The perception of the crucial and critical topic of sex by most teenagers, even in today's progressive world, is alarmingly apocryphal. The world's frantic attempts to preserve the beauty of childhood innocence and the seductive vision of passionate love have led inexperienced adolescents to conceive an idealistic and unrealistic image of sex. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay This fallacious belief is a grave threat to girls who may unknowingly become victims of harrowing sexual encounters. Groundbreaking author Sandra Cisneros uses the vignette “Red Clowns” in her autobiographical novel “The House on Mango Street” to poignantly describe the socially repressed horrors of sexual oppression. This disturbing story is narrated by the novel's teenage protagonist, Esperanza, after she is sexually assaulted at a carnival party while waiting for her friend Sally. The view of sex traditionally portrayed by the media is radically misleading. Most films and novels depict sex as a sacred and romantic union of two love-struck individuals. The gory details of rape and other forms of sexual violence are rarely mentioned. The few books and films that expose this dark sexual alter ego are carefully hidden from the unsuspecting eyes of idealistic teenagers. As a result, most girls grow up naively dreaming of a passionate and loving sexual experience. Esperanza, having believed this dream, is thus left in a state of complete confusion after her traumatic sexual encounter: “As they said it, as it should be, all the storybooks and movies, why did you lie to me? " (Cisneros, 122). This lyrical phrase, composed of staccato fragments, describes Esperanza's broken mental state with heartbreaking clarity. The reader can easily understand, without being explicitly told, that Esperanza's negative sexual experience was the antithesis of what society had led her to expect. Her slightly reproachful tone for having been led to entertain unrealistic romantic ideas then turns into vehement accusations: “I've waited all my life. You're a liar all. All the books and magazines, everything that said something wrong. (Cisneros, 123). The hyperbolic statement, “I've been waiting my whole life,” convincingly conveys the crushing disappointment he felt upon seeing his fairytale love dreams dissolving. It also implies that the innocent life she led was over. The personification of “books and magazines” indicates that Esperanza's anger is directed at the people who wrote them. The simplicity of diction used in these terse and childish accusations powerfully portrays his ravaged faith in the integrity of the media and human beings in general. The media is not solely responsible for maintaining this misrepresentation of romantic sex. The people involved in this conspiracy of lies are, in fact, the women themselves. Women's overwhelming personal insecurity makes them wary of sharing unpleasant sexual encounters with others. Therefore, Esperanza heard only stories of tender romance from her best friend, Sally, and was devastated when her experience turned out so brutally different: “Sally, you lied. That wasn't what you said at all. What he did. Where he touched me. I didn't want it, Sally. (Cisneros, 122). Although Esperanza never mentions the details of what happened, the fragmented sentences: “What he did. Where he touched me,” vividly evokes imagesof the harrowing sexual abuse to which she was forced. His pathetic cry, “I didn't mean it, Sally,” conveys his utter helplessness during this event. Throughout this vignette, Esperanza repeatedly berates Sally for lying to her. According to Maria Herrera-Sobek, her “diatribe” is not directed only against Sally, but rather against “the community of women who keep the truth from the younger generations of women in a conspiracy of silence” (Herrera-Sobek, 222). Society's misrepresentation of sex is a major cause of rising rates of sexual assault. Adolescent women are not aware of the dangers of sexual oppression and therefore do not take necessary precautions against it. Instead they do their best to attract men's attention and worship those who succeed. The “Red Clowns” subtly portray this destructive tendency of young women: I was waiting for the red clowns. I was near the pinwheel where you said. And I don't like carnivals anyway. I came to be with you because you laugh on the pinwheel, throw your head back and laugh. I keep your change, say hello, count how many times you pass. Those guys who look at you because you're cute. I love being with you, Sally. You are my friend. (Cisneros, 122-123)This simple passage, filled with powerful imagery, clearly illustrates Esperanza's excessive devotion to her friend Sally. She went to a carnival party, where she was clearly bored, just to be with Sally and was willing to do anything Sally said, even if it meant waiting hours. Although Esperanza justifies her extreme affection for her friend by saying, “I like being with you, Sally. You're my friend,” her earlier remark “Those guys who look at you because you're cute” suggests a different reason for her attachment. Sally attracted boys through flirtatious actions such as throwing her head back and laughing; by spending time with Sally, Esperanza wanted to learn the means of exercising such power over