Autonomy In The House On Mango Street Women

In a male dominated society women seek to achieve autonomy. A recurring theme in the novel is sexuality and autonomy. Esperanza is assaulted when hanging out with sally and she realizes that being a woman and being in control is impossible in her culture. “Sally, you lied. It wasn’t what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn’t want it, Sally.” (Cisneros 99). Autonomy is a hard thing to achieve especially in a Hispanic culture. That is why women must work twice as hard to be at the same level as men. As she gets older she becomes more sexually aware. Sexuality comes into play because she wants to feel desired and looked at, and it’s a way she uses to define her-self. It is also mentioned that women in marriages seem trapped and not in control of themselves.

The topic of sexuality is also explored when she and her friends wore a pair of heel shoes. The girls attracted men and didn’t want to take the shoes off because they liked being admired but they were also being objectified. Esperanza’s dreams, is the only place where she feels in full control being with Sire. Towards the end of the book she stops hanging out with sally and decided to keep writing which serves as her escape, she chooses autonomy over sexuality. I live in a male dominated culture and have always been told to dress a certain way to avoid men staring at me. My family’s tradition is for the women to obey their husbands and it’s okay if they are physically abused because they are men and we are women. I know that I want to break that cycle to avoid being owned by a husband so my escape is being focused on my studies to be independent. Over all I think that autonomy and sexuality don’t