Curley's Wife Sexism

Marginalized Characters in Of Mice and Men By Huaerzeng Suobao

Sexism is a dynamic represented in Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men. This is characterized by the character Curley’s wife. One of her defining characteristics is the way she acts towards the men on the ranch. Jail bait is a word Georg uses when he tells Lennie to stay away from Curley’s wife. The slang “jail bait” is used to describe a person who can have you go to jail if you mess with him/her. For example, Curley’s wife can say something like Lennie attempted to rape her, and many people would believe her. This would make Lennie go to jail or worse. Curley’s wife is often demeaned by the men on the ranch as trouble. Although Curley’s wife dreams of going to Hollywood
I don’t care what she says and what she does. I seen ‘em poison before, but I never seen no piece of jailbait worse than her. You leave her be.” (32) The reason George talks about Curley’s wife like that is because that’s what he judged Curley’s wife to be from how she acted when they first met, to the rumors he heard from the men on the ranch. Early in the story, Curley’s wife is marginalized due to her being a female on a ranch full of men. Later in the story, Curley’s wife tries to move into the core sphere by telling Crooks, “... I could get you strung up on a tree so easy it ain’t even funny.” (81) Curley’s wife says this to show off her power over Crooks and “to put him in his place”. This isn’t very effective simply because Crooks is African-American, so everyone on the ranch had more power than him. Another thing Curley’s wife always does is go to the bunkhouse where the men sleep. Though she isn’t aloud, nor wanted, she does it anyway. I believe what Curley’s wife is trying to say is that, I’m not like those other women who just stay in their house and wait for their husband to come back. I’m going to go out and have fun, because i'm my own
NOW focuses on a broad range of women’s rights issues such as, (equal pay, racial discrimination, women’s health and body image, women with disabilities, reproductive rights and justice, representation of women in the media, global feminist issues, etc.) Being the largest feminist organization in the United States, they’ve had a variety of projects just to name some of them: Love Your Body Campaign which is aimed at young women. The campaign is about body image, healthy living as well as the objectification of women’s bodies and etc. Another project is Crisis in Family Courts it’s for women involved in divorce and child custody battles. There is a brochure with advice about what to expect in court (like how to counter judicial bias against women.) and how best to help protective parents. Global Feminism activities feature many Shadow Reports (anonymous reports) that the Foundation has been prepared for submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The reports have covered issues ranging from gun violence against women to the shackling of pregnant women in prison to many more global issues about women’s rights. One way Now would have helped Curley’s wife today might be through their Love You Body Campaign, I believe this would be the most helpful simply because it’s about body image and the objectification of women’s bodies. Which is a