Gender in Literature

During Monday night’s discussion, we focused on the importance of gender in literature, and how certain stereotypes can be affected by what people write in literature. While at Govs, my English classes have read some very gendered stories.  They touch upon different aspects of gender roles and stereotypes but specifically Their Eyes Were Watching God stood out to me. Zora Neale Hurston portrays Janie as a very determined young woman. She feels an incomparable sensation when sitting under a pear tree and she yearns for a feeling of free and unfiltered love from then on. Due to this bliss that she feels, she is willing to do anything to find this feeling of desire and young love again. Though many people would just conform to society and be married off, she decided to follow her ambition and find her a man that embodied the feeling she had under that pear tree. She is looking for true love. This is a statement that reinforces that women are sexual beings, but it reinforces this idea in a different way. It shows the similarities between men and women in the way they all have something in mind that they want. It creates a clear contrast between being a sexual being and being a sexual object. This book gives a great example how women can follow their dreams and do as they please just as men do.  Janie leaves her arranged marriage without much hesitation to be with someone who is passionate, young and she believes to be in love with. This shows her independence, most women at this time would never think to leave their husbands. Literature like this is what can change a generations’ perception of gender. Enough of these stories can start to engrain themselves as the normal outlook overtime bringing us to a more equal world. The same thing goes for books regarding race. Literature is very powerful and shapes the way we think. Govs has done a good job assigning literature that will improve our outlook and change the way we think.