The Fragile Masculinity of Amos Hicks
I think it's safe to say that most of the men in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God are purposefully flawed in their behavior towards Janie. So far, the two most obvious versions of these behaviors are Logan, who decides that his say goes in the marriage and even threatens to kill her, and Joe Starks, who restricts her activities to that of a "wife" and physically hurts her. But the man in the book whose behavior actually most stood out to me because of its subtlety was Amos Hicks.
It's made clear to the reader that Amos Hicks is interested in Janie the moment he sees her, but backs off upon realizing that she's married to Joe Starks. However, he doesn't forget about Janie. Later on, Hicks remarks to his friends that Janie isn't as pretty as he first thought. Once you look at her, he says, the only thing that stands out is her hair. He even makes a point to compare her to a woman he supposedly left in South Carolina. Another reason he cites for why he isn't into her anymore is that he has too much respect for Joe Starks.
When I read this part, I was immediately struck by the parallels that I could see to some interactions today. The only reason that Hicks is willing to acknowledge why he isn't able to make advances on Janie is that she is married. He has more respect for her husband than for her. The only respect he has for Janie comes from either her appearance or relationship to Jody. Hicks not seeing Janie as worthy of respect as a free-willed individual is the first way that I think masculinity plays into Hicks' reaction. He is more willing to respect another man's masculinity of having a wife than respect the agency of that woman.
The second way I see masculinity affecting Hicks is that when he feels rejected, he lashes out at Janie to defend his masculinity. We can see this as an example of toxic masculinity because Hicks is unwilling to feel like the one being rejected. He wants to feel like a man that women want, so the woman he brings up as prettier than Janie is one that HE left. Because he wants to maintain his fragile masculinity, Hicks tries to make it sound like he isn't actually interested in Janie because she's not even that pretty.
One can see this kind of toxic masculinity in modern society. It's easy to recall or imagine a situation where a boy gets rejected and lashes out by putting the girl down just to build his masculinity up. I think this parallel is why I kept remembering Hicks' dialogue; I felt like it was yet another example of Hurston presenting a situation that is familiar to a lot of people even in modern-day society and providing a commentary on it.
It's made clear to the reader that Amos Hicks is interested in Janie the moment he sees her, but backs off upon realizing that she's married to Joe Starks. However, he doesn't forget about Janie. Later on, Hicks remarks to his friends that Janie isn't as pretty as he first thought. Once you look at her, he says, the only thing that stands out is her hair. He even makes a point to compare her to a woman he supposedly left in South Carolina. Another reason he cites for why he isn't into her anymore is that he has too much respect for Joe Starks.
When I read this part, I was immediately struck by the parallels that I could see to some interactions today. The only reason that Hicks is willing to acknowledge why he isn't able to make advances on Janie is that she is married. He has more respect for her husband than for her. The only respect he has for Janie comes from either her appearance or relationship to Jody. Hicks not seeing Janie as worthy of respect as a free-willed individual is the first way that I think masculinity plays into Hicks' reaction. He is more willing to respect another man's masculinity of having a wife than respect the agency of that woman.
The second way I see masculinity affecting Hicks is that when he feels rejected, he lashes out at Janie to defend his masculinity. We can see this as an example of toxic masculinity because Hicks is unwilling to feel like the one being rejected. He wants to feel like a man that women want, so the woman he brings up as prettier than Janie is one that HE left. Because he wants to maintain his fragile masculinity, Hicks tries to make it sound like he isn't actually interested in Janie because she's not even that pretty.
One can see this kind of toxic masculinity in modern society. It's easy to recall or imagine a situation where a boy gets rejected and lashes out by putting the girl down just to build his masculinity up. I think this parallel is why I kept remembering Hicks' dialogue; I felt like it was yet another example of Hurston presenting a situation that is familiar to a lot of people even in modern-day society and providing a commentary on it.
I feel like what we see in Hurston's book is partially a commentary on the invisibility of women. In Invisible Man, we saw interactions between different races and the invisibility each person had. However, Hurston provides a scenario where, so far, everybody is African-American, so we instead see these interactions between men and women. I think it's good that we get to see Hurston exploring this topic because, as you have mentioned before on your blog, women were quite invisible in Invisible Man so we didn't get much insight there.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to overlook Amos's casual misogyny when compared to Janie's abusive/dysfunctional marriages, or compared to the rapes of her mother and grandmother. I like how Hurston shows different levels of misogyny within society as well as individuals, especially considering her setting of 1920s-30s Florida. Janie doesn't just experience huge acts of abuse or control; she experiences a lot of small slights that, like you said, are still common in modern America.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great observation because at first glance, it doesn't seem as though Hicks is doing anything wrong, but when you end up looking at it critically, you can see multiple instances of misogyny by looking at when they are acting out courtship as well.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree Hicks is subtly, or not so subtly if you take a deeper look, being incredibly disrespectful and misogynistic towards Janie. Like you say, the only respect he seems to show her is because of her marriage. Suggesting that she only has value through her connection with a man. Thank you for providing me another lens into this scene.
ReplyDeleteI think this is definitely a topic that has come up in Hurston's novel. Not just in this case, but also when Tea Cake whips Janie to "assert his dominance". The idea that he has to whip his wife to show that he "owns" her is a horrific line of thinking that trickles down from toxic masculinity. Although it was difficult to see what topics Hurston was really trying to comment on through her novel, as the story goes on, things are becoming more clear.
ReplyDelete