First it represents her independence and the finance of petty community standards. The towns critiques at the very beginning of the novel fully demonstrates that its considered dignified for a woman of Janie's age to wear her hair down. Her refusal to bow down to the norms clearly reflects her strong rebellious spirit. Second her hair functions as a phallic symbol; a symbol of typically masculine power and potency, which blurs gender lines and thus threatens Jody. Third, her hair because of the straightness, functions as a symbol of white ness; Mrs.Turner worships Janie because of her straight hair and other Caucasian characteristics.
She worked carefully on her hair, pencilled her eyebrows and rouged her lips” (Steinbeck, 1938, para 95). She wanted to be beautiful for her husband. She wanted him to compliment her and tell her how beautiful she was. He however did not do this. His reaction was ““Why—why, Elisa.
Curley’s wife’s obsession with herself ultimately leads to her death. She knows Lennie is supposed to stay away from her, but thrives on his attention and wants his praise for her soft hair. It is not coincidental that she ends up losing her life because she didn’t want Lennie to mess up her hair. This final event sums up Curley’s wife’s role fairly neatly. Steinbeck presents Curley as a woman with huge dreams and hopes who aspires to be famous in Hollywood and life a king size life.
Beauty is a gender role pushed extremely hard toward women. To be the right size, and shape and have the “perfect hair” is a pressure most men don’t feel. I blame this completely on gender roles. Most men don’t care about the shade of red lipstick a women is wearing, or notice when she flips her hair a different way, yet it’s what makes a women feel beautiful? In the story a gift of the magi, one whole paragraph is dedicated to the main character- Della’s- worry about if her husband will still find her attractive, even though she cut off and sold her hair to buy him a Christmas gift.
He made her feel as if she was independent in her thinking, when he was merely giving her options that he approved of. The way Janie’s character in relation to Tea Cake was in my opinion weak. It puts women in a position that will allow women to be taken advantage off by sweet-talking us into thinking they are doing the perfect things because they are treating us they way we want to be treated. It gives of the notion that women will do whatever men want as long as we are treated like women. To answer the question, is this a feminist text, I would say that it is.
But her journey toward enlightenment is not undertaken alone. The gender differences that Hurston espouses require that men and women provide each other things that they need but do not possess. Janie views fulfilling relationships as reciprocal and based on mutual respect, as demonstrated in her relationship with Tea Cake, which elevates Janie into an equality noticeably absent from her marriages to Logan and Jody. Although relationships are implied to be necessary to a fulfilling life, Janie’s quest for spiritual fulfillment is fundamentally a self-centered one. She is alone at the end yet seems content.
In the beginning Joe seems as if he is Janie’s “prince charming” but with time she soon realizes that he has an egotistical money hungry personality. He becomes very possessive over Janie, making her wear a head rag to conceal her hair, and he also prevents her from participating in events. Janie takes this relationship as an opportunity to grow and reach her full potential. Adjectives: Controlling, Egotistical Name: Tea Cake Role in the story: Janie’s last relationship of the novel. Significance to the story: Teak Cake is significant to this novel because he helps with Janie’s self- development.
Bah!” (26). Mademoiselle had the independence that Edna wants; when she plays she is free from all troubles and despair. Whereas, Edna can paint but still has her children and husband Leonce when she is finished to take care of. The two women share a common interest freedom. Mademoiselle sees this potential in Edna but knows that Edna must first grow into an independent woman and seek the freedom on her own.
Tea Cake has demonstrated throughout the novel that he is a gentlemen, loving a woman for who she truly is. Hurston is saying that there is hope for women today to be treated with integrity know a days, based on how young Tea cake and being married to an older women who has gone through two
Housework was a very important task and women were supposed to take great joy in it. Upper and middle class girls were taught from a young age the skills they would need in order to keep a happy, healthy, peaceful home. While the outside world and working force were definitively male, the home was considered to be a feminine place. The outside world was evil and full of sin and wrongdoing, but the home was a moral haven (MacKethan). Husbands went to work in the corrupt world of industry, so they were meant to come home, decompress, and once again become attuned with their compassionate side.