Gender Roles In African American Culture

Zora Neale Hurston in her novel presents the theme of gender roles and their importance in African American culture during the 1930’s. It is first exhibit through Nanny’s perspective of the black women’s role in the society. In chapter two, Nanny attempts to convince Janie that “de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it’s some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don’t know nothin’ but what we see. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolk’s. de nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur Ah can see” ( ). The novel uncovers a social ladder based on race and

Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grap dat ax and aling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten.” So Janie fires back to him, “Ah’m just as stiff as you is stout. If you can stand not to chop and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner. ‘Scuse mah freezolity, mist’ Killicks, but Ah don’t’ mean to chop de first chip” ( ). Both Janie and Logan seem to have firm views on gender roles in a marriage. Logan expects that a wife virtually prevail to make life as comfortable for her husband as possible. He moderately increases the number of duties for Janie to do: cook, maintain the house, now he’s commanding her to do chop and haul the woods and later on includes plowing and planting potatoes. But Janie on the other hand believes that both spouses should work in a equal pattern which according to her is the man should chop the wood while the woman cares for the

Mayor Strarks.” The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself. “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but nah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-making’. H never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” ( ). Joe here understands that women do not have the academic magnitude of men so therefore should not be permit to speak. He makes any chance of Janie to be heard because he counts a woman’s place in the privacy of the