Women’s Oppression in Hurston’s “Sweat” The Stereotype of...

Women’s Oppression in Hurston’s â€Å"Sweat†: The Stereotype of Women’s Role in Society In Zora Neale Hurston’s 1926 short story â€Å"Sweat,† Delia Jones a washwoman and house owner is portrayed as an abused wife. Even though she has a job and owns the home she occupies, it does not change the fact that her husband still holds power over her. Women are stereotyped by society as housewives, which make them feel repressed of freedom. Women are repressed by society’s views and are limited in freedom, thus women such as Delia are unable to get what they desire. In Delia’s case she is a women with a job, but even with work she is still powerless to Sykes, her husband. As a woman her freedom is still robbed from her by men’s overpowering force, which†¦show more content†¦In comparison to the short story â€Å"Sweat,† Delia’s job is making her husband Sykes appear inferior to her because she is working when he is not. One critic, Cheryl A. Wall states, â€Å"Delia’s work is a economic necessity to her husband, but it is also a psychological threat to Sykes as well. In the story Sykes seems to never work at all, so he asserts his manhood mainly by intimidating and betraying his wife† (qtd. in Akins). Wall argues that occurrences such as abuse and restrictions by men are the result of intimidation because a woman is able to gain power within the relationship by working. The kicking of the laundry symbolizes Sykes discontent with Delia’s work and the threat he feels because he is no longer the breadwinner. Her actions, like talking back; solidifies the threat he feels and only intensifies his brutality towards her. In addition women are viewed by society as non-dominant because of the stereotype that dominance belongs to men in society. As Kary J. Winter argues, â€Å"Oppression of women†¦can be understood fully when the ideology of male domination is examined in conjunction with the ideology of slavery† (qtd. in Green). Women are not only stereotyped because of their gender, in Delia’s case, she is also oppressed because of her race. Winter tells that male dominance is not the only result of oppression, but race is also a contributor to the oppression of women in Delia’s time. In Delia’s case, black people were oppressed by theShow MoreRelatedFeminist Writers Like Kate Millet Essay2267 Words   |  10 Pageson the other hand grasp that women as a group somehow fit into a political analysis of society. Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical reordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all and economical contexts by challenging existing social norms and institution. Radical feminism has been extremely important in developing and analyzing woman’s oppression. The concept of patriarchy which has been developed within feminist writing has a whole