“Someone has to think about the women, the chillums, the chickens and the cows. My God, they themselves shouldn't think anything." a feminist reading by Zora Neale Hurston Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Their Eyes Were Watching God Is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston about a black woman named Janie Crawford who is on a journey to find true love despite being oppressed by a male-dominated society. Having three relationships, Janie has often been silenced, objectified, and even mistreated physically Feminism is a movement that defends women's rights and is based on the theory that men and women are equal. Patriarchy is a social system in which the father of the family has dominion over his children and wives a greater share of power than women. This implies that this society is dominated by men and that men repress women Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates that feminism cannot denounce the patriarchal mentality. and ultimately fails because women believe in a social construct that men are biologically the dominant gender, men and women pass on patriarchy from generation to generation, and women are unwilling to question gender roles. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, feminism cannot end the patriarchal mentality and ultimately fails because women believe in the idea that men are biologically the dominant gender. At the beginning of the book, when the nanny insists that Janie marry Logan Killicks, Janie begs and refuses to marry him and the nanny replies: “Taint Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, darling, it's protection. Ah, I'm not getting old, darling. Ah, I'm done. One early morning, the angel with the sword will stop here… My daily prayer now is to let these golden moments continue for a few more days until I see you safe in life” (Hurston 15). The nanny wants Janie to marry Logan Killicks because she is getting old and believes that in order for Janie to be safe she must marry Logan Killicks, since he is a rich farmer and owns land. The nanny believes that women should marry to have protection and be financially stable. Even when Janie begs not to marry Logan Killicks simply because she doesn't love him, the nanny enforces the idea that Janie is incapable of living without a man. The nanny believes that men are biologically the stronger gender because it is men who provide protection and financial support. When Nanny believes in this idea, feminism fails because if women genuinely think that men are more superior than women, then they will continue to be seen as weak and incapable of providing for themselves. Nanny accepts that men are more powerful than women and that men control their society. She feels that women are more dependent on men than men are on women. When women believe in the idea that men are biologically the stronger gender, this idea passes through generations. As their eyes watched God, when men and women pass on patriarchy across generations, feminism ultimately fails. After the nanny catches Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, she tells Janie to sit on her lap and says: Honey, the white man is the ruler of everything, as I have found out. Maybe it's some place far out in the ocean where the boogeyman is in power, but we know nothing other than what we see. Then the white man throws the load down and tells the black man to pick it up. He picks it up because he has to, but he doesn't take it with him. He hands it over to his women. The woman, 2000.