Gender Roles and Feminism in "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

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 Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937, follows the life of a young woman named Janie. Throughout the novel we witness Janie search for love and, in turn, develop her individuality. In the book Janie is expected to live her life in accordance with traditional values and how others expect her to. Hurston's depictions of the various relationships that Janie experiences provides a critique of gender roles in society.


Mr. Killicks and Jody do not see Janie as her own person, but instead as an extension of themselves. To these men, Janie is only defined by her relationship with them. In these relationships Janie is held to strict standards, expected to act submissive, obedient, and silent. This is seen in Jody's treatment of Janie. When Jody becomes mayor of Eatonville and buys the store he boosts Janie's social standing, seemingly giving her status and a sort of independence. However, this is a facade, as Jody takes away Janie’s power whenever his ego or masculinity is challenged. Jody is incredibly fragile and resorts to abuse whenever Janie expresses her own opinion or advocates for herself, “It just made Joe do more. He wanted her submission and he'd keep on fighting until he felt he had it”. Janie’s relationship with Jody was extremely toxic, and was completely dependent on the notion that both her and her husband conform to the gender roles present at the time.



Their Eyes Were Watching God speaks on racism, sexism, and class disparities, and depicts Janie’s journey of self discovery. In the novel, she recollects her past relationships and how they affected her perception of herself and her values. Throughout these relationships Janie learns to advocate for herself and learns a lot about herself, something which, in a time where women were subservient to men and were not seen as real people, is quite feminist. Hurston provides a feminist critique of the patriarchy and gender roles in Their Eyes Were Watching God through her depiction of the relationships that Janie has been in and how they contribute to her journey of self-realization.

Comments

  1. TeoNovember 23, 2021 at 10:23 PM

    Nice post! I really like how you went in depth about the gender roles within this novel and talking about Janie as a feminist character which is really interesting. I think Hurston does make Janie a feminist character despite some maybe thinking otherwise, especially for the time period it was written in which not very many novels showed women in such a powerful light as this one did. Great job!

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  2. Emma D.November 26, 2021 at 2:29 PM

    I think you did a really good job reading into the attributes of Janie’s relationship with Joe that make it so dysfunctional. There are certainly some valid criticisms of Janie as a feminist character, but I think that this depiction of how deeply both characters are hurt by the enforcement of gender roles in their relationship is one really good example of feminist storytelling that would have been especially radical during Hurston’s time.

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  3. Emma MurawskiNovember 29, 2021 at 10:43 AM

    Andrea, this is a great blog post! You do a great job of backing up your claims with not just opinion, but also evidence from the book itself. I agree that Janie, as a feminist character, maintains her personal values throughout her relationships with the men, along with dealing with sexism and other social issues during her journey of self-discovery. Great job!

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  4. Sam K.November 30, 2021 at 3:58 PM

    Hi Andrea, I agree that in respect to the societal norms of the period in which the book was written, Janie, as well as this novel, would be considered to be feminist. You did a good job of highlighting the power struggles within Janie's marriages and its effect on her psyche. I also enjoy how you touched on the effect of gender roles on the men in the novel as well.

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