Literature by women of color Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Literature by women of color - Essay Example The concept of redefining female sexuality becomes a central point in both stories. Through sexuality of the women, relationships change and the gender identity creates questions of the roles of the women. The women in each of the stories rebel against gender identity and labels by taking actions with feminine sexuality that redefine gender roles. The concept of gender identity and race in both stories is central to how the women in the story act and react. In both novels, there is a sense of identity, rigidness and restrictions which apply to the gender of each of the individuals. Most of the rules which are placed on the women come from a strict patriarchic culture that is defined by the rules of women and the expectations they have for staying within specific confines. The defining of gender and race comes with specific boundaries and expectations as well as labels in which each of the characters is required to obey. Through both of the stories, there is an undertone of the expectations in society through the secondary characters, as well as how the main characters question these and try to overcome the boundaries through specific actions that they take. Beloved shows the concepts of rigidness in gender boundaries and identity through the main way in which the males treat the women and different races throughout the book. This is first seen with Sethe and Denver’s escape from slavery in the 19th century, which was not looked up to. More important, the death of Sethe’s daughter contributes to understanding the level of boundaries that were placed on race and gender within the society. The main concept is to define the boundaries of gender and race as being submissive to other genders and race while creating a specific identity that is not able to contribute to society in specific ways. The role in both race and gender holds an expectation of remaining submissive and not carrying an identity that