The following questions and responses may be useful in applying the Feminist Literary Criticism to Their Eyes Were Watching God :
What does a woman’s power look like and how is it exercised?
Women differentiate between the words "sex" and "gender." Sex is considered to be an uncontrollable concept, something that you are born with. The idea of gender is a central part of feminism because women believe that gender can mean a variety of different things, and that they have the power to change what is considered feminine and masculine. Feminists express their power by crossing over the social boundaries that are created by men in a male dominated society. Literature is a powerful way to exercise a women’s power because it allows writers to express their beliefs and values toward the idea of equality between men and women. Literature is used to reinforce or undermine the oppression of women in society.
What does a man’s power look like and how is it exercised?
In western culture and history, men have had unjustified dominance over women and have claimed this to have a basis in the physiological differences between the two sexes. Men were considered more intelligent and physically stronger, and thus more capable than women in every field besides the “home." They used false science to prove their superiority: for example, it was believed that the difference in bumps and grooves on a man’s skull versus those on a woman's head determined a difference in intelligence; that because women had smoother skulls, their brains had less definition and thus less cognitive ability. Society (not solely men; women too argued for the social spheres) used this kind of reasoning to structure a patriarchy, the rule of man, which oppressed women by presenting an image of inferiority. As such, our common perceptions of a powerful leader often coincide with the face of a powerful man.
How are women portrayed?
The way that women are presented in a piece depends on the source of the writing. Men writing about women portray them as weak, static characters; they mainly serve the purpose of inflating the value of their male superiors. When women write about women, however, they are projected as characters who are confined to a lower position but are capable of rising above them. Women writers emphasize that women have the strength and tenacity to reach their goals, but they are darkened by the shadow of men's rule. Women writers also exert a more dignified and realistic knowledge of the way women speak when writing dialogue; male writers are often incapable of crossing the creative fault between the sexes to create a dialogue that resonates in a natural manner for both genders.
How do women write?
Women's writing, though it can display trademarks of the time period when it was published, is defined by recurring themes and symbols shared by a variety of works. In women's novels, settings normally center around "home" for the protagonist, whether that be a place they are trying to reach or one that they hope to escape. This is a result of the unlawful marriage of a woman to her household for the vast majority of social history, especially prominent in works from the 19th century. Thematically, women writers lean towards sounding a call for total equality between the sexes, to be achieved through one's control of voice, participation in economic, political, and social routines, and assertion of sexuality separate from what women were forced into by men. A symbolic motif in women's literature is that of the horizon; an image embedded into many works including Eyes, the contemplation of and reaching for "the far horizon" often refers to a female characters attempts to realize their heart's true desires and live away from a domineering male figure.
Who has the power in the male/female relationship?
In a relationship between a male and a female, both genders ideally have power and at times must submit to the other. When a wife submits to her husband, her husband must love her passionately. In a relationship involved with children, a husband submits to his dependant wife, who bears and cares for the children, by providing, protecting, and fulfilling other needs. The pair must complement each other well to have a stable environment for their children to grow up in, and to do this, they must treat each other with reciprocal respect and love. Women should be equal in status to men because God created both man and women "in His own image." Therefore one gender cannot belittle or look down upon the other. Both the male and female have power in a marriage; they both add to the success of the marriage, and they both have the ability to ruin a marriage by letting their differences hurt them instead of further developing the marriage.
However, in many societies, women do not get amounts of respect or liberties equal to those of their male counterparts. Men, as established by centuries-old tradition, generally force women they encounter to submit to any and all of their orders without complaint. Overwhelming male influence has lessened with forward progression of time and ideas, but not so that it is always at the level of mutual respect and reciprocation of feeling as in the previous paragraph.
Women differentiate between the words "sex" and "gender." Sex is considered to be an uncontrollable concept, something that you are born with. The idea of gender is a central part of feminism because women believe that gender can mean a variety of different things, and that they have the power to change what is considered feminine and masculine. Feminists express their power by crossing over the social boundaries that are created by men in a male dominated society. Literature is a powerful way to exercise a women’s power because it allows writers to express their beliefs and values toward the idea of equality between men and women. Literature is used to reinforce or undermine the oppression of women in society.
What does a man’s power look like and how is it exercised?
In western culture and history, men have had unjustified dominance over women and have claimed this to have a basis in the physiological differences between the two sexes. Men were considered more intelligent and physically stronger, and thus more capable than women in every field besides the “home." They used false science to prove their superiority: for example, it was believed that the difference in bumps and grooves on a man’s skull versus those on a woman's head determined a difference in intelligence; that because women had smoother skulls, their brains had less definition and thus less cognitive ability. Society (not solely men; women too argued for the social spheres) used this kind of reasoning to structure a patriarchy, the rule of man, which oppressed women by presenting an image of inferiority. As such, our common perceptions of a powerful leader often coincide with the face of a powerful man.
How are women portrayed?
The way that women are presented in a piece depends on the source of the writing. Men writing about women portray them as weak, static characters; they mainly serve the purpose of inflating the value of their male superiors. When women write about women, however, they are projected as characters who are confined to a lower position but are capable of rising above them. Women writers emphasize that women have the strength and tenacity to reach their goals, but they are darkened by the shadow of men's rule. Women writers also exert a more dignified and realistic knowledge of the way women speak when writing dialogue; male writers are often incapable of crossing the creative fault between the sexes to create a dialogue that resonates in a natural manner for both genders.
How do women write?
Women's writing, though it can display trademarks of the time period when it was published, is defined by recurring themes and symbols shared by a variety of works. In women's novels, settings normally center around "home" for the protagonist, whether that be a place they are trying to reach or one that they hope to escape. This is a result of the unlawful marriage of a woman to her household for the vast majority of social history, especially prominent in works from the 19th century. Thematically, women writers lean towards sounding a call for total equality between the sexes, to be achieved through one's control of voice, participation in economic, political, and social routines, and assertion of sexuality separate from what women were forced into by men. A symbolic motif in women's literature is that of the horizon; an image embedded into many works including Eyes, the contemplation of and reaching for "the far horizon" often refers to a female characters attempts to realize their heart's true desires and live away from a domineering male figure.
Who has the power in the male/female relationship?
In a relationship between a male and a female, both genders ideally have power and at times must submit to the other. When a wife submits to her husband, her husband must love her passionately. In a relationship involved with children, a husband submits to his dependant wife, who bears and cares for the children, by providing, protecting, and fulfilling other needs. The pair must complement each other well to have a stable environment for their children to grow up in, and to do this, they must treat each other with reciprocal respect and love. Women should be equal in status to men because God created both man and women "in His own image." Therefore one gender cannot belittle or look down upon the other. Both the male and female have power in a marriage; they both add to the success of the marriage, and they both have the ability to ruin a marriage by letting their differences hurt them instead of further developing the marriage.
However, in many societies, women do not get amounts of respect or liberties equal to those of their male counterparts. Men, as established by centuries-old tradition, generally force women they encounter to submit to any and all of their orders without complaint. Overwhelming male influence has lessened with forward progression of time and ideas, but not so that it is always at the level of mutual respect and reciprocation of feeling as in the previous paragraph.