rough draft

Feminism in The Flowers

Sometimes it’s hard to believe that we have had so many technological advances and we still hold women to a different standard than men. When we were advancing in science and medicine we were still behind in the empowerment of women. The right for women to vote in this country wasn’t even permitted until less than one hundred years ago and we continue to have negative standards for women. Just like in The Flowers by Dagoberto Gilb, we can see that time hasn’t changed the that way assume women should be.There is are categories which women have started falling under, good girl and bad girl with nothing in between but men aren’t a part of this because they are considered players for doing the same thing. In the novel the author provides examples of this good girl bad girl stigma in the characters Cindy and Nica. 

Cindy is a married nineteen year old who’s husband Tino is always out selling drugs. The main male character Sonny makes it a habit of using Cindy just for her body and taking advantage of the fact that she is lonely. Cindy is considered the bad girl in the story just because she isn’t afraid to get what she wants. Since she is in an unhappy relationship and wants Sonny’s comfort she is loose. Even if she weren’t married and just wanted to be with Sonny, she would still be portrayed as the bad girl character since she had sex with Sonny. Cindy is seen as less than a person in Sonny’s eyes. “Cindy looked her dirty way at me and was going how she was really lonely, so I was all oh yeah I’ll come up... Fuck her candy-sales husband. Nobody was around in the afternoons, so it wasn’t like I had to watch what how  I said what (170).” At first it seems that he is with her just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time (or the right place at the right time) but he starts to use her when he is angry. Cindy is just seen as someone that can be used and not taken seriously because she isn’t girlfriend material. 

The author provides details that make it okay for Sonny to use Cindy. Whenever Sonny describes Cindy he always comments on what little clothing she is wearing and how you can some how seen through it. There isn’t much sympathy for Cindy even though her drug dealing husband is never home. “Cindy’d already been smoking mota and drinking wine and something was making me think there was more serious shit too (173).” Her body is the main topic whenever Sonny see’s her its almost as if he can’t see past it because he doesn’t want to; Cindy’s body is the only thing about her that interests Sonny. She often tells Sonny how lonely she is and that she has no friends but no one seems to care. 

Nica is perceived to be the opposite of Cindy. Nica is pure because she doesn’t sleep around or drink and smoke. Sonny cares so much about Nica that he wouldn’t even consider using her the way that he does Cindy. “ She wanted me to touch her everywhere and in every way. I didn’t want her like that... (249).” When Sonny thinks of Nica he mentions her beautiful hair and how it frames her face. His desire is to be next to her and hold her. He doesn’t want her in the carnal way he wants Cindy. Why the difference? Nica is timid and her intentions with Sonny aren’t clear until the end but Cindy is a woman who isn’t afraid to get what she wants. 

Cindy seeks out comfort through Sonny since she is always home alone and even though she is in a failing marriage she gets no respect. She is just invisible to everyone in the apartments. “It was as though I was the only one who ever saw her standing there, because nobody else looked at her... (171).” Cindy realized probably at a much earlier age that she could empower herself by using her body. She knew that men would easily respond to this tactic and used it on Sonny. She tried showing her affection for Sonny through sex but he just found it as a way to get what he wanted without any commitment. For the same reasons that Cindy is considered a slut and the bad girl of the story, Sonny is the player.

In the novel the only companions that Sonny has are the twins. Mike and Joe are the biggest example of what it was suppose to mean to be men. The twins talk about all women like they are objects and like they themselves are players even though it is clear that they are not. It’s as if the only way that they can be perceived as men is if they sleep around and use women.The derogatory way that the twins talk her without having even met Cindy show the view on girls in that society since this story doesn’t take place in todays time.. The twins also glorify the nudie magazines that Sonny steals and have a collection of their own. “I was seeing Cindy and I was in love with Nica... (111).” That is why Sonny doesn’t mention Nica to the twins until the end of the story; he doesn’t want to be teased for actually liking someone for a reason other than sex. Sonny probably didn’t want the twins to ask about Nica in a sexual way; what she had “jugaluggas, buenas nalgas, o todo el paquetote (23).” the way that the twins asked the second after Sonny mentioned Cindy. He has respect for Nica which he definitely does not have for Cindy.

Cindy did make the first move with Sonny but out of loneliness. She wanted love in her life since she wasn’t happy with her estranged husband and knew that the only way a boy would pay attention to her would be through sex. This only enforces a mans mindset in thinking that they can just women at their pleasing. If a man’s wife never came home and he decided to seek the comfort of another person no one would look twice. Since Cindy is a woman though she is classified as a whore. That is why Cindy is the bad girl in the story because she is not afraid to get what she wants. Cindy is looking for a way out since she got married so young but whatever way she would choose wouldn’t look good for her. 

This novel isn’t the only example of the good girl/ bad girl role that can be found. The media is constantly showing women drinking and sleeping around as jokes and women that can’t possibly taken seriously. Shows like “The Bad Girls Club” exemplify this behavior and practically ridicule their behavior. Of course no one could have respect for women like this but the men who show the same behavior are glorified. One of the most iconic figures that most men idolize is Hugh Hefner. He is mainly a business man in a business that all men want to be in but what he is more famous for is his habit to date multiple women at the same time. It had once been said that he had sixteen girlfriends at one time. A women with sixteen boyfriends would be a slut but when a man does it it is something to idolize. 

Times haven’t changed when it comes to men and women. Looking at a novel that wasn’t set in todays time is a great example of how our mentality is the same now as it was then. There is no such thing as women finding empowerment through sex the way that men can. By having a bad girl character that everyone looks down on it is acceptable to just look the other way when men use them. Cindy doesn’t get the same respect as any other person would for things that men can do without getting other people to notice.