Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

From the feminist criticism, everything seems somehow related to everything else. Feminism is involved in any given field cannot be cordoned off. Marxism, however, ignored the position of women which is strange as its key concepts are the “struggle between social classes and the blinding effects of ideology”, it might have been employed to analyze the social situation of women. Feminism saw clearly that the widespread of negative stereotyping of women in literature and film constituted a formidable obstacle on the road of true equality causing the men to act exploitative, denigrating and repressive in their relations with women. The Feminist criticism displays that independent women are either a “seductress or dissatisfied shrew”. They either use their sexuality or they are bad tempered and aggressively assertive which doesn’t give a very positive view. Dependent women are viewed as the “cute but helpless or self-sacrificing”. They lose something in order to help someone else which received appraisal. The “Great Gatsby” is an example of negative stereotyping, what the Feminism fights against. The “Great Gatsby” is about the adventures of Nick Carraway in East/West Egg and his perceptions about the people there, especially the women (Daisy, Jordan and Myrtle). The women represent the negative stereotyping of women; Daisy the “cute but helpless” and Myrtle the “Unworldly, self-sacrificing angel” representing the typical stereotyped woman and Jordan the “Dissatisfied shrew”

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Women were not equal to men during the era of the 1920’s. In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald represents a negative, misogynistic, stereotypical view of the various types of women during the era of the 1920’s. During the that time, women were not portrayed in a positive light., By writing a book centered around that time period, it causes one to wonder the message Fitzgerald was trying to illustrate about women and what he was saying about society as a whole. Fitzgerald represents the view of women within the 20’s by depicting each character as a representation of the many stereotypes occurring within that era. The main characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan each display pertinent roles within the story representing how women’s roles were

The novel’s key female character, Daisy Buchannan, represents the role of Tom’s shallow trophy wife who is idolized as the “ideal” individual within the consciousness of Jay Gatsby. Subsequently it was never Daisy’s knowledge or character type that attracted Gatsby; it was more based upon her wealth, “That was it. I 'd never understood before. It was full of money—that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, [and] the cymbals ' song of it” (Fitzgerald, 99). Although Daisy is far from being flawless, Gatsby interprets

“People share a common nature but are trained in gender roles” (Blake, Lillie). Women and men are assigned specific jobs and are told at a young age what their futures should look like. Women are taught to be beautiful and dependent on a man. It is accepted more by society for men to take on many mistresses, while not for women. Gender roles are a set of rules of the social norms in the society specifically made for each gender. In the 1920s, women and men had specific roles in the house and in workplace. Throughout The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald argues that in some aspect of life men are superior to women, but on the other hand he asserts that women make important decisions for themselves. Through a multitude of actions and lies between characters, Fitzgerald portrays the social norm in the society, where both men and women are shown to take charge at varying times.

In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, gender roles are used in a conservative way. The men are to make the money, buy the house, pay the bills and for everything else. The women are there to be the typical “house wife” and have the men buy them things. In the 1920’s men were more dominant over women so the women didn’t really have a high spot in society if they weren’t married to a wealthy man, or if they weren’t a professional athlete or a performer (actress, dancer, etc…). Myrtle Wilson, Jordan Baker, and Daisy Buchanan are an example of women that get dominated by men and prove men had the main role in society but one of them proves that women don’t necessarily need a man. They all prove that women have power, just in a different

The society that exist in today’s day and age greatly differs from the era of the past. The epitome of today’s time include the internet, legal gay marriages, smart phones and the existence of feminists. Clearly, people have evolved quite a significant amount since the dawn of time, especially when compared to the roaring twenties. From that point and further back in time, women were seen as inferior to men and were treated second to them. However, historically speaking, women of the 1920’s were beginning to slowly even out the playing field when they were given suffrage. Despite that fact, many women were still viewed as a pawn for men, which was seen the book, the Great Gatsby. Even though the narrative focused greatly on male characters,

The great Gatsby gives us an accurate insight into the 1920s zeitgeist regarding the role of women in society. America was in a state of an economic boom and rapid change. Society had become less conservative after world war one. The role of women was revolutionary during this time and although women had a lot more freedom now; they were still confined to their sexist role within society; Men were still seen as the dominant gender. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the extremities of gender and social class, and the lack of independence this brought upon women. This essay will discuss the three major female characters and the ideas that Fitzgerald confronts of female stereotypes of the 1920s.

