How Does Janie Use Feminism In Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God follows a young woman, Janie Crawford, and what she discovers about herself throughout the events that take place in her life. Janie is described and known as being very beautiful, and she often receives both welcome and unwelcome attention from male members of her community, who also influence her ideas about gender roles and what a woman’s role in society should be. Although the concept of feminism is not specifically referred to in the text, many related ideas and values play prevalent roles. Janie grapples with the concepts of being a good wife and a good granddaughter. Feminism is defined as the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes, but that idea manifests itself as the traits

Joe comes up with many rules to dominate and express his own control over Janie, such as the rule that “her hair was NOT going to show in the store.That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store…. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store” (pg). Through Joe’s disapproval of Janie’s long and feminine hair and refusal to let her make her own decisions, Hurston expresses in turn Janie’s internalization of this impression as well as her refusal to stand up for herself. Instead of being assertive and advocating for her own desires, Janie follows along and covers up her hair simply because of her husband’s jealousy. Janie also learns from Joe to be meek and submissive because He [Joe] wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it… So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” (pg). Finally, when Joe dies, Janie finally takes the time to “[look] hard at her skin and features. The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (87). The reader sees Janie’s turning point and transition into someone with more feminist values: someone who takes control of their own future and fate. By “[letting] down her plentiful hair,” something she was previously forbidden to do, Hurston makes Janie’s personal evolution clear to the reader as she realizes she can no longer be controlled by