The House On Mango Street Gender Roles

In the “Boys & Girls” vignette, Esperanza notes the division between sexes. She makes sure that the division between male and female sexes is made as she says, “The boys and girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours” (8). “This instance portrays the role played by gender in which male and female are set apart in the society – that is, by a society’s definitions of femininity and masculinity . . .” (Vichiensing, “Investigating ‘Othering’ in Sandra Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street”). The boys and girls of the Mango Street neighborhood do not socialize with each other because they must maintain their feminine and masculine behaviors. They live in two different worlds where they live by rules: rules that give

men and boys more freedom and autonomy than women and girls. For example, even though Esperanza can talk to her brothers at home, they cannot talk to her outside their home (8).

Esperanza must socialize with her younger sister Nenny, who is too young to be her friend, but a girl nonetheless. She says her brothers “got plenty to say to [her] and Nenny inside the house. But outside their house[,] they can’t be seen talking to girls” (8). Why? Because talking to their sisters and other girls will invalidate their masculinity and it will taint their image. They cannot be seen talking to the girls because they will lose their status with their friends and their social clique will be intruded. This is not acceptable in a male-dominated society, therefore, they must stick to the rules: women ought never to meddle with men social spheres maintaining their feminity, while men can conveniently intrude into the women social sphere sustaining their masculinity. This sort of male privilege is clear in The House on Mango Street and it is made clearer by Esperanza’s distinction between boys and

girls.

Speaking of male privilege, in The House of Mango Street patriarchal society, the reproduction and the responsibility for child care and child rearing fall heavily on women while men, with their superior status — are pardoned for being absent leaving their family behind.

A case in point is the Vargas's who's mother, Rosa Vargas — have "too many and too much" (29) kids. The children are unsupervised most of the time because Rosa could not keep full attention on each one of them. However, Esperanza says, “It’s not her fault you know, except she is their mother and only one against so many” (29). This quote implies the absence of the father who does not bear the parental responsibility in the relationship. Therefore, being the only parent she is, Rosa is "tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying . . . [and she] cries every day for the man who left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come" (29). This only shows that the women’s roles are set only to raise the children and to take care of the

