The House On Mango Street Gender Essay

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In “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros, gender is portrayed as a social construction. Women are treated as less than when in comparison to men and as if they're not worthy of the same rights, on account of their sex. Several times throughout the book, women are described as being inferior to their husbands or their significant others. Both boys and girls are taught that they have to live up to expectations defined to them by their gender and upbringing. Esperanza brings up a critique of the way men and women relate to one another, and refuses to conform to the expectations placed upon her. In the vignette, “Boys and Girls” the author talks about how boys and girls are very different. “The boys and girls live in separate worlds. …show more content…

Esperanza begins the vignette with this, as a way to lead into the continuation of “Boys and Girls” and as to set up for the vignettes to follow. Esperanza goes into detail on how even her brothers don’t treat herself and her sister, the same when not at home. They barely talk to or acknowledge them in any way, because “... Outside they can’t be seen talking to girl”(8). The boys are being brought up to not treat girls with the same respect as other boys. Sexism or gender roles is also seen in many other vignettes over the course of the book. In “Rafaela Who Drinks Coconut & Papaya Juice on Tuesdays”, Esperanza describes a woman whose husband locks her in the house because he is afraid she will leave him because she is too beautiful. “Then Rafaela... gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at”(79). Here we are given more insight on how the women on mango street are treated and how they're expected to be. Beautiful, but not to beautiful because then you have to be kept away. Women are seen as objects and just pretty things to look at and admire. As in “What Sally Said”, women are viewed as sources of familial or maybe societal

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