In A Star Is Born, Esther Hoffman Howard (the character played by Barbra Streisand) describes how organic it is to make a meal from one’s own hands, and then have it become consumed by one’s lover, whom it becomes a part of. For many women, this kind of surrogate love with a man is all they know. Certainly, Jane (in Jane Eyre), Celie (in The Color Purple) and Tita (in Like Water For Chocolate), all know this type of surrogate love before they discover how they can express love for themselves and others without succumbing to the patriarchal demands of their era’s oppression. They are all women. Strike one. One is Black, one is Mexican, one is Victorian. Strike two. But before strike three can be called they get a “hit” because they discover how to love themselves (thereby being able to love others) before they lose their turn at bat (“Your turn at bat sir, at least I didn’t fake it”, as Streisand might also recommend).
None of the three heroines of these novels can fake it. That is why they must either succumb to the oppression all about them, albeit in different cultures and socio-economic situations and time periods, or find the manner through which they can be their love and also channel it out to others. All three find a way. Celie finds a way to do it because of role models who stand for more expansive boundaries than she could possibly understand as a child in the midst of abuse. She has been so battered down by the male dominated elements of society (a white economic structure, a white social status, an open to abuse equally black or white male dominated religion, etc.) that she feels remorse when she finally dresses up and feels good about herself. That is, until Shug comes to town. Shug changes everything because she not only models through her behavior to Celie that she doesn’t have to be the whipping post of men, she also loves Celie in a way she has never kno
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