More Violence Towards Women
A common theme throughout Native Son, Invisible Man, and Their Eyes Were Watching God is the violent nature in which women are treated. This common link is horrifying as a reader, the abuse of women feeling unavoidable in the novels. In Native Son, Bigger murders Mary Dalton and rapes and murders Bessie Mears. In Invisible Man, an incredibly jarring scene is included in the very beginning of the book. It involves the humiliation of a woman in front of many men who then begin to grope at her and show her off as though a prize. This portrayal of a woman who had many mens’ hands all over her was an intense introduction to the book. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, there is a major shift in perspective in comparison to the past two books: the main protagonist is a woman. In Native Son and Invisible Man, the representation of a well developed female character was lacking. However, in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie provides a breath of fresh air with her character being more than her relationship to the male main protagonist. And yet, Janie’s story does involve a lot of her relationships with men. Although the shift to a female protagonist seems revolutionary, the theme of violence directed towards women does not waver.
In chapter 17 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, a sequence of events is briefly laid out for the reader to decipher. This scene is described as follows:
“Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all.He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss. Everybody talked about it the next day in the fields. It aroused a sort of envy in both men and women. They way he petted and pampered her as if those two or three face slaps had nearly killed her made the women see visions and the helpless way she hung on him made men dream dreams.”
References
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3041094?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077801202250450?cookieSet=1
https://www.dayoneny.org/blog/2020/6/8/understanding-the-relationship-between-racism-and-domestic-violence
https://www.cji.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/domestic_abuse_report.pdfhttps://www.verywellmind.com/domestic-violence-varies-by-ethnicity-62648
Resources
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 for confidential assistance from trained advocates.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Crisis Text Line
Text: 741741
In chapter 17 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, a sequence of events is briefly laid out for the reader to decipher. This scene is described as follows:
“Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. No brutal beating at all.He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss. Everybody talked about it the next day in the fields. It aroused a sort of envy in both men and women. They way he petted and pampered her as if those two or three face slaps had nearly killed her made the women see visions and the helpless way she hung on him made men dream dreams.”
This scene really settled my feelings regarding Tea Cake. I was honestly just in disbelief when I originally read this part. Not only is it a horrible act of violence toward Janie, but it almost seems to be played off really quickly like it was nothing at all. I also found it unnerving that no one seemed to see a problem with Tea Cake’s abuse. This is plain and simply domestic violence, yet another and incredibly prevalent form of violence towards women. I also found it interesting that the reader is not provided with a clear point in which Janie stands on regarding what happened. I think this lack of voice could mean she is in shock of the violence, as I was reading the scene, but I also think the lack of voice could represent the real life effects of domestic violence. The stigma, especially around the time this book takes place, around domestic violence was as though it was a part of marriage. This, first of all, is a horrible way to look at a relationship with someone, a person you love should not harm you as a form of “affection” or “protection.” This could have diluted Janie’s voice on the matter, which is directly portrayed through Zora Neale Hurston’s writing.
