Unveiling the Red Clowns: Sexual Violence Against Female Adolescents as Demonstrated in "The House on Mango Street" Tasnia Tahsin

The perception of the crucial and critical topic of sex held by the majority of adolescents, even in today’s progressive world, is alarmingly apocryphal. The world’s frantic attempts to preserve the beauty of childhood’s innocence and the alluring vision of passionate love has led inexperienced adolescents to conceive an idealistic and unrealistic image of sex. This fallacious belief is a severe threat for young girls who may unknowingly become victims of harrowing sexual encounters. The revolutionary author, Sandra Cisneros uses the vignette “Red Clowns” within her autobiographical novel “The House on Mango Street” to poignantly depict the socially suppressed horrors of sexual oppression. This haunting story is narrated by the novel’s adolescent protagonist, Esperanza, after she is sexually molested at a carnival while she was waiting for her friend, Sally.

The vision of sex traditionally painted by the media is radically misleading. Most movies and novels portray sex as a sacred and romantic union of two love-struck individuals. The gory details of rape and other forms of violent sexual assaults are rarely mentioned. The few books and movies that expose this dark alter ego of sex are carefully concealed from the unsuspecting...