Khadijah Munajj Discussion 16

The vignette I chose for this discussion is “Beautiful & Cruel”, as the courses of time the definition and gender roles of women have become less strict and less attainable to the male gaze and desire. Some women still carry the traditional habits and thinking of what a women, wife and mother should be and try to project that onto their children or other women. Just like Esperanza’s mother who says “her dusty hair will settle and her blouse will learn to stay clean” but Esperanza is coming into her womanhood and denying that stereotype of being like the “others who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain.” By “threshold” and “ball and chain” I think Esperanza was stating that most women wait for new stages in their life to begin which mostly means the awaiting of men and marriage. She states she will act like a man and not conform to traditional women ways and doing things her and on her own time, which men have the freedom to experience without judgement.