Female Sexuality

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Recommended: Gender and sexuality in literature

Often in literature, there is a certain motivation to control through a female’s sexuality. These desires are used to drive a woman’s sense of power over a man to dominate, manipulate, and destroy. Others are eaten alive by the control it takes over them. Some become dependant on sex and do not know how to interact with men without giving themselves up.

The novels East of Eden and The Color Purple, play A Streetcar Named Desire and the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been?” all demonstrate characters that are affected by the incentive. Cathy from Eden and Shug Avery from The Color Purple both display commanding roles through their sexuality. They have the power that they crave, and can manipulate others with what they do. Blanche DuBois from Streetcar and Connie from “Where are You Going...” are two characters that succumb to their feelings of needing to be accepted. They find it easy to give themselves up for sex in order the gain the respect they think they will receive. The truth, however, is that no one can respect someone that does not respect themselves enough to not be promiscuous.

Sexual promiscuity by women has been looked down upon throughout history, in and out of literature, but in Cathy Ames’s case, it made her superior. In the Steinbeck novel of the battle of good v. evil, as a young girl, her mother finds Cathy in her barn being fondled by a couple boys older than her. She also seduces her teacher and leads him to committing suicide, due to the emptiness he feels when she refuses to marry him. At a very early age she realizes she can control men, easily, and continues with this for the rest of the novel (Steinbeck).

She is a self-centered character who is determined to do what sh...

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... the better of them.

Works Cited

BookRags Editors, The Color Purple Book Notes Summary. 2009 3 June 2010.

"Blanch DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire." Shmoop Beta. 2010. 3 June 2010 .

Dylan, Bob. “(It’s All Over Now) Baby Blue.” Bringing it all back home. Columbia, 1965.

Kurkowski, Clifford J.. A Psychological Analysis of Connie. 3 June 2010 .

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on The Color Purple.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 2 Jun. 2010. .

SparkNotes Editors. “SparkNote on East of Eden.” SparkNotes.com. SparkNotes LLC. 2003. Web. 2 Jun. 2010. .

Wakeling, Solomon. Web Diary. 2008. 3 June 2010 .

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