Ninety-six years ago women were officially granted the right to vote with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Almost a century later, however, women still face discrimination in their daily lives. A prominent example being the wage gap, the difference in salaries between men and women of the same occupation. The wage gap still lingers to this day and proves that sexism, much like racism and ethnocentrism, is embedded within everyday American Culture. Zora Neale Hurston expresses this American culture in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God in which Janie lives her life in 1937 Florida where she encounters several partners who have contrasting ideas of how women should act and be treated. Hurston
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Claire Crabtree also elaborates in her article “The Confluence of Folklore” on Tea Cake’s ability to make Janie happy without enforcing his beliefs on her: “Tea Cake represents something more to Janie than the presence of a single man. Tea Cake combines a sense of his own identity as a Black and a concomitant ability to set his own standards for himself with a natural acceptance of and faith in Janie, which enables her to define her own standards for herself.” Hurston characterizes Tea Cake as a sympathetic and understanding individual to portray how these character traits enable Janie to enjoy a newfound independence. The purpose of Tea Cake’s characterization is to illustrate the benefits of an accepting society as opposed to a society that enforces strict traditional gender roles. In “Themes and Construction,” the author describes Janie’s ability to become self-reliant as partly due to her rejection of the former gender roles that Logan and Joe had demanded of her: “When the young Tea Cake enters her life, she decides that she has done what Jody and the town have wanted her to do long enough, so she rejects their ideas for her future and marries a younger man. Her relationship with Tea Cake allows her to find herself in a way that …show more content…
Janie learns that living life through the traditional gender roles set by preceding generations does not guarantee fulfillment or happiness in life. The beliefs and opinions obtained through her personal experiences enable Janie to find out who she really is, what she believes in, and most importantly, how to be happy. Luckily, the discrimination Janie endures is minimal compared to gender discrimination in today’s society. According to several studies, the job growth that came with the Industrial Revolution narrowed the wage gap between 1820 and 1850. Similar innovations in technology and job opportunities narrowed the wage gap once again between 1900 and the 1930’s (“Gender Wage Gap”). Thus, as technology and the economy continue to grow, the gender imbalances in the workplace and in other facets of society lessen. As American Society progresses through time, despite its stereotypes and traditional gender roles described by Hurston, conformity and stereotypes continue to
Claire Crabtree also elaborates in her article “The Confluence of Folklore” on Tea Cake’s ability to make Janie happy without enforcing his beliefs on her: “Tea Cake represents something more to Janie than the presence of a single man. Tea Cake combines a sense of his own identity as a Black and a concomitant ability to set his own standards for himself with a natural acceptance of and faith in Janie, which enables her to define her own standards for herself.” Hurston characterizes Tea Cake as a sympathetic and understanding individual to portray how these character traits enable Janie to enjoy a newfound independence. The purpose of Tea Cake’s characterization is to illustrate the benefits of an accepting society as opposed to a society that enforces strict traditional gender roles. In “Themes and Construction,” the author describes Janie’s ability to become self-reliant as partly due to her rejection of the former gender roles that Logan and Joe had demanded of her: “When the young Tea Cake enters her life, she decides that she has done what Jody and the town have wanted her to do long enough, so she rejects their ideas for her future and marries a younger man. Her relationship with Tea Cake allows her to find herself in a way that …show more content…
Janie learns that living life through the traditional gender roles set by preceding generations does not guarantee fulfillment or happiness in life. The beliefs and opinions obtained through her personal experiences enable Janie to find out who she really is, what she believes in, and most importantly, how to be happy. Luckily, the discrimination Janie endures is minimal compared to gender discrimination in today’s society. According to several studies, the job growth that came with the Industrial Revolution narrowed the wage gap between 1820 and 1850. Similar innovations in technology and job opportunities narrowed the wage gap once again between 1900 and the 1930’s (“Gender Wage Gap”). Thus, as technology and the economy continue to grow, the gender imbalances in the workplace and in other facets of society lessen. As American Society progresses through time, despite its stereotypes and traditional gender roles described by Hurston, conformity and stereotypes continue to