"The Color Purple": A Story of Transformation

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It is possible to say that the conceptions of women’s experiences do not speak to the conceptions of men. Universal perspectives have been asserted explaining the differences between men and women, by basing individual feelings on external impressions. From different perspectives, no such thing as personal prejudices exists. Judgments on the female phenomena are uninfluenced emotions that contain higher thought of physical manifestations. The Cultural components of this social structure include the interactional expectations that each of us meet in every social encounter (Risman, 268). But can we speak meaningfully about feminine experiences as something fundamentally different from masculine experience of social encounters? Is there such a thing as underlying feminine character structure which always and everywhere differs from the basic character structure of the male? This paper seeks to analyze the gender struggles within the film and how they are embedded at multiple dimensions of society.

The Color Purple is a story of transformation, of the will of one woman against all the men in her life, of the strength faith and friends can give one another, and finally of the happiness one finds in being content with what one has. Although there are stereotypical elements for both men and women, within the multi-dimensions of main characters, traditional roles are replaced with more complex concepts. Living during the early 1900’s, a young girl overcome years of abuse, betrayal, and becomes an independent, confident woman. Through strength and endurance, Celie is able to find truth through the female bonds and friendships of unconditional love. By investigating the direction and strength of casual relationships between gendered phen...

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...nance that is her strength and sensual visual differences in the film that not all can be overcome.

Works Cited:

Anderson, Lisa. "Representation and Resistance in an Antiblack World." Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Vol. 15. Pearson. 173.

Andre, Judith. "Stereotypes: conceptual and Normative Considerations." Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Vol. 15. Pearson. 70-71.

The Color Purple. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Whoppi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover. Film. 1985.

Hogeland, Lisa M. ""Fear of Feminism: Why Young Women Get the Willies. "Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Vol. 15. Pearson, 2011. 283-286.

Place, Janey. "Women in Film Noir." Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Vol. 15. Pearson. 95-102.

Risman, Barbara J. ""Gender as a Social Structure: Theory Wrestling with Activism. "Multicultural Film: An Anthology. Vol. 15. Pearson, 2011. 268-278.

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