Theme Of Gender Stereotypes In Their Eyes Were Watching God

INTRO Nowadays, men and women are seen as equals, but it wasn’t always like this. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, we see that men have dominance in relationships over women, at least in the beginning. Not only does Hurston use the gender stereotype that men are dominant over women, she uses the stereotype of passive women and active men as well. Before Hurston creates Janie’s awareness of the stereotype, the novel opens with “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men. Now, women forget all those things they

Seeing men and women only function by gender stereotypes in society, makes Janie start questioning her every move. When there is a flood, the townspeople aren’t focused on their actions, but on surviving. Some take matters into their own hands, while others tremble from fear and stay in the background. In chapter 18, Hurston describes the flood scene where “Tea Cake split the water like an otter, opening his knife as he dived…..Janie screamed and slipped far back on the tail of the cow, just out of reach of the dog’s angry jaws. He wanted to plunge in after her but dreaded the water, somehow. Tea Cake rose out of the water at the cow’s rump and seized the dog by the neck.” (166). Here, Janie is just watching everything happen as she hangs on to the “tail of the cow.” While, Tea Cake is fighting, as he “seized the dog by the neck.” Janie is aware of what is going on, but she isn’t doing

She explained how she was married to Logan, and he went to go get a mule for her to plow with. Joe couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he told Janie “You behind a plow! You ain’t got no mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog is got wid uh holiday! You ain’t got no business…..you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you. Janie laughed.”(29). Hurston repeats “no (mo’) business” through Joe, and his skepticism stands out more than anything. Joe can’t believe Janie is working, he says she has “no business” to be working. In their society, the purpose of men are to work, and the women just “sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for [them].” Women are still taking orders like in the past. Even though men worked as slaves also, now they take the “business” into their own hands, they make the orders. The men aren’t stuck with slavery mindsets anymore, only the women. Just like how Janie is still trapped in a society where she and other women aren’t in control, they are made to be passive, while the men are