Gender Roles In The Color Of Water

Throughout literature and truth there is always a steady progression of sexism and gender roles. A tradition of fathers passing it down to sons and them passing down to their sons and so on and so forth, however, the trend does not stop there, with women being taught to be docile and meek, while men provide, there is a mentality that is taught along with it. In The Color of Water, McBride's mother describes being raped by her father, the provider and protector of the household. She recalled, “Anytime he had a chance he’s try to get close to me or crawl into my bed with me and molest me… But it affected me in a lot of ways, what he did to me. I had very low self-esteem as a child, which i kept with me for many, many, years.” (McBride 43). Because

An example of this can be found in Native Son, while Bigger is portrayed as a hyper masculine character the author emphasizes the differences of the two genders by giving the women in the novel . weaker personas and characters that are less subject to change and development. The woman whose character development is most prominent is the mother´ s when she transfers from having a sharp and tough demeanor at the beginning of the novel, ¨´Bigger, sometimes I wonder why I birthed you...We wouldn't have to live in this garbage dump if you had any manhood in you,” (Wright 8). This is also seen in the way that people in power, such as police officers, treat women differently than men. In Native Son, Bigger overhears two men discussing Bessie, “‘Say you see that brown gal in there… Boy, she was a peach wasn't she?’ ‘Yeah; I wonder what on earth a nigger wants to kill a white woman for when he has such a good looking woman in his own race….’” (Wright 260). In the society of 1940’s America, society focused on typical gender roles and enforced them by ingraining into life itself, teach children the importance of earning their place. The form of oppression differs between races, but still emphasizes elevating men above all

By supporting the competitive nature of dragging other girls down in order to raise themselves up, women are supporting their own oppression. In the Bluest Eye, Claudia is jealous of a young girl who she sees as the perfect white fantasy, taking her insecurities and imposing them upon the newcomer in an attempt to make herself feel whole. Because she has no basis for her hatred she then begins to find reasons to torment the little girl. She remembers, “Freida and I were bemused, irritated, and fascinated by her. We looked hard for flaws to restore our equilibrium… snickering behind her back and calling her Six-finger-dog-tooth-meringue-pie” (Morrison 63). In McBride's book The Color of Water, he shows how his mother experience this brand of hatred in her later years and how it isolated her. He remembered, ¨I noticed that Mommy stood apart from the other mothers, rarely speaking to them… ignoring the stares of the black women as she whisked me away”