Lucie's Struggle In Voices From Faces In The Moon

Red Dirt: Growing Up Okie is a bittersweet autobiography about growing up poor in Oklahoma during the depths of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. It unveils the bleak realities of the social hierarchy and the struggles of poor white Americans who choose to believe in the American Dream through the story of one family. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz shares her experience growing up as an Okie, and in doing so, gives a voice to the lower class, the “white trash” who were victimized by a system that failed to protect them. Roxanne’s story and some of her struggles relate to Lucie’s from Faces in the Moon and to those of the women in Voices from the Heartland and Women Who Pioneered Oklahoma.
The story of Roxanne is in some ways similar to that of Lucie’s. Lucie had a strained …show more content…
Voices in the Heartland depicts the gender-related issues faced by women who have contributed to the book, which include gender discrimination in the workplace and social gender norms. When Roxanne got a job working at a bank, she noticed that all of the bosses were men, except for her supervisor, while most of the workers were women. This job hierarchy exemplifies the prevalent view that women are less competent than men, which is a theme common in Voices from the Heartland. A difference between Voices from the Heartland and Women Who Pioneered Oklahoma was that the pioneer experienced a lesser degree of gender discrimination because everyone in the family had to contribute in order to support the family. Roxanne’s first husband, Jimmy, expected her to work to support him through school, and he would support her schooling after his graduation. Roxanne’s role as the financial bearer of her house is contrary to the traditional household role, an issue prominent in Voices in the