The Gender Barriers Faced by Women in Society in "The House on Mango Street"

What does it mean to be a female? The definition can change depending on time, place and wealth. Women in all societies face gender barriers, whether at home, work, or school. These barriers range from unequal wages to sexual harassment. For the women who live on Mango Street, their gender barriers are built on an overwhelming dependence on men.

In The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros, the women are both financially and emotionally dependent on the men or lack of men in their lives; however, Esperanza, the protagonist, believes education and self-fulfillment can help women break free from this dependence.

The women who live on Mango Street are dependent on men because they have no control over their lives. One of the characters on Mango Street who suffer from male dependence is Rosa Vargas, a mother of “too many” children. Esperanza describes Rosa Vargas as helpless and powerless, not only because of the amount of children she manages but because of the lack of a father figure in the family: “They are bad those Vargas, and how can they help it with only one mother who is tired all the time from buttoning and bottling and babying, and who cries every day for the man who left without even leaving a dollar for bologna or a note explaining how come” (29).

Esperanza describes the mother as mentally “tired” and weak, unable to properly raise children. The lack of a husband in her life is the reason why she is incapable of raising her children correctly, which makes the children “bad”.

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The community surrounding Esperanza believes women are unable to operate on their own. At the same time, the single mothers are the reason why the children are “bad”, and there is no blame placed on the fathers who left. When fathers leave their families behind, there is no push back from the community.

Although mothers in Esperanza’s community are not expected to work or have jobs, the fathers can leave at their own will. This double standard shows how mothers are extremely dependent on their husbands. Another example is Marin, who does not have any children, still needs someone else to control her life. Rosa Vargas depends on a man physically, to help her with the children and pay rent, but Marin depends on a man more emotionally: “Marin, under the street light dancing by herself, is singing the same song somewhere. I know she is waiting for a car to stop, a star to fall, someone to change her life” (27).

Although Esperanza does not directly claim that the “someone” who Marin is waiting for is a man, the only gender that has control of their life in Marin’s society are males. Marin needs a man for her to leave Mango Street. She has no control over when she can go or if she can stay. Marin depends on a husband or boyfriend to free her, to give her the happiness she wants, happiness that does not exist on Mango Street. Neither Rosa or Marin can choice the path they walk; they are both dependent on the men in their life to lead the way.

Esperanza believes that the two most important ingredients for a woman to succeed in life, education, and self-fulfillment. She chooses her own path despite the society’s expectation for her to be dependent on males. Esperanza does not need a man to pay for her food or feed her children. She does not need a man to carry her away to happiness.

Esperanza is a rare woman on Mango Street. She was able to leave on her own. She made her own choices and succeeded through hard work, not the service of men. Throughout the book, Esperanza is both guided and discouraged by the characters on Mango Street. As a whole, her community encourages her to become submissive and compliant, but Esperanza refuses: “I have begun my own quiet war. Simple. Sure. I am one who leaves the table like a man, without putting back the chair or picking up the plate” (89).

To be independent in Esperanza’s time and place, is to be a man. For her, all she needs to do to be successful is to have to same rights and an expectation of a man, which is was Esperanza begins to do things “like a man”. This “quiet war” she began as a child, allows Esperanza to fulfill her dreams without letting the stereotypes placed on the shoulders of women bring her down. These stereotypes restrict her mother, and she mother does not want her daughter to fall into the same pattern.

Esperanza’s mother gives her advice and perspective that lets her grow strong and reach high: “You want to know why I quit school? Because I didn’t have nice clothes; No clothes, but I had brains. Yup, she said disgusted, stirring again. I was a smart cookie then” (91). Esperanza’s mom is “disgusted” by her life choices because it prevented her from reaching her full potential.

The emphasis Esperanza’s mom puts on education provides an insight to how important education is. To her, education is a way out, a way to make a better life. Esperanza chooses right there that she was going to get an education, an education that would allow her to leave Mango Street on her own two feet. Her mother has shown Esperanza what she will become if she does not work hard to achieve her dreams. Esperanza’s mother gives her a way for her find to self-fulfillment in education.

Society bullies Esperanza for becoming a strong independent woman. Although society expects her to stay weak and dependent on males, she has other plans. She fights back by educating herself and doing things independently. Esperanza’s actions give her impendence and self-fulfillment. Esperanza breaks many of the gender barriers allowing her to succeed.

However, no matter how far she goes in life, Esperanza promises to return to her roots, Mango Street, to help those who cannot knock down the barriers placed before them. Cisneros uses sexism as the barrier for Esperanza to overcome but after Esperanza succeeds and can leave she still comes back to Mango Street to help those who cannot move forward as easily. Cisneros teaches, through Esperanza, that it is important for women to become successful and independent, but it is even more important to help those women who are stuck because of the gender barriers they cannot knock down.