Curley's Wife Misogynist

Women have been fighting for equal rights for 173 years. The novella Of mice and men was written by John Steinbeck and published in 1937. The novella is about two field workers named George and Lennie. Lennie was a strong mentally disabled man. George was an intelligent and protective man. They were employed on a ranch in weed. They dreamed of having a place of their own. On the ranch, we met Curley, the boss's son who hates big guys. We were introduced to Curley's wife, a tart who gives men the eye. We also met Candy, the old sweeper on the ranch. A horrible event occurred and left everyone’s life changed forever. The impression Steinbeck is making about women in the 1930s is that they had no significance, and lived for their husbands. Steinbeck

Women had no identity and were tied to their husbands. During the 1930s women were shown as trophies by their husbands. She displays this when she says, ¨I never get to talk to nobody¨ (Steinback 43). This evidence explains how controlling Curley was and how Curley's wife was tied to him. Curley was her identity. We got to see very little of who Curley's wife was. In this novella, we see how distant Curley was from his wife and how he was using her for appearances. There was no love in Curley and his wife's marriage. Steinbeck was making a point on how women were seen as something pretty, and they were in the way of the important things. Curley's wife was the only woman on the ranch which led her to talk to the ranch workers because all she had was Curley. Curley's wife was seen as a tart for wanting to speak to the ranch

The perspective of Curley's wife is rarely seen throughout the novella. The text displays this,¨Well, I think Curley's married…a tart¨(Steinback 28). This illustrates how Curley's wife was seen as a tart, and the men didn't give her a chance to be more than that. Curley's wife was called a tart, jailbait, and more we didn't see how these words affected her. This shows how Curley's wife was seen as a trophy, and she couldn't act for herself. Curley's wife used her looks as a way to show power over the men because she had so little power. As soon as Lennie and George got to the ranch, Candy told them about Curley's wife and she was a tart. Women in the 1930s had to hold up to a standard to settle down with a husband, have a baby, clean, cook, and never leave the house. Another example from the text is,¨She got the eye goin´ all the time on everybody¨ (Steinbeck 51). The men on the ranch picked apart the things that Curley's wife did. Curley's wife wanted attention and sought it through the ranch workers. The male gaze is an extensive part of this novella. The men in this story repeatedly sexualized, and diminished women to show power over them. This is demonstrated when Curley's wife would talk to someone other than Curley they thought she was giving the man a seductive eye. We only see the 1930s male view of Curley's wife in actuality, she could have normally looked at the person she was talking to. We see how the men