Their Eyes were Watching God: Sexism in Florida Communities

Set in the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God addresses the role sexism had in Florida communities. The main character, Janie, faces an immense amount of sexism by her peers and is able to rise against at the end of the book. Though she was able to gain her independence, many other women were not able to do so because sexism was the social norm. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses the role of sexism of Janie and her rise against it to make the text more meaningful.

A recurring topic in the book is the gender-based discrimination Janie experiences. From an early age, she understood the societal expectations placed on her as a woman, such as the obligation to wed someone she didn't love. The realization that love and marriage are not synonymous signaled the end of Janie's first dream and her transition into womanhood. During that era, women often had to marry according to their family's wishes.

Janie dreamed that one day she would marry someone she loved, but she was wrong. Her grandma wanted her to marry someone that would provide her with the life she herself always wanted. A part of womanhood is knowing that you will never marry for love, only convenience which she realized. When Janie married her first husband, he had no respect for her, and believed she had no say in anything, “And now we’ll listen tuh uh few words uh encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks.’The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself.’

Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.’"" (Hurston 43). Joe believed that all woman should stay in the house and should not be able to speak her mind. He had a traditional mind sense where woman were meant to be property and told what to do by males. After her husband died, Janie moved to a new town and met the character Tea Cake. For the most part he always respected her as a woman. In this instance he did not, “Jes lak uh lil girl wid her Easter dress on. Even nice! He locked the door and shook it to be sure and handed her the key.

‘Come on now, Ah’ll see yuh inside yo’ door and git on down de Dixie”(Huston 98). Even though tea cake tries to treat men and women equally, he still on knowingly considers women weaker than men. He assumes women need men to escort them back home safely. he calls genie A little girl with her Easter dress on, somewhat this minute sharing her image in seriousness. Though noble, teacakes language and offered to walk Genie Home can be read as sexist or his way of attempting to get an invitation into her house. A prevalent theme throughout the book is sexism. As seen through this coat, a character that seems like the only mail to not show sexism does. By making the sexism of Janie very clear throughout the book, the readers are able to see her struggle of always wanting to do what she wants to do.

In the 1900s, the prevailing view was that women should be confined to domestic roles and not participate in the broader world. However, numerous women aspired to transcend the label of "housewife" and made efforts to achieve more. “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.”(Hurston 1).

According to the narrator, men are valued more by size so society. They know that their dreams are on attainable, as seen through the distant ships that really come to sure. When they realize that their dreams are unrealistic, men become reassigned to their feet and continue their daily lives. Well on the other hand, woman close that metaphorical distance by failing to distinguish between dreams and reality. Their dreams are their reality, they live more realistic lives. It also introduces genies motivation to pursue her dreams and achieve them. In this southern society, women have little options to what they can achieve in their life. Men constantly tell them what they can do, being a black woman is even worse.

So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule ud de world so fur as Ah can see."" (Hurston 14). Black women, as far as Nanny can see, get the worst lot in life. While white men are highest in the hierarchy and look down on black men, the black men in turn drop the burden on the shoulders of their women. Everyone treats black women like animals. The society’s Janie lived in rarely valued women, let alone women of color. Sexism is very common the communities shown throughout the book.

As the book draws to a close, Janie starts to assert her independence and distance herself from the pervasive sexism in her community. Following Tea Cake's death, Janie demonstrates the wisdom she's gained in becoming a strong, self-sufficient woman. She tells Phoeby, "Love isn't like a grindstone that's uniformly effective; it's more like the sea, ever-changing yet molded by the shore it encounters," emphasizing that love is not a one-size-fits-all experience. She critiques the society's rigid and conventional understanding of love, stating that true love varies from person to person. Although Janie has had her share of lost opportunities in love, she continues to hold onto the hope for a fulfilling love in the future.

After losing teacakes she was able to gain her independence. It makes a full circle back to the beginning of the book with the horizon, which makes the ending satisfying. After being bite by a dog with rabies, Tea Cake became crazy and delusional. The first major decision she made in her own was to end Tea Cakes suffering. “He steadied himself against the jamb of the door and Janie thought to run into him and grab his arm, but she saw the quick motion of taking aim and heard the click. Saw the ferocious look in his eyes and went mad with fear as she had done in the water that time.

She raised the rifle barrel in a frantic mix of hope and fear: hope that he would see it and flee, and a terrifying fear for her own life. But if Tea Cake had been in a position to weigh the risks, he wouldn't have been there, pistol in hand. No awareness of fear, guns, or anything else registered with him. He completely disregarded the weapon she aimed at him, as if it were no more significant than Janie's pet dog. She observed him tense his entire body as he took aim. Driven by some inner demon, he was compelled to kill, and Janie was the only living target in his sight. Both the pistol and the rifle discharged almost simultaneously.

The pistol just enough after the rifle to seem its echo. Tea Cake crumpled as his bullet buried itself in the joist over Janie’s head. Janie saw the look on his face and leaped forward as he crashed forward in her arms. She was trying to hover him as he closed his teeth in the flesh of her forearm. They came down heavily like that. Janie struggled to a sitting position and pried the dead Tea Cake’s teeth from her arm.” (Hurston 184). Death seems impending for both Tea Cake and Janie; one must die for the other to live. And, ironically, it is Tea Cake’s marksmanship training with Janie that saves her.

However, she is not completely out of danger; Tea Cake uses his dying strength to make a second attempt at killing Janie by biting her. This is a bit like Joe, who used his dying breath to curse Janie and wish her death. If Janie did not kill Tea Cake first, he may of killed her. On her own she was able to make this decision with no influence from a man or even her grandma. She was able to rise above the notion of people telling her she could live on her own.

Throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie faced harsh criticism due to her gender. In the period of this time the novel is set in, everyone had set gender roles for each other. Believe it woman belonged in the house, while the men could do anything they wanted to and control the woman.

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