men. Ironically, her attempts to understand the control technique of men led her to experience the most traumatizing event of her life in which a man had complete control over her. Another significant cause of the continued oppression of women in society is the lack of female bonding. Sally's imprudent and selfish decision to leave Esperanza all alone in the carnival to have a romantic fling with a boy is undoubtedly one of the main reasons for her exposure to sexual violence: “But that big boy, where did he take you? I've waited for so long. I waited by the red clowns, just like you said, but you never came, you never came for me” (Cisneros, 123). Even though Sally was supposed to be Esperanza's friend, she abandoned her to go with a "big boy" and never returned. The repetition, “you never came, you never came for me,” vividly describes Esperanza's acute feelings of betrayal. However, the fact that Sally does not return despite promising Esperanza that she would, leaves the reader to wonder whether Sally too could have been subjected to a similar harrowing experience. But Esperanza ignores this and blames Sally entirely for her tragic loss: “Sally Sally a hundred times. Why didn't you hear me when I called? Why didn't you tell them to leave me alone?” (Cisneros, 123). In this passage, Esperanza childishly scolds Sally for not hearing her cries in the middle of a noisy carnival and for not saving her from the boys they were both unable to fight against. Not once does he blame the men directly responsible for the pathetic state he finds himself in. His anger is only directed at Sally because she doesn't have the necessary courageto blame the real culprits. Victims of sexual oppression invariably suffer a period of mental paralysis trauma. They are constantly haunted by memories of this grueling experience despite their desperate attempts to forget. Through her careful use of powerful imagery, Cisneros describes, in Esperanza, the damaged mental state of rape victims with heartbreaking precision: “Sally, make it stop. I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't help but cry. I don't remember. It was dark. I don't remember. I don't remember. Please don't make me tell you everything. (Cisneros, 123). This poignant passage, narrated in a tone of uncontrolled panic, convincingly conveys the torturous mental condition after being sexually assaulted. He asks Sally to "make him stop", even though by then his attackers had all left. This implies that she was tormented by distressing memories of the event. The lines “I couldn't make them go away. I couldn't help but cry,” illustrates his suffocating feelings of utter helplessness. Her repeated cries, "I don't remember," and pitiful plea, "please don't make me tell everything," describe her paralyzing fear of the memories that still haunted her. Sexual oppression is often a form of racial violence. . This seems to be the case with Esperanza. Although the race of her sexual attacker is never directly revealed, Esperanza states that he kept saying, “I love you, I love you Spanish girl” (Cisneros, 123). The beautiful words “I love you” sound repulsively obscene in this context and their repetition only intensifies this feeling of horror. By calling her a “Spanish girl,” he was clearly making fun of her Latina heritage. This insinuates that he himself came from a different racial background. The theme of racial discrimination is prevalent throughout Cisneros' novel, “The House on Mango Street,” but it emerges with the most heartbreaking brutality in this passage. The incredibly funny attitude that most men have towards sexual violence and the sheer resignation with which the majority of women accept that this attitude is leading to an increasing number of rape victims: “Only her dirty nails against the my skin, only its acrid smell. The moon that watched. The tilt-a-whirl. Red clowns laugh with their thick tongues. (Cisneros,123). This passage is filled with the key symbols that Cisneros uses in this impressionistic story. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the moon is an icon of femininity and through the anthropomorphism “moon that watched,” Cisneros portrays the silent tolerance of male oppression by the female population. According to Wikipedia, the tilt-a-whirl is one of the most popular amusement park rides that exhibit “unpredictable chaotic motion.” So the tilt-a-whirl embodies the chaos and confusion that Esperanza felt while being raped. The powerful images created by the phrase “dirty nails against my skin” and the synesthesia “sour smell” provide a harrowing glimpse into Esperanza's feelings of physical violation. Furthermore, the term "red clown" (the title of the chapter), is the most salient symbol in this passage. According to the “Dictionary of Symbolism,” red is “an emotionally charged color” that denotes a multitude of elements including blood, anger, passion, sexual arousal and masculinity. Cisneros then uses red to symbolize Esperanza's blood loss and helpless rage during the tragic sexual encounter. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a clown as "an ignorant, ill-mannered, uncouth and rude man", while Wikipedia calls clowns "comic artists" who attempt to entertain people with their "grotesque appearance" but often evoke instead