pants. Celie responds that Mr. ___ would never allow her to wear pants, simply because she is a woman. Walker demonstrates how gender roles force us into conformity by writing, “ Mr.___ not going to let his wife wear pants. Why not? Say Shug. You do all the work around here (146). Celie strongly believes that Mr.___ would never allow her to wear pants because only the men were allowed to wear pants because they are a symbol of power, and Mr.___ didn't want Celie to have power in any form. When you say that somebody "wears the pants" in a relationship, it means that they are the dominant one but if they "wear the dress," it means that they are the submissive one. Mr.___ wants to wear the pants both metaphorically and literally, just because he is a man. Obviously, Shug has a radically different way of thinking about this. She believes that the person who does the most work, in this case, Celie, should be able to wear pants. Her fear of wearing pants demonstrates how gender norms restrict, our actions every single day of our …show more content…
These unjust assumptions that we make about people, shame women into silence, and determine our actions. Although, once we overcome these prejudiced clichés, we are able to accept ourselves for who we are. The idea of gender roles were created by society as a way to manufacture environmental constraints that create opportunities that usually benefit men more than women. This doesn't mean that we can never get past these “rules” that we have created for ourselves. In fact, it is the only way the we have a chance at living in a society with total gender
With gender norms, women lose the ability to speak up …show more content…
When Shug tells Celie that she should wear pants. Celie responds that Mr. ___ would never allow her to wear pants, simply because she is a woman. Walker demonstrates how gender roles force us into conformity by writing, “ Mr.___ not going to let his wife wear pants. Why not? Say Shug. You do all the work around here (146). Celie strongly believes that Mr.___ would never allow her to wear pants because only the men were allowed to wear pants because they are a symbol of power, and Mr.___ didn't want Celie to have power in any form. When you say that somebody "wears the pants" in a relationship, it means that they are the dominant one but if they "wear the dress," it means that they are the submissive one. Mr.___ wants to wear the pants both metaphorically and literally, just because he is a man. Obviously, Shug has a radically different way of thinking about this. She believes that the person who does the most work, in this case, Celie, should be able to wear pants. Her fear of wearing pants demonstrates how gender norms restrict, our actions every single day of our …show more content…
These unjust assumptions that we make about people, shame women into silence, and determine our actions. Although, once we overcome these prejudiced clichés, we are able to accept ourselves for who we are. The idea of gender roles were created by society as a way to manufacture environmental constraints that create opportunities that usually benefit men more than women. This doesn't mean that we can never get past these “rules” that we have created for ourselves. In fact, it is the only way the we have a chance at living in a society with total gender