The pages provided on The Color Purple are perfect for analyzing womanhood under the patriarchal lens. The fact that Celie never looked at herself shows how uneducated she is about her own body. The incident also hints that there is shame in others looking at your body, which naturally even carries over to how women view themselves. Moreover, there is also insight into the expectations of pleasure. When Celie asks if shugh if she ever enjoys sex, the answer is never. This shows how even the advantages of sex are taken away from these young women whose bodies are exploited by men. Moreover, the conversation around sex, motherhood, and pregnancy ties back to my readings from “A Thousand Splendid Suns.” Specifically, the part where Nana reveals that she gets impregnated by a man who is higher in social hierarchy, and then abandoned as if she is meaningless. The trauma causes her to behave harshly towards her own daughter. Womanhood and motherhood are never safe from exploitation when operating in a patriarchal environment.
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