The Yellow Woman Analysis

The Yellow Woman, Liberator, Past and Present
“The Yellow Woman” by Leslie Marmon Silko, an accredited female author from Laguna Pueblo, effectively combats the typical beliefs on gender roles held by contemporary western societies, as well as false racal stereotypes, through ample personal experiences and references to the rich history of the Laguna Pueblo natives and their traditions. Through these methods Silko disassembles the outdated, yet still enforced, belief that men and women possess rigid roles in society. Silko specifically references the physical functionality of the Pueblo people’s society to dispel any idea of definitive gender roles. Traditional western beliefs, heavily influenced by fundamentalist Christianity, have always …show more content…
The inaccuracies of western thought were also highlighted by Silko’s relationship with her “Grandma A’mooh,” who at seventy-five was still chopping kindling and repairing anything from appliances to automobiles. These conflicting examples persuade readers to redefine gender roles as dysfunctional rationals thought up by flawed thinkers and enforced by flawed societies. These flimsy presumptions on men and women were not only exemplified by their physical limitations, but by their deeply internalized and excessively superficial motivations. Silko continues to provide ample proofs to the shortcomings of western ideology when compared to the ideology of the Laguna Pueblo’s. Silko uses the example of women using face-lifts, liposuction, and any sort of appearance altering procedures to again contrast the Pueblo people’s view on the world, now through the lens of comprehending beauty and superficiality . “to change one’s face and body to resemble a models face and body” is to limit the scope of an individuals comprehension in an attempt to falsify an identity. “To the Pueblo way of thinking, the act of comparing one living being to another was silly.” Silko intentionally summarizes the simplemindedness of any differing beliefs by employing a simple word to refer them to, “silly.” To eliminate any remaining disbelief in this divergence, Silko directs the reader to a story from her youth. Tourists, from the heavily christian influenced U.S., “would stop by Laguna Day school at recess time to take photographs” with the Laguna children. One white male tourist