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African American Women, Feminism and Male Domination in "Sweat" and

"Everyday Use"

The awakening in the African Americans came after the Harlem Renaissance but it

was slow and gradual, though it first entered the realm of story writing and fiction and then

entered the public psyche. Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston are two popular female

African American voices, who have given a different shape to story writing with African

American female experience. In their stories, they have presented black African American

female characters in such a way that they become independent by the end of the story not only

in their thinking like mom, but also in their actions like Delia Jones of "Sweat." This gives

them an edge over their male domination and so-called African American male chauvinism,

although female body has also become merely an object for sexual appeal (Collins 77).

Although both have selected racial discrimination as themes for their stories, their approach is

toward feminism or better to say towards the uplift of the black sexuality or African American

women. It is because both have presented characters, which not only lead to their own

independence, but also their better thinking and pragmatic approach to life. Zora's Skyes tells

it clearly to Delia, "You sho is one aggravatin' nigger woman" (Hurston 241) and Zora knows

that this nigger woman should be independent to ward off torture of Sykpe, while mom knows
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that she is a "big boned woman with rough, man working hands" (Walker 358) but Maggie

should not be dependent on anybody, though Dee has won over the circumstances. Therefore,

Zora Neal Hurston and Alice Walker in their respective stories "Sweat" and "Everyday Use"

are not only proponent of female independence, but also demonstrate the decline of male

domination and women's pragmatic approach towards life and their siblings.

Not only Alice Walker, but also Zora Neal Hurston have presented female characters

which are either independent or vie for independence or at least try their best and win their

independence disregard of their fact that they wait and see the male member getting killed in

this connection. Mother in "Everyday Use" knows that her educated daughter Dee is

successful, while disabled Maggie is not because Dee "at sixteen, she had a style of her own:

and know what style was" (360). However, Maggie was dependent on her, and she knew the

pains of having no independence. This happens in the absence of the male member of the

family. Even Dee is aware of this as she tells Maggie at the end, "You out to try to make

something for yourself" that means independence that she is asking her about (364). However,

in Zora Neal Hurston, it is Delia Jones who stays under the male domination for quite a long

time and suffers torture and cruelty at the hands of her husband, Sykes. He used to terrify her

and in this attempt was "almost rolled on the ground in his mirth" though he used to do

nothing (241). However, when the time comes, "she saw him on his hands and knees" it was

the time for her to become independent and she knew that the "cold river was creeping up and

up to extinguish that eye which must know by now what she knew" (251). This is

independence from that torture and suffering that she has to go through for long. As a student,

Rachel Carazo has stated in her paper that this is "independence [of Delia], but only by
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assuming a male-oriented stance in her actions toward Sykes" (Carazo). It means that she has

transformed her role to win independence.

Male domination and male chauvinism in both the stories is either absent or is on the

decline. In the case of Delia Jones in "Sweat", Sykes does what he can in order to roll "on the

ground in his mirth" (241) but it gradually declines as he does not perform his essential role of

a breadwinner at home. He merely makes fun of Delia whatever she does to earn her living.

That is why at the end when he is bitten by the rattlesnake he brings for Delia, she merely

looks on him and does nothing to save his life. She even does not support him when "crept an

inch or two" (248) which means that his male domination is now going to end. Whereas Mom

and Maggie are concerned, there is no male in the family. She has done whatever she can to

educate Dee and support Maggie. There is a male member Hakmi-e-Barbar but he is

associated with Dee and money, not Maggie and mom. It means that male domination and

male chauvinism is absent in the story. Alice Walker has made the black African American

independent without male domination about which she is of the view that they are on the

decline or perhaps they have lost their sense of responsibility towards the female of the

family. However, it does not mean that the women hate male domination or male presence. In

fact, they love it as mom mentions their Uncle Buddy, Henry and their Grandfather Jarrell as

they have preserved their relics "Great Grandpa Ezra's uniform that he wore in the Civil War"

but it is just to the point of preservation (361).

Women of Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston in "Everyday Use" and "Sweat"

respectively are not only pragmatic but also brave and bold. Delia Jones suffers as long as she

could bear. The only problem with her is that she has no any man at home with her. That is

why Sykes is the only male person at home. However, when he crosses all the limits and
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makes her a butt of his barbaric jokes, she turns a blind eye towards him though she does not

kill him. But it is all the same enough for him. Same is the case of mom. She knows that Dee

is beautiful and stylish and she can have her own life. However, the issue is with her of

Maggie who cannot walk without her help. She is not as smart as Dee. Therefore, when at the

end, Dee asks her to have quilts as they seem to be symbols of heritage, she turns to Maggie

and states that it is for you. That is why mom states that I "hugged Maggie to me, then

dragged her into room, snatch quilts out of Miss Wangero's hands and dumped into Maggie's

lap" (361) -- a way that she shows her displeasure at the treatment of her daughter. This is her

pragmatism. She knows that Dee has succeeded in her life, but Maggie depends on her

because there is no male member in her home to support them.

In short, Zora Neal Hurston and Alice Walker have given a good picture of African

American women. In her story "Sweat", Zora Neal Hurston has presented Sykes in order to

show how irresponsible and cruel black men are towards their own men. Therefore, women of

the African American race not only suffer from racial discrimination but also from their own

men. Therefore, both Alice Walker and Zora Neal Hurston have presented their female

characters wishing to be independent and touchy about their siblings while removing male

domination in order to assert their own feminism.

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Works Cited

Collins, Patricia Hill. Black Sexual Politics. Rutledge, New York. 2009. Print.

Cazaro, Rachel. "Feminism Through Religion in Hurston's "Sweat." African African. African African.

n. d. Web. 06 Aug. 2015.

Hurston, Zora Neal. "Sweat" Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford

/St. Martins, 2014. 241-251

Walker, Alice. "Everday Use" Charters, Anne. The Story and Its Writer. New York: Bedford

/St. Martins, 2014. 358-362