Desiree’s Baby: Exposing the Evil of Misogynist and Slave-Holding Culture in the South

“Desiree’s Baby: Exposing the Evil of Misogynist and Slave-holding Culture in the South”
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Kate Chopin’s Desiree’s Baby is a powerful commentary on the evil of the sexist and slave-holding South. The story shows how this society dehumanizes and denies enslaved people and women dignity. Chopin’s vivid depiction of poverty and exploitation in the South is evident throughout the narrative (Chopin, 1893). The societal construct of the time is built upon class, race, gender and slavery; all of which combine to detrimental impacts on the people involved. Chopin also greatly discusses the impact of excessive self-confidence on both the individual and the people around them. The reader witnesses the negative impact of this society on its most vulnerable members through Désirée and her baby’s experiences.
The sexist and slave-holding culture of the South manifests in the opening of “Desiree’s Baby.” The first paragraph reveals that Madame Valmondé has a dismissive and contemptuous attitude towards mothers and women as she visits Désirée and her child (Classen, 2021). Désirée is a source of humor, not an equal, showing the cultural norms in play. In the South before the Civil War, the society was quite littered with a lot of racial and gender anxieties. There was a high level of privilege when it came to being white and from a family that has a name. Desiree is perceived as an outsider and practically helpless due to a lack of both of these.
The society was quite misogynistic in the sense that women did not have a place at the table of decision making within the society. Desiree is mistreated by her husband after he learns of her ancestry, and the society at the time was quite okay with it. It is even sad to learn through the letter that t...