Womanism and Gender Issue in Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple”

Abstract

African-American women struggled to improve their image in patriarchal societies, where the most severe forms of psychological and sexual violence were practiced on them, despite their effective contribution to the society. This authoritarian culture failed to acknowledge women's basic role in all aspects of life and also led them being deprived of earning or inheriting income and property. Throughout history, men have enjoyed the majority of power and viewed women as a private property. Few studies have addressed the novel "The Colour Purple" through the lens of womanism and gender issues. Instead, most research works have concentrated on resistance to sexual assault, and cultural identity. This study seeks to critically analyze the gender dynamics in "The Colour Purple" from a womanist perspective, and explore how these issues can challenge and potentially undermine established gender norms in society. The research concluded that Walker used the term womanism to inspire black women and provide them with positive role models. From the writer's point of view, the meaning of Womanism is self-reliance, promoting equality, and resisting oppression on the basis of ethnicity, culture, or class. Also through this novel, the author wanted to prove that women are capable of creating cultural platforms based on shared experiences to improve the image of woman and lift them out of the oppression of male society.