Does The House On Mango Street Undermine The Well-Being Of Women?

Gender roles on Mango Street undermine the well-being of women which brings about a search for a better life for Esperanza. In The House on Mango Street, a novel by Sandra Cisneros, Esperanza, a young woman, is able to watch how her peers are pressured to follow in with the Community's expectations on women. While she discovers how much these expectations of the community affect her peers mentally and physically, she is on the search to live her own life with her own rules and expectations. Esperanza's community on Mango Street expects women to do housework and men to have control over women, leading to negative impacts on the well-being of women, prompting Esperanza to consider leaving to follow her own expectations and live by her own rules.

A quote that demonstrates this is “And anyway, a woman’s place is sleeping so she can wake up early with the tortilla star” (Cisneros 31). This quote suggests that the community in which Esperanza lives views the role of women being responsible for household tasks, such as making food for the family. This expectation that women should do housework can have negative effects on their physical and mental health, As demonstrated by Alicia because she is too tired to study and work hard in her university. Women may feel pressured to prioritize these responsibilities over their own needs and desires. This quote can show Esperanza that these expectations from the community have a negative impact on women which can make her consider alternatives for her own life. Esperanza is able to see how negatively the expectations of the community affects Alicia which shows her that she wants to live her own life with her own

In the novel it states “Not a flat. Not an apartment in the back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own. With my porch and my pillow, my pretty purple petunias. My books and my stories. My two shoes are waiting beside the bed., Nobody to shackle a stick at., Nobody’s garbage to pick up after” (Cisneros 108). This quote from the vignette “A House of My Own” shows that Esperanza wants to have her own house so that she can live independently and escape the expectations of her community. She wants a house that is her own, with her own possessions and belongings. She wants to be free from the burden of expectations when living in a man’s house. All of these desires demonstrate that Esperanza wants to be independent and live on her own with her own expectations and rules rather than being tied down by expectations of her