Summary:
Discusses the struggles of Black women in America as represented by three different characters from three different novels: Janie from Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Sethe from Toni Morrison's Beloved, and Sofia from Alice Walker's The Color Purple. The adversities that black women encounter in this country are caused by the societal ideals of femininity. In American culture, though a woman can be as independent and successful as she desires, she must still conform to certain womanly ideals such as submissiveness, sexual secrecy, repressed passion, and maternity. Any deviation from these ideals leads to conflict and scrutiny.
The Black Woman's Burden
As humans living in an organized society, we are inevitably defined and viewed through the ideals created by that organizing entity. Each culture has its own view of masculinity and femininity that may vary from another culture's. The degree of difference may not be very large but it is these cultural differences that often create conflicts and struggles among certain groups of people. A quintessential example of such a struggle can be seen when observing black women in America. The adversities that black women encounter in this country are caused by the societal ideals of femininity. In American culture, though a woman can be as independent and successful as she desires, she must still conform to certain womanly ideals such as submissiveness, sexual secrecy, repressed passion, and maternity......
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