Sexuality In Eva Peace, By Jane Morrison

Throughout history, women have been expected to play the role of the chaste, domestic wife, while putting others' needs before their own. A woman’s sexual desires and wants have fallen victim to extreme scrutiny—women are simply not supposed to have them in the first place. Therefore, those women who choose to be expressive in their sexuality have time and again been labeled as “impure” and “sluts” in the general public’s eye. Moreover, Black women who embrace their own sexuality and indulge in their sexual pleasures fall victim to an even greater amount of hostility. Historically, Black women’s bodies have often been seen as aggressively hypersexual and have been fetishized. Because they face these stereotypes, Black women often withhold from

As a young woman, Eva marries Boyboy, an abusive man who ultimately abandons his family. By way of BoyBoy, Morrison displays the way in which men maintain power over women—women are confined under the expectations of submissiveness, while men have the agency to do what they please. Following BoyBoy’s leave, Eva has the freedom to decide whether or not to explore her sexual needs with other men. Through her relationship with BoyBoy, Morrison illustrates Eva’s individuality and personal growth into a woman who uses her sexuality to connect with her own desires as opposed to only focusing on men’s. By breaking stereotypical norms, Eva is content with herself without needing a husband to make her happy. Her break from BoyBoy signaled her own breakthrough where she experiences the liberty that comes with a choice for the first time. Even though her relationship with BoyBoy came to an end, Eva’s interest in men does not wane: “Eva, old as she was, and with one leg, had a regular flock of gentlemen callers, and although she did not participate in the act of love, there was a good deal of teasing and pecking and laughter” (41). Eva experiences her sexuality through various experimentations of intimacy free of sex. This way, Eva frees herself from any societal expectations placed on her to attain a new husband—Eva chooses what to do with her body and expresses her sexuality in whatever form she pleases without facing scrutiny. Choosing to protect herself from “routine vulnerabilities” (36), Eva does not engage in any sexual relationships with men, and instead, she embraces men for who they are, creating the concept of “manlove”; Eva bequeaths “man love” to her daughter, Hannah, and granddaughter, Sula, advising them that “manlove” regards to loving “maleness, for its own sake” (41). Despite choosing to not undertake any