Their Eyes Were Watching God Gender Roles Essay

Throughout history, society has viewed women with the understanding that they are to be seen, but not heard. According to tradition, men work and provide for their families while the women clean and raise the children. Women are not supposed to have intellectual thoughts and form their own opinions or ideas. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, many female characters face gender ideals which they are forced to uphold. A prime example would be the main character Janie who is placed into gender roles set up by the community in which she lives. The novel takes place during the 1930s in which gender roles are significantly different than they are today. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, portrays women to be submissive and obedient; throughout the novel, female characters escape these idealizations and are judged in doing so. Submissive and obedient while being forced to live up to the obligations set up for them by the community. Women will get blamed before men since women are easier targets. Society expects women to grieve and mourn over their husband; they will look down upon a woman if they remarry someone of a lesser age or status. Mrs. Tyler is an old woman who comes from large amounts of wealth do to her late husband. After his death, she starts spending her time and money on younger men who take advantage of her. As a result, Mrs. Tyler is seen to be a poor excuse of a woman. Janie’s good friend Pheoby tells Janie as a warning, “Look whut happened tuh Annie Tyler. Took whut little she had and went off tuh Tampa wid dat boy dey call Who Flung” (Hurston 114). Since Mrs. Tyler went off with a man who had no money and robbed her of all she had, people look at her in disgust and pity. The townspeople do not look at the man and frown upon him, they look at Mrs. Tyler and say it is her fault. It is easier for people to blame Mrs. Tyler than it is to blame the other man who took advantage of her, because she brought it upon herself. They are victim blaming. Their judging only intensifies when they see Mrs. Tyler’s appearance when she returns home. Mr. Tyler is described by Hurston as having Hair all gray and black and bluish and reddish in streaks. All the capers that cheap dye could cut was showing in her hair. Those slippers bent and griped just like her work-worn feet. The corset gone and the shaking old woman hanging all over herself. Everything that you could see was hanging. Her chin hung from her ears and rippled down her neck like drapes. Her hanging bosom and stomach and buttocks and legs that draped down over her ankles (119) In this statement, Mrs. Tyler’s physical appearance represents her emotional state. Even though Mrs. Tyler is hurting and feels defeated, she receives judgement because people don’t agree with her actions. It is declared by Thomas C. Foster that the appearance of a character will tell the reader something about the perceived character or others in the story. A character being set apart from the community results in endless possibilities since sameness is boring. A character only becomes interesting once they are set apart from everyone else (102). Mrs. Tyler’s looks draw negative and unwanted attention. Hurston encourages the reader to make the connection between Mrs. Tyler and Janie. Moreover, Hurston writes, …show more content…
In the communities’ eyes, it is not allowed for women to have jobs outside of the kitchen; if they do, it is to be an object their husband carries around with them. Women, in the end, are the ones who suffer from victim blaming. The views of people in the novel, surrounding women, are not acceptable or justifiable. To think that a woman is a lesser part of a man is an arrogant and closed minded way of thinking. The novel is still relevant today if taken the time to look at what the media suggests about women. Women’s rights and gender equality is still in need of improvement and it starts with acknowledging and addressing the views towards women expressed in the