The House On Mango Street Gender Essay

1024 Words3 Pages

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros explores a year in the life of Esperanza who is a thirteen year-old Mexican- American Girl. Experanza’s innocence and ignorance allows her to examine and define the power she has to develop and examine her true moral self. The theme of social construction plays heavily throughout The House on Mango Street, specifically through gender. Social construction is the way in which society groups and categorizes individuals. Social construction can give privileges to one group or another, and we see it often defines who we are. Further, women occupy a central role in The House on Mango Street. Experanza’s understanding of her own femininity propels much of the story. Esperanza understands beauty to be a major source of feminine power, yet she also understands that beauty can backfire. Throughout the novel, Esperanza is …show more content…

Before we are born, gender becomes a key factor in shaping who we are today. In the United States today, it might seem natural that men go to work and women stay home, and it might seem natural that men are thought of as fighters and women sex objects. It also might seem natural that women become dependent on their man. These images of social construction specifically femininity and masculinity are repeated in movies, television shows, and books. Thus, they become familiar to us. The roles men and women play in society echoes the ideas media enforces into our values. The same can be said in The House on Mango Street, the Latino society has constructed values thought of as normal. Men are required to act and behave in a way that shows their masculinity and toughness, where women are supposed to dress in a way that shows their femininity and worth of having a husband. These ideals not only prove to be destructive to the people themselves but to society as a

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