During the writing of this blog post, I found myself doing research on the effects of domestic violence and general violence within romantic relationships. It is so much more common than I thought, which is beyond disappointing. There have also been many studies on how black women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence, as they are, “more than three times [more] likely to experience domestic violence under the age of 30 than Black women under the age of 40. Additionally, the same study noted that Black women who live in impoverished areas have a three-fold chance of experiencing domestic violence as those who live in other areas.” (Very Well Mind) There is much more research into the links between economic status, race, and domestic violence that I will provide some source to below. I think it is one thing to understand the normalization of domestic violence (that all partners may feel, not excluded to women but especially common with women) especially in the time the book is set, but to also not allow that to justify the actions of an abuser. “It's [...] important to remember that the person being victimized did not cause the abuse. Abuse is always a choice made by the abuser.” (Very Well Mind)
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During the writing of this blog post, I found myself doing research on the effects of domestic violence and general violence within romantic relationships. It is so much more common than I thought, which is beyond disappointing. There have also been many studies on how black women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence, as they are, “more than three times [more] likely to experience domestic violence under the age of 30 than Black women under the age of 40. Additionally, the same study noted that Black women who live in impoverished areas have a three-fold chance of experiencing domestic violence as those who live in other areas.” (Very Well Mind) There is much more research into the links between economic status, race, and domestic violence that I will provide some source to below. I think it is one thing to understand the normalization of domestic violence (that all partners may feel, not excluded to women but especially common with women) especially in the time the book is set, but to also not allow that to justify the actions of an abuser. “It's [...] important to remember that the person being victimized did not cause the abuse. Abuse is always a choice made by the abuser.” (Very Well Mind)
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References
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3041094?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1077801202250450?cookieSet=1
https://www.dayoneny.org/blog/2020/6/8/understanding-the-relationship-between-racism-and-domestic-violence
https://www.cji.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2019/04/domestic_abuse_report.pdfhttps://www.verywellmind.com/domestic-violence-varies-by-ethnicity-62648
Resources
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 for confidential assistance from trained advocates.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Crisis Text Line
Text: 741741
I too, was incredibly disgusted when this violent scene occurred. It was incredibly disappointing to see yet another example of violent domestic abuse of female characters at the hands of men. While I suppose it shouldn't surprise us, it's still sickening to see women continue to be treated so horribly. To make matters worse, Tea Cake basically hit her to fuel his own ego which is awful. It is definitely a really big issue that women continue to face so much violence and that the problem is worse for black women. Thank you for your blog post.
ReplyDeleteHey Emma this was a great post! I agree with you that it is horrifying to have to witness the mistreatment of women in every novel we read. I think that it can be somewhat problematic to only portray women in this way and agree with you that though having a female protagonist is a step in the right direction, it is still unfortunate that she also faces violence. Good post, I love that you include resources at the end!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really great post on that horrifying scene. I was also so disturbed seeing all the toxic portrayals of women in so many novels. Abuse should not be mixed with love, but this sadly happens so often even today. Your research at the end was also very illuminating, and I think you did a great job raising more awareness about this topic.
ReplyDeleteHi Emma, great blog post! You did a great job of tying the novels we have read in class to this horrifying theme. It is unfortunate how often times abuse also becomes intertwined in love and relationships as it perpetuates the idea that abuse is okay and comes from a place of love, which is false. Great Post!
ReplyDeleteI agree, chapter 17 felt like a betrayal by Tea Cake, and I was also very surprised. It clearly had the same effect on my classmates. It feels like the women in these novels are constantly running from something, some kind of violence or fear. I'm glad that Their Eyes Were Watching God addressed the intersection between race and gender in a very thorough manner.
ReplyDeleteHey Emma, you've done a perfect job capturing my own thoughts on the subject of domestic violence as portrayed in Their Eyes Were Watching God, and especially how it was normalized throughout the novel. Not did the author seem to brush off Tea Cake's actions towards Janie (whether this was intentional or not, I'm not sure), but Janie actually remained in a relationship with Tea Cake until the very end. Thus, these occurrences of Tea Cake slapping Janie were normalized, which as you mentioned is extremely disappointing.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! You did a fantastic job expressing your thoughts on the topic of domestic violence. You also did an exceptional job using sources to support your argument. It is definitely a very concerning issue that women of color are disproportionately affected by this. Overall, you also did a great job drawing readers in to reading the post.
ReplyDeleteHi, this was an incredibly well done post and you really went to show that these authors aren't just exceptions in talking and portraying domestic violence - it's a lot more common than we might think unfortunately. One part of that quote from Chapter 17 that really stood out to me is that Tea Cake still thinks that Janie is a possession - this itself is problematic because although he treats her nicely, he still thinks of her as someone he can control. The problem with domestic violence is that many victims are (understandably) afraid to come out and talk about it and you did a good job in showing that it's very real and a lot of this stuff is also normalized. Great job!
ReplyDelete