THE ANALYSIS OF WOMEN’S STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY IN THE COLOR PURPLE NOVEL BY ALICE WALKER

Abstract

This study examines the struggle of women to get gender equality. The purpose of this study is to describe how gender inequality is depicted in the novel The Color Purple and to describe how women struggle to get equality. This research is a qualitative research and the method used is descriptive qualitative method. The theory used in this study is the theory of feminism from Beauvoir which will analyze the problem of gender inequality and women's struggles to achieve equality. The results of this study indicate that the forms of gender inequality experienced by the female characters in this novel are subordinatino, stereotypes and violence. Living in the midst of a patriarchal society makes the female characters in the novel The Color Purple have to face various kinds of oppression by men. The researcher also found the struggles of women leaders to achieve gender equality, namely, women intellectual, to be themselves, and the freedom in self-actualization.