Discrimination In The House On Mango Street

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, “1 in 3 women are a victim of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner during their lifetimes.” Women have always faced inequality, both in and outside their homes. For centuries women have fought to break these gender barriers, but sadly most women still deal with discrimination daily. We see this in the novel The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, as women in the community struggle to be independent of the men in their lives. Left to do all the chores and handle the kids, women are presented with unfair expectations for how their lives should be. The children on Mango Street observe how society perceives female's, affecting how they view their own futures. Esperanza, the protagonist of the story, hopes for a life apart from what

Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street highlights hardships and discrimination women face in esperanzas community, and how it affects her views on life. Esperanza’s community and the prominent discrimination against women affects her identity, as well as societal views. Girls who face poverty early on, often try to escape using men. This is not ideal for Esperanza, as she learns how tragic this can be. Sally, her friend, got herself into an abusive marriage even before she was in eighth grade. She suffers domestic abuse from her husband and is even “afraid to go outside without his permission” (Cisneros 102). Through this relationship, Sally was hoping to escape her past hardships, only to find herself in the same position. This is devastating for Esperanza to witness, as she learns that there is no true escape from the past. She also observes