Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neal Hurston, tells the story of Janie and her quest to find the strength in her independence. Through the cultural standards of gender roles embedded in African American culture and her surroundings, Janie is weakened and becomes submissive to the controlling nature of men, ultimately demonstrating that cultural expectations are detrimental when imposed on people by others. 

                Through Nanny forcing Janie into an arranged marriage with Logan, Janie loses her freedom and becomes a weaker version of her previous self. Nanny wishes Janie to take on the role of a black woman by marrying a reputable man and being his mule, which represses her entire personality. In forcing her to accept a culturally approved marriage, Nanny curtails Janie’s individuality, which ultimately contributes to the weakening of Janie’s fiery passion for life. In their marriage, Logan’s oppressive and controlling behavior strips Janie of her self-government. Logan believes that marriage is a cultural contract in which the woman remains inferior to the man; this mindset of Janie’s husband is what causes her to eventually become a shell of her previous self before married life. His unwillingness to change ultimately harms Janie and creates a toxic environment. This toxicity, furthered by Logan’s constant belittling and insults towards her, develops into an extreme mental strain on Janie. During the entirety of her marriage with Logan, Janie is left to suffer under his control, influenced by the cultural standards of being a woman. Despite her efforts to not be affected by this abusive behavior, Janie is mentally beaten down and restrained. 

                Through Janie’s second marriage with Joe, Janie is further weakened and molded into an object of his control. In leaving her first marriage with the hopes that Joe will treat her better, Janie comes to realize that her second marriage is worse. The harsh cultural surroundings of her marriage to Joe leave Janie feeling even less in control of her own life as she turns into a shell of the woman she used to be. When Joe doesn’t allow Janie to give a speech after he becomes mayor just because she is a woman, this causes her to regress deeper into her shell and become self-conscious of her place in the community and in their marriage. Due to Joe’s aggressive and domineering personality and being cut off from the rest of the community, Janie begins to feel isolated. This is further demonstrated when Joe forces Janie to tie her hair into a rag. By not letting her femininity reign free, Joe takes away Janie's womanhood and individuality. His constant reminders and reduction of her to nothing but his possession cause Janie to fear his power. Each day she spends with him, she becomes weaker as she continues to keep everything in. The weight of the emotional burden wears her down, to the point where she can no longer defend herself. In realizing she has no power in the marriage, she is left only to conceal her autonomy and give in to the demands of cultural expectations, that women should do the tasks required of them. Unable to resist and stand up for herself from the many years of abuse, she loses sight of who she truly is and becomes a weak version of the person she used to be. 

In forcefully confining Janie to cultural expectations, Nanny, Logan, and Joe serve only to restrict Janie’s freedoms and weaken her, ultimately demonstrating that cultural expectations are detrimental when placed upon people by others.