Examples Of Womanism In The Color Purple - 1866 Words

Written in 1982 by Alice Walker, The Color Purple is a Pulitzer-Prize winning novel about one Southern black woman’s life of abuse and journey of self-discovery in the search to reunite with her sister. With film and Broadway adaptations, the story has reached raving audiences all over the world and has come with a significant amount of both acclaim and criticism. In this essay, I will establish how Alice Walker subverts stereotypes associated with black female sexuality through the relationship between Celie and Shug Avery, while also critiquing societal standards of masculinity. Alice Walker is an American activist and author best known for coining the term â€Å"womanism† to describe in her own words, â€Å"A black feminist or feminist of color†¦show more content†¦She finds herself encountering various obstacles and building important relationships in her journey of self-discovery. She leaves her husband at the end of the novel and finally reunites with her sister. One of the most important relationships she builds, and the main way through which Walker expands on black female sexuality, is her relationship with Shug Avery. Celie’s lesbian relationship with Shug Avery, an illustrious and self-assured entertainer, serves as a critical literary device of character development. It is a means for Walker to give Celie’s character agency, to redeem her dignity and rouse a sense of hope within her. Walker crafts the character of Shug Avery as a multi-dimensional woman who has nurturing qualities without being a mother, kindness without being a pushover, and exudes confidence without being self-centred. Shug inspires Celie to transgress the limitations placed upon her by her society and dispel her self-hatred, while also demonstrating to the reader that black female characters can live successful lives and exist beyond misery and despair. Historically, discourses on black female sexuality have been lacking – it has primarily existed in negation to everything ‘white’. Black women have been simultaneously hypersexualized and made invisible (Hammonds). In Evelyn Hammonds’ g enealogy of black female sexuality, she points to the European colonization of Africa as the beginnings of the hypersexualization of black womenShow MoreRelatedAlice Walkers Themes of Womanism, Community, and Regeneration1968 Words   |  8 PagesHarper English 6H 7th February 2011 Alice Walkers Themes of Womanism, Community, and Regeneration Alice Walker is considered one of the most influential African American writers of the 20th century, because of her raw portrayal of African American struggles and the injustices towards black women. She was the first African American female novelist to win both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for The Color Purple. Her work is appealing and powerful because â€Å"Walkers novels canRead MoreAnalysis Of The Color Purple 1043 Words   |  5 PagesErin Malkow 4-9-17 WST. In this essay, I am going to analyze the intersectionality of oppression in Alice Walkers novel, The Color Purple. I am going to show how the political categories of race, sexuality and gender play a role throughout. I am also going to discuss Walker’s own term, â€Å"Womanism† and how that plays throughout the story. I will be focusing on the main character Celie, as well as other characters to help me demonstrate my analysis effectively. Celie, the main character, starts outRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker Essay1733 Words   |  7 Pageswoman of color experience through her works, The Color Purple An Epistolary Novel and In Search of Our Mother’s Garden. Walker defines â€Å"Womanist to feminist as purple to lavender† (21). Womanist theory looks at the heart of a colored woman and the things in which grieves her soul. 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Alice walker stepped up in this time period as an influential writer of the recovery movement for African American studies. Three well respected works from Alice Walker are: The Color Purple, The Third Life of Grange Copeland, and Meridian. We will focus on Walker’s narrative, The Color Purple which details the story of a yo ung eight year old girl named Celie who was sexually abused by her stepfather. Celie seeks help through her â€Å"letters to God†, which resulted from her stepfather’sRead MoreThe Color Purple By Alice Walker3360 Words   |  14 Pagesfeminist as purple is to lavender† (Yahwon). Alice Walker views herself as a womanist. Although a womanist and feminist are similar, the two terms are not exactly the same. According to Professor Tamara Baeouboeuf-Lafonant: [Womanism] focuses on the experiences and knowledge bases of black women [which] recognizes and interrogates the social realities of slavery, segregation, sexism, and economic exploitation this group has experienced during its history in the United States. Furthermore, womanism examinesRead More15. . . . . Womanism Vs Feminism . Tessa King. Evans High4725 Words   |  19 Pages15 Womanism vs Feminism Tessa King Evans High School â€Å"Most of us did not learn when we were young that our capacity to be self-loving would be shaped by the work we do and whether that work enhances our well-being.† – Bell Hooks Black Feminism is a theory which argues that sexism, class oppression, gender identity, and racism are interconnected. However, womanism or white feminism is a social theory which is strictly racial and gender-based oppression of black women. Black feminism andRead More Alice Walker Essay1482 Words   |  6 Pages Best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Color Purple, Alice Walker portrays black women struggling for sexual as well as racial equality and emerging as strong, creative individuals. Walker was born on February 9, 1944, in Eatonton, Georgia, the eighth child of Willie Lee and Minnie Grant Walker. When Walker was eight, her right eye was injured by one of her brothers, resulting in permanent damage to her eye and facial disfigurement that isolated her as a child. This is where her feminineRead MoreThe Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding2102 Words   |  9 PagesCopyright: Martina Diehl June 2012 The Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding Celie’s road to trusting and loving herself Abstract This essay is about the love affair in The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker in which, thoughts on racism, incest, rape, love and family affairs are provoked. The reader learns about these subjects through the letters that Celie, an uneducated black woman, writes to God and through the letters that her sister Nettie and Celie write to each other. I would likeRead MoreThe Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding2117 Words   |  9 PagesCopyright: Martina Diehl June 2012 The Color Purple: Consolation in Female Bonding Celie’s road to trusting and loving herself Abstract This essay is about the love affair in The Color Purple, a novel by Alice Walker in which, thoughts on racism, incest, rape, love and family affairs are provoked. The reader learns about these subjects through the letters that Celie, an uneducated black woman, writes to God and through the letters that her sister Nettie and Celie write to each other. I would