The Color Purple

For my first book, I am reading The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This book takes place during a time where women were sold and treated as property. The main character Celie gets sexually abused by her father at the age of fourteen. She then ends up pregnant with his child and he takes it and kills it. Her mother dies and leaves behind Celie and her younger sister Nettie. As she gets older, Celie grows up afraid of men. "I don't even look at mens. That's the truth. I look at women, tho, cause I'm not scared of them"(6). Her father then takes her out of sc hoo, saying that she is too "dumb" to be there and that she is wasting her time. At the age of twenty her father marries her off to a Mr.___. Once she's with him she becomes aware of another woman in his life known as Shug Avery and becomes almost infatuated with her, but you'll hear more about her as I continue reading. Celie puts his arm around him which is ironic because she attempts to love him and all her life she was raised fearing men.

This was years back, when women were labled simply as just a "thing". But its sad to say, that there still are women in today's society that are still being treated like that.

A Woman's Worth

For my independant reading project I selected books that have to do with women and the hardships they face. Which brings me to my question: Why is there so much pressure put on women? The image that today's society has created for women is they have to keep their good looks, slim figure, all the while raising children, maintaining a household, and holding down a job. But it seems to me that women get hit the hardest with problems that effect them emotionally and spirtually and yet, society expects them to hold their ground and simply just "get over it".