Popular Romance and Forbidden

The character I plan to focus on from the novel Forbidden is Eddy.  Eddy lost her parents  at the age of 12 and it was up to her to take care of herself and her sister. She said to Rhine “ I know I will have to work for years doing something like cooking or scrubbing floors... , but I am not afraid of hard work” (pg.61) She then gives an example to Rhine of how much working she had to do, and did for along time. “ I worked fourteen hour days. Id go home, grab something to eat, go to bed right away because I had to be up before sunrise to do it all over again.” ( pg. 63-64) She also states “ I have worked six days a week since I was twelve and had never been bed ridden” (pg 57). This just shows that back in that time, women were the ones who stated home and took care of the kids, cleaned the house, cooked for the men. As well as, if they had a job it was one where they did laundry, scrubbed floors, did dishes, or cooked. Even if these ladies worked hard and Eddy was complimented A LOT by the customers and her boss Sylvia  multiple times because of how great  of a job she did.  Her  boss  back in Denver was on a different page. She said  that her boss, “ he constantly found faults in her work and routinely docked her pay” (8-9). There were other jobs that women could do like hair dresser, or making dresses, something of that sort.  There were times where people of color would be demoted, because of their color. Eddy, was demoted from a cooks position to a floor scrubbing position. “....the hotel where she worked as a cook for the past three years has been purchased by a new owner, their first act had been to remove Eddy and every other colored person from the kitchen. He offered her a job as a floor scrubber, and at less pay”. (pg.8) Knowing what Sylvia and the other customers said about Eddy in the new city she is living in- the only reason that boss demoted her was because of her color. She didn’t act out or cause problems because she needed this job. These jobs listed above are jobs for hard working women, and though there was the option to become a whore like her sister, she decided to keep the floor scrubbing jobs and cooking jobs in order to make a decent living.

Does Eddy’s gender performance impact her romantic life? I feel like it does in the sense that Eddy lost her parents at such a young age, so she was put in a place where she had to be very independent and learn to take care of herself without any help. So when Rhine, tries to take care of her, and help her to the bathroom she says she can do it by herself. “ Pleased, she took a few steps. To her disappointment she was still weak, but  decided if she went slowly she could make it to the washroom  and back without collapsing. The plan went well, sort of. By the time she made it back to the bedroom, she was sweating profusely, her breathing was labored and Rhine was standing in the room looking at her ready to scold like a parent”( pg. 57).  She definitely made it harder for Rhine to sweep Eddy off her feet, she wanted to know that even though they would be together she could still have her dreams(opening up her own restaurant). Rhine didn't want to take away her freedom of making her own decisions or her dreams, he just wanted to show her how much he wanted her and loved her for being a strong independent women she is. She definitely got to the point where she gave Rhine the dinner date he asked for and explored a sexual way with him. Eventually, she opened up her heart  to him, even though she didn't want to settle down here she was happy.