Sexism In The Color Purple By Alice Walker

Sexism is a form of discrimination based on a person's sex, with such attitudes being based on beliefs in traditional stereotypes of different roles of the sexes. Sexism is not just a matter of individual attitudes; it is built into the institutions of society. In the film, Walker

Alice Walker wrote ‘The Color Purple’ in order to capture and highlight the hardship and bitterness African-American women experienced in the early 1900s. She demonstrates the emotional, physical and spiritual revolution of an abused black girl into an independent, strong woman. The novel largely focuses on the role of male domination and its resulting frustrations and black women’s struggle for independence. The protagonist, Celie’s, gain of an independent identity, away from her family, friends, work, and love life, forms the plot of the novel.

The Color Purple by Alice Walker is the story of a poor black woman living in the south between World War 1 and World War 2. This was at a time when, although slavery had ended,many women were still virtually in bondage, and had to put up with many conditions that was reminiscent of the days of slavery. The problem was that they had to endure being treated like an inferior being by their own families sometimes, as well as from the white people that lived there. It was a life that was filled with misery for many black women, and they felt helpless to do anything about their situations.

Alice Walker's The Color Purple is an excellent account of the life of poor black women who must suffer not only social ostracism due to gender and skin color but also women who suffer greatly at the hands of black men.  This is true in terms of infidelity, physical and verbal abuse, and sexual abuse.

Symbolism is one of the major elements in "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The woman's search for something she has never experienced is the symbolization of the mankind's search for love and happiness. The meaning of names, occupations, power, pants, cloth, words, eyes, frogs, starts, shell, stamps are only few examples of the symbols used by the author and are very important in understanding not only the characters of the story, but also global values such as love, power, mutual understanding, and authority over another person's life.

Events in history have influenced writers’ style, and the importance in their stories. Alice Walker wrote a novel which was very much subjective by the time period of the 1940’s. There was a great deal of bigotry and tyranny during that time, particularly for Women of color. Women were mentally and physically abused and belittled by man purely because of their race and femininity. Women were considered as ignorant individuals that simply knew how to handle housework and care for the children.

In the novel, The Color Purple, there are three main characters who demonstrate meaningful traits of women. Celie, the main character, is the most important of the three. She is influenced by other characters in the novel and is inspired to let herself seek their virtues. Celie's two friends, Shug and Sofia, are both strong women who teach Celie how to achieve the happiness she desires.

One might think that a childhood of sexual violence, emotional abuse, and rape would make a character dark and embittered; however, in Alice Walker's The Color Purple, the author explores the thin gray line that stands between surviving and thriving. Manipulating her characters so that they are constantly crossing the line back and forth. It is her protagonist, Celie, who imbues the reader with a pondering of the human condition, allowing for an introspective look at empowerment. Framing this bildungsroman in the form of letters, Walker’s dramatic shifts reveal the religious and sexual bondage the protagonist is chained to. In this novel, Walker uses the pain, sorrow, and abuse of Celie to demonstrate the constant struggle that is waged between surviving and thriving in every shift of her life.

In her novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrays the life of Celie, a downcast and oppressed African American woman, from the 1910s to the 1940s in the rural south. The Color Purple generally received positive reviews although the opposing side criticized Walker’s creation of “portraying an overly negative view of black men.” Nonetheless, Alice Walker was awarded a Pulitzer prize in 1983, and her work spawned the creation of The Color Purple movie by Steven Spielberg. The Color Purple, along with Walker’s other writings, was seasoned with black vernacular and the residing effects of slavery and oppression on African American people (“Walker”). Her writing style and voice is based off of her homelife. Walker was the eighth and youngest child of two black sharecroppers in Eatonton, Georgia (Williams). When she was eight, her brother accidentally shot her in the right eye with a BB gun. Her parents, too poor to afford a car, could not take her to a doctor for several days. By the time they could, her wound was too far gone, and she lost the use of her right eye. This crutch soon became a blessing because it aided to her voice. She “withdrew from others and became a meticulous observer of human relationships and interaction.”(“Walker”). In the story, Celie’s societal trials and tribulations and social expectations have a psychological affect on her as she tries to find her identity.

Authors usually write a novel to portray an experience that they have endured or observed. They want the rest of the world to see their situation the way they have seen it. Therefore, they create novels from their perspective. In The Color Purple, author Alice Walker reflects on the horrors that women were put through because of the men in their lives. There are many powerful themes throughout the novel, including racism, sexism, and destruction of innocence.

In our everyday lives whether we notice it or not, disrespect towards gender and racism surrounds us and it begins to affect individuals not only physically but emotionally and socially as well. In Alice Walkers novel, The Color Purple, the topic of racism is strongly emphasized and shown throughout novel. Due to Celie’s race and gender roles played, she resists the urge to speak up for herself resulting in silence. In addition, it is through the love and support of other characters like Shug, in which tempts and inspires Celie to stand up for herself. Lastly, through all the troubles Celie faces, she eventually finds the strength in herself to leave Albert and start her life afresh. In The Color Purple, the author develops the idea that discrimination based on gender or race limits one’s opportunities and results in lack of independence and silence, ultimately suggesting that only through the influence of positive models for change can one develop the strength to change their life for the better.

As individuals, we must understand ourselves and our personal struggles. As part of a society, we must understand how we fit into the world around us. Consequently, we must then bridge the gap between these two ideas. In the film adaptation of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the main character, Celie, discovers her individuality overtime, as she eventually finds her niche among others (Spielberg, 1985). Through incorporating both internal conflicts and how a person relates with the external society, The Color Purple acts as a transitional piece, linking the unit of conflicts of self to the unit of conflicts involving groups.

In the film The Color purple women are strongly objectified by men, their worth being ruled by beauty, talent and what they could do. They were left uneducated to keep them submissive and beaten down to be put in place. Men however did as they please with no repercussions for their actions. White men were given the right to an education and all

Gender is a social construct that has been passed down and reinforced from generation to generation. It is the idea that men are the sole providers and make all the decisions in the households and women are believed to take care of the children, cleaning, and cooking, and most importantly listen to their husbands. These roles have been passed down in cultures and families dating back for hundreds of years. Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Daniel Black’s Perfect Peace both took place around 1930’s-1940’s, and during this time period, the roles associated with each gender were strict and expected to be followed. Men felt as if they were the superior sex, they owned the house, the land, and controlled the finances. Men believed it was there

Sexism is just the stress put together by ideological complexities of male dominance above their female counterparts. Within direct correlation with the traditional literary canon, the site with the female writer offers regularly already been questioned. Works by women of color are also greatly scrutinized if they have a tendency to represent men in the negative light. Hence it is logical that works written by women of color reference the female struggle versus sexism. After all, the writers themselves have lived and witnessed these experiences. To begin a discussion of the dilemmas of Afro- American female writers it is not only easy but important to begin with the first African to have his or her works published in America: Phillis