Sylvia the self-sufficient woman:
It is a bit funny to think that we women are viewed as the underdogs, unable to take care of ourselves and even helpless. Men have no idea how smart women are. We can waltz through life having doors opened for us, and bills paid, just because we can look pretty and produce children. I have lived on both sides of the feminist vista point and I like being cared for. I have done the Hippy thing and the feminist thing while I supported two children, went to school and worked six to twelve hours a day. Yep, I can take care of myself and my family all by myself, but the truth is sharing the responsibilities with someone else who thinks I am wonderful makes life a whole lot nicer. In 'The Flowers' Sylvia is not the helpless little Hispanic that everyone seems to think she is. She is a bit of a feminist that incorporates some of the traditional feminine role too. Women have been able to get men to take care of them for thousands of years, and she is very capable of using what God gave her to get a lifestyle that allows her to do the things she enjoys. The women in Sonny's porn magazines are even manipulating men. It is not the paper in the magazines that is making money, it is the women who know how to entice men and make them forget about everything else. With far less effort than the porn models, Sylvia is able to have a home that is nice, and the funds to support her shopping habit. She even has a son that loves her and admires her looks, and it is not because he gets a daily gourmet meal, or caring conversation everyday. My husband should be thankful that I fulfill these tasks better than Sylvia.
In the past Sylvia has taken little interest in Sonny’s likes, as a result when she introduces him, she tells Cloyd, “ Maybe he likes baseball…I think that’s his favorite”. it is as if she were introducing a child she has never met. In contrast Sonny is grateful for any little crumb she drops for him, even when he is able to sneak a few chips, and as a result she gives him a few dollars and sends him somewhere else to eat.
Sonny loves to see her hand when she has had her nail done, and notices when she has bought a new dress, even the way she smells. I was even amazed that a young kid would notice as much detail as is described on page 76 when he says "It seemed to me she was wearing another new dress, and she was smelling washed and bath-oiled and lotioned and misted, and the high heels were glossier and redder than her lipstick." This is enough to make him lie for her and keep any secret she sends his way. Her shopping and primping is a small price to pay for those secrets.
Sylvia has managed for years to stay afloat using her sex appeal and now she has used it to purchased another opportunity to improve her fashion of living. This is a woman that speaks broken English and appears to have very little education. She does not even have enough interest in education to spend time with her son while he is studying. However, she is entertained by him learning French and her laughter will suffice as payment to keep him motivated to learn more. When Sonny tells Sylvia "J'aime la pizza," (love the pizza) he tells us "She laughed...I liked that she laughed, because it proved French was funny and not only to me." p 152. This laughter seems to be considered encouragement for him and he continues to study French. At the same time it all so bought her a few more secrets to be kept, when she tells Sonny she is going out and she'll be back before Cloyd returns home.
Sylvia knows she can easily influence Cloyd when ever she is inclined to. In a conversation with Sonny she asks him if he need a new T.V. Then asks him, “You want me to make him (Cloyd) get you a better one?”.p73 She is so casual about having that much control over men. Cloyd himself is blinded by his lust for Sylvia. At the start of their marriage he appears to be groveling when he promises ‘something big’ to Sonny, and when he offers the desk for his room. The relationship between Cloyd and Sonny is not comfortable, yet Cloyd is going outside of his comfort zone to look good for Sylvia. He believes he has been the one who is responsible for their relationship. He tells Bud “I love to eat them tacos, and now I even got myself married to a pretty little Mexican gal” p51. He has the audacity to believe that he manipulated her in to marring him. I would be inclined to believe that there are more poverished ‘Mexican gals’ with children, than there are men that make a decent living and want to marry them.
Cloyd is completely oblivious that the authentic Mexican food, he thought he was getting when he married Sylvia, all comes from a can. Behind his back she even tells Sonny “He doesn’t even know I buy este chile at the grocery store…he thinks I make it…” and then is able to manipulate Sonny in to covering for her. When Cloyd does take a position on something, he chose a subject as lame as toilet paper. Sylvia lets him rage about it, but later laughs, behind his back because it is so petty.
On a larger scale Cloyd was so blinded by Sylvia when they were first married that he would have promised anything. As a result he was sucked into promising Sonny that he will be able to go to ‘Notre Dame’. As Sylvia looses some of her influence over Cloyd she tries to persuade Sonny to drop the idea and not bring it up with Cloyd. This is an example of over using ones assets. She has been inconsiderate while she was building the lifestyle she sought, thus weakening her leverage. Sylvia seems to be loosing her influence over Cloyd and Sonny, possibly telling us the reason she has been married multiple times. But practice can make perfect and she just keeps practicing.
I admire Sylvia’s thrift, for her ability refine feminine manipulation to a fine art. My generation has fought for women’s rights all of my life, as a result I now see my comrades in a lesser light. They have traded in what Sylvia has, for well paying jobs, and nice homes, but they are over stressed, and can not figure out why their children a so misbehaved and unmotivated in life. It is not hard to figure out, women simply went to far and gave up some of what made life good. Men never asked to change jobs even though their life span in the past has been an average of ten years shorter than women as a result of stress. Consequently when millions of women walk away from their domestic jobs, it left the position unfilled or inadequately filled. I am not saying that women should not work and just stay home to serve their families. We have come a long way and should be proud of what we have accomplished, but we should take a little more responsibility for our natural duties. Every other animal on this planet knows the importance of their roles, we might take a lesson from them. If we are less focused on the fight, and more focused on family, then we can go back to out living men, and have them treat us like goddesses on occasion. We can use some of Sylvia’s talents to make our lives less stressed and more enjoyable. After all, once we have proven our point and gotten what we want, it is best to stop fighting and make up.
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