In the painting, Kiss Me and You’ll kiss the ‘Lasses, Lily Martin Spencer used a woman holding a spoon and the title to demonstrate the beginning of challenging gender roles which relates to John Steinbeck’s cynical tone about gender roles and stereotyping in The Grapes of Wrath, thus proving that despite how far society seems to have come when it comes to gender equality, people still endure discrimination and stereotypical pressures today because of the sex they were born into. The woman in the picture is smiling at whoever is painting her or whoever is looking at her. The person, most likely a man, is tempted to kiss her but she warns, with the title, that if he does so she’ll hit him with the spoon she has in her hands. Also it’s ironic that the lady who …show more content…
Then the way the woman is smiling in the picture, could look almost comical, but she still has some backbone. The way she is shaped in the portrait shows she has some strength and will fight for her sanity if necessary. Despite how one can see a strong, firm woman in this painting. Still today people discriminate against them, some men don’t like the idea of a woman being independent and stronger than him. However, that still won’t stop women from showing who they really are and what they have to offer to society. In The Grapes of Wrath, Ma Joad, like the woman in the painting, does do domestic “chores” she cooks, and follows Pa around and let him lead the family. But she isn’t weak, she still is a strong woman who will fight back. In chapter 8, Steinbeck describes Ma Joad as “heavy, but not fat; thick with childbearing and work” (Steinbeck 74). That’s just like how the woman above looks, thick with work and childbearing. Also in chapter 26, “Ma put the clean dripping tin dish out on a box. She smiled down at her work. ‘You get your stick, Pa,’” (Steinbeck