When I read Their Eyes Were Watching God, I was most captivated by the constant push for women to be married for the purpose of a man to take care of them, and the craziest part about that is the men in the book seemingly mistreated Janie, the main character, anyway. If felt like there a push for something that’ll never be needed when the “help” of that man did not make a difference.

This could simply be because of where I stand when it comes to relationships. I have never been a person to say, “what can you do for me.” Any time I dated before my husband and while dating my husband, I simply chose him because I liked who he was, and what his spirit showed me. As a person who did not grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth I learned how to take care of myself and taking care of others always came naturally. It really makes me wonder where this thought of a woman needing to be taken care of derived from. Since I am a woman of faith, I wonder if it has to do with the word of God that states the man is head of the household and he is to love his wife as Yeshua loved the church, but then I am also taken back because many of the men back in the day, some of them didn’t know how to take care of the women. Money, does not mean you are taken care of. It just means that you are able to afford the cost of living.

 Janie married a man that was sweet to her but eventually because abusive, so when he died he left her an estate. My point in bringing this part up is the fact that when she remarried there was once again no need for a man, just a want and desire for the person she fancied.

I typically don’t like to stand under labels but when I comes to being a woman, an independent woman, know that we choose the men just as much as a man choose the woman. Now everyone has their own reasons and I think this book highlights relationships and the reasons behind them.