Social Issues in Literature - Women's Issues in Alice Walker's ... - Gale

Contents
Introduction 9
Chronology 12
Chapter 1: Background on Alice Walker
1. Walker’s Childhood, Education, and Crusade 16
for African American Women
Barbara T. Christian
Walker was active in the civil rights movement and pioneered
the study of the relationship between black men
and women.
2. Alice Walker’s Childhood Sense of Betrayal 24
Evelyn C. White
Alice Walker’s blinding in one eye and disfigurement
when she was eight years old left her traumatized for life.
3. Feeling Like an Outsider 31
Maria Lauret
Walker appreciated a sense of community in her childhood
but has seen herself as an outsider, whether it is in
her family or among her literary peers.
Chapter 2: The Color Purple
and Women’s Issues
1. From Being Dominated to Taking Charge 39
Donna Haisty Winchell
The Color Purple paints a picture of a cruel, maledominated
society that leads Celie to lose her love for
men and create a reversal in gender roles.
2. Being Deprived of a Mother’s Bond 50
Charles L. Proudfit
Celie’s damaging relationship with her mentally ill
mother sets her in search of other female bonds.
3. The Myth of the Rape and Silencing of
58
Philomela Informs The Color Purple
Martha J. Cutter

Like the mythical Philomela, Celie is raped and silenced,
but her symbolic connections with blood and birds lead
her, unlike Philomela, to creativity and freedom.
4. Walker Revises Traditional Gender Roles 65
Mae G. Henderson
In a culture of male cruelty, women sacrifice for one another
and replace traditional marriage with an extended
family.
5. Trading Male Literary Traditions for Female 74
Oral Ones
Valerie Babb
The black woman’s oral tradition (in which the novel is
written) supersedes the white male’s written one.
6. Walker’s Relationship with the African
81
American Male
Philip M. Royster
The male audiences of Walker’s novel and the film made
from the novel were vocal and outraged at the picture
she drew of black men as cruel and heartless.
7. Folk Art as a Means to Female Survival 89
Keith E. Byerman
In The Color Purple women use folk wisdom to overcome
their male oppressors. Folk art, including sewing
and singing, makes it possible for them to survive, have
their revenge, and tell about their pain.
8. Male Cruelty Leads to Positive Changes 98
Henry O. Dixon
Male cruelty in The Color Purple leads to positive development
in the lives of female characters.
9. Centering on Women but Ignoring Race
108
and Economics
bell hooks
The novel, while attacking the exploitation of females in
an African American community, fails to challenge the
whole system of racial and class exploitation.

10. The Color Purple Is a Disservice
to Black Women
Trudier Harris
In taking an independent view of the novel, one finds an
unbelievably subservient, uncomplaining protagonist and
white stereotypes of black men and women.
113
Chapter 3: Contemporary Perspectives
on Women’s Issues
1. Women Achieve Social Change Through Folk Art 125
Anne Constable
Around the world, women find economic and social
power through cooperation and the revival of traditional
art in a misogynistic society.
2. Domestic Violence Retains Cultural
130
Momentum Worldwide
Sonya Weakley
One in three women is abused worldwide. Abuse of
women is so ingrained in cultures that victims will rarely
testify in court about the abuse.
3. Conflicting Feminist Ideologies Among
134
Black Women
Patricia Hill Collins
The black women who recognize and want to work for
the betterment of their sisters are hampered by their
conflicting ideologies.
4. A Black Celebrity Decides to Make Her
141
Sexual Orientation Known
Ari Karpel
After Wanda Sykes told the public that she is a lesbian,
she became a spokesperson for black and gay America.
For Further Discussion 151
For Further Reading 152
Bibliography 153
Index 158