For centuries, it has been documented that women naturally play the “expressive” role within their family unit. Ironically, these creatures, ones who have always been subjected to being treated like delicate, fragile and overly emotional beings, have been oppressed by their other counterparts: men. With just the significant biological difference of reproductive organs, the battle between the sexes seems to never end. This is a particular case in the fiction novel written by: F. Scott Fitzgerald titled: The Great Gatsby, written in 1925. Nevertheless, understanding how men, homosapiens that are immediately categorised as playing the “instrumental” role in society, were able to deviously “one-up” women in the past is important

Throughout history, men and women have differed in their treatment, rights, and stereotypes. As time proceeded, gender began to play less of a role in determining people’s occupations and reputations, yet men and women were still not entirely equal in the eyes of many. Specifically, the 1920s in America was the turning point in which women were granted the right to vote, but sexism was still omnipresent. F. Scott Fitzgerald highlighted gender inequality during this era in his novel, The Great Gatsby, by illustrating the male characters’ dominance over the female characters in various scenarios. One prime example of male dominance is the treatment of Myrtle during the scene in the Valley of Ashes.

Fitzgerald also explores the downsides of being born into money, particularly in the case of women. Here, the delicate subject of gender roles is pursued, as there were discernable differences in the expectations of boys and girls in the 1920s. Raised as a debutante, Daisy was brought up to be “seen and not heard,” and to be admired for her beauty and daintiness. This societal and parental programming had a clear effect on her adult emotional expression. Though there was clear unspoken tension between Buchanan and Gatsby, it was not until Tom directly confronted Gatsby in the hotel room that Daisy outwardly expressed any resistance to Tom.

The narrator, Nick is grouping together the women of the party and describing their persona all in the same way. The men of the party are comforting them, as they are providing protection and masculinity to the “swooning” and “puppyish” women. The women are following the social norm/stereotype that men must be their protectors because they are such frail beings and must be accompanied by a man. These societal standards were represented through the specific character, Daisy Buchanan and her actions throughout the novel. Daisy has intentional ignorance of her husband, Tom’s multiple affairs showing her lack of empowerment and fear of disrupting the gender roles. The woman was meant to be the housewife, caring for the children, and staying home. Daisy believes women should not be intelligent and applies these expectations to her own daughter: "I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right, ' I said, 'I 'm glad it 's a girl. And I hope she 'll be a fool—that 's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 116-118). It is evident that Daisy was disappointed by the gender of her baby, and thinks little of what a woman can be in

It is she for whom men compete, and possessing her is the clearest sign that one has made it into that magical world. Gatsby's desire for Daisy is enhanced by the fact that she is the object of the desires of many other men. Daisy is the most expensive item on the market as Tom points out when he gives her a string of pearls valued at $350,000 on the night before they are married. She is that which money exists to buy. Having her makes Tom Buchanan's house in East Egg finished and "right"; not having her makes Gatsby's mansion in West Egg incomplete and "wrong." Daisy is viewed as a possession rather than a person. There are no emotional relations between Gatsby and Daisy to give an account of; there is only an emotional relation between Gatsby and his "unutterable visions," of which she is the unwitting symbol.

During the Jazz Era, almost every women was depended on men for their money. Wealth should not considered as important as respect and respect is something everyone deserves, not only men. The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald about rich people that lived in New York during the Jazz Era. The Great Gatsby is about a rich man named Jay Gatsby who tries to win his love back from someone through his power and wealth. The