household.
According to “Bloom’s Guides: The House on Mango Street” by the same author, Sandra Cisneros, the title vignette, There Was an Old Woman She Had So Many Children She Didn't Know What To Do about Rosa, is derived from a nursery rhyme about a woman who has so many children and “lived in a shoe” (147). However, while Rosa does not live in a shoe with her children, one can assume that both women live in misery from being single-mothers abandoned by their husbands and as a result, they live in poverty. Furthermore, unlike the old woman who “whips [all her children] soundly and put[s] them to bed," Rosa acts differently in an extreme manner. Instead of abusing her children, Rosa neglects them — clearly because of the slow corrosion of motherly spirit, poverty, and despair. Unsupervised and without respect even for themselves because of negligence and the absence of their father whose departure undoubtedly contributed to the children's lack of respect — Rosa's children get into all kinds of trouble. Esperanza writes her thoughts: "No wonder everybody gave up" (29) justifying Rosa's negligence. Since “everyone in the neighborhood gives up caring about the kids and stops trying to help their mother,” (Bloom 2010), as a consequence, no one pays attention when Efren chips his tooth, when Refugia gets her head stuck in the gate, and tragically, when Angel Vargas falls from Mr. Benny's roof. Through the story of Rosa Vargas, Esperanza addresses the plight of Chicano women who are often in the situation of having to bear many children only to be left by their husbands, and to bear the responsibility to care for the children alone while the fathers who hold the superior male-privilege abandon them all.
Most of the men in The House on Mango Street are portrayed as manipulative, oppressive, or abusive; the women, on the other hand, are contrastingly portrayed as victims of physical, mental, and emotional abuse. In Minerva Writes Poems vignette, Esperanza draws attention to an instance of emotional abuse when she describes a woman named Minerva who “has many troubles, but the big one is her husband who left and keeps leaving” (84). Minerva, the poet, is ironically named after Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom. However, Minerva of Mango Street does not exhibit wisdom in continually taking back her husband. Minerva's mother also dealt with the same sorts of domestic problems that she is currently dealing with, and according to Esperanza, “Her mother raised her kids alone, and it looks like her daughters will go that way too” (84). Minerva tries to end the emotional abuse by freeing herself of her husband, however, she always fails. Why? Because "One day. . . she lets him know enough is enough” (85), but then he says sorry, so, “she opens the door again. Same story” (85). The title Esperanza gives this vignette takes on a sad reality: "Minerva Writes Poems," yes, however, she lacks the wisdom to "translate" those poems into her real life and make changes for herself. She does not act upon the emotional abuse and would rather embrace her victim role.
The abuse has shifted not only from emotional abuse but it extends to physical abuse as well. According to Dr. Susan Hanks, Director of the Family and Violence Institute in Alameda, California, men who abuse their women "[seek] a sense of power and control over their partners . . . They are threatened by any moves on her part toward independence." Esperanza illustrates the physical abuse through writing: “The next week [Minerva] comes over black and blue and asks what can she do” (85). Esperanza says she does not "know which way [Minerva will] go . . . [and like Minerva,] there's nothing [she] can do" (85). Why? Because most likely, in Minerva's part, leaving the relationship, no matter how abusive, is never easy. Oftentimes, women who leave (or left by) their husbands tend to live in poverty, and that is a very difficult situation and a tough choice to make especially when you have children. And even if the women slightly succeeded with their escape, the men — with their deadly pride — will simply take retribution against them (in the form of violence) because leaving the relationship means defying their power. This cycle of abuse makes women want to free themselves, although they struggle. They struggle because they feel powerless, therefore, there is nothing they can do.
Moreover, given the fact that Minerva is an abuse victim of patriarchal Hispanic culture, Esperanza also points that the abuse of women is not exclusive to wives, but to daughters as well. Such abuse is illustrated in the book when Esperanza writes about a girl by the name of Sally. Sally is a victim who makes up excuses regarding her abusive father because she is terrified to tell the truth. Sally says, “He never hits me hard” (92) which is her way of denial of anything being wrong. In this quote, Sally admits to being hit by her father, however, she defends him even though “her skin is always scarred . . . when he hit her with his hands just like a dog” (92). The male dominant figure in this situation views women as a property and not as human beings. The fact that Sally’s father hits her as if she was an animal reveals that he thinks of her as less than a person, a property or some type of possession. Because her father does not want another male presence to interfere with his possession, he takes out his frustrations of such male intrusion on his daughter. On the other hand, Sally’s mother does not take the appropriate course of action and would rather show her submission. Instead of ending the abuse, her mother attempts to alleviate the pain inflicted by her father by rubbing “lard on all the places where it hurts” (92) covering the evidence of her daughter’s abuse-related condition.
Not only that women are afraid to stand up to men in The Mango Street; they are also afraid to stand for themselves and for their own children. They are so dependent on men; men that are manipulative, oppressive and abusive because they feel like powerless victims that are undeserving of regard and respect.
Acknowledging the theme of male-dependency, the women of the Mango Street are also portrayed as individuals without backbones, inferior to men maintaining the norm. According to Michelle Sugiyama, author Of Woman Bondage: The Eroticism of Feet in The House on Mango Street — the women of Mango Street are expected to be obedient and dependent to men, apparently because their female roles are programmed into their heads and they must adhere to such expectations without a question. For example, Sally who portrays the role of an obedient daughter and must be compliant with her father, and Esperanza’s mother, who “could’ve been somebody . . . [because she] was a smart cookie [back then]” (90) yet she became dependent on her husband compromising her dreams for the love of her family. However, when the male figures leave, die, incarcerated, or in general, absent, the women suffer because they are not the ones providing for the family. Since men — again, with their superior role — must go to work and provide for the family, the women — with their inferior role, must stay at home, look after the children and cook dinner. The women must abide by the gender roles that the society perceives as the norm and male dependence is the norm.