Gender Roles In The House On Mango Street

Gender roles are defined as the role or behaviour learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms (Oxford Dictionary). Gender roles are very prominent in the world today and affect the way many people live. They affect the way people act, dress, and even think. In the novel The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, the role of women in society is to be obedient and allow men to be the dominant partner. Primarily, women in The House on Mango Street are sex symbols. In the society, men are stereotyped as stronger and more intimidating, which makes it easier for the women to step back and let the men take charge. This includes letting men take charge of their bodies. For example, a random man in the neighborhood called out to Esperanza and a few other little girls, “Ladies, lead me to heaven” (Cisneros 41). This demonstrates that men felt they had the right to objectify women based on their appearance no matter what their age by yelling violating and repulsive things. In this case, and most other situations similar to this, Esperanza and her friends could do nothing other than ignore the man and keep walking. In
summary, the societal norm for women in The House on Mango Street is to act as a sex symbol for men. Secondly, women in Esperanza's community are expected to stay in their house for most of the day.
Many of these women who are ‘forbidden’ to go outside often sit by a window and stare gloomily. For example, Esperanza describes her grandmother’s life when she says, “She looked out the window her whole life, the way so many women sit their sadness on an elbow… Esperanza. I have inherited her name, but I don't want to inherit her place by the window” (Cisneros 11). This shows that Esperanza’s grandmother lived a very solemn life and didn’t do anything to change it. This proves that women in this society are obedient to their husbands or fathers. Even if they don’t like what the men make them do, they do not do anything to change it. Thus, women who stare out the window represent obedience to
men. Lastly, young women in Esperanza's community have no role models to show them how to become strong, independent females. Esperanza speaks at times of her aspirations to become more than just a housemaid, but is almost forced into the stereotypes many other in her community are in too. For example Esperanza quickly mentions an incident when, “[Esperanza] came home [one] afternoon, all wet because Tito had pushed me into the open water hydrant-only I had sort of let him-Mama called me into the kitchen before I could even go and change” (Cisneros 53). This shows that even though Esperanza’s mother could clearly assume that something happened to her, she didn’t say anything about it, since there was nothing she could’ve done. It is no surprise that when an older man, “said it was his birthday and would [Esperanza] please give him a birthday kiss. I thought I would because he was so old and just as I was about to put my lips on his cheek, he grabs my face with both hands and kisses me hard on the mouth and doesn’t let go” (Cisneros 55). This clearly illustrates that even though Esperanza wants to become a strong, independent, and kind woman, she has no one to show her what that looks like. Therefore, when men yell impolite and inappropriate comments at her, or try to kiss her, she has no clue how to handle it. In brief, Esperanza and many other young women in her community have big dreams, but no way to know how to reach them. In conclusion, the role of women in the novel, The House on Mango Street, is to be compliant with men. Although some women don’t want to live like this, they don’t do anything to change it, because they don’t see a way out. This results in generations upon generations of young girls who grow up living in households where the men are permitted to run the house and do whatever they want to the females in their control. This novel can serve as a warning to teenage girls of the dangers that male dominance can bring to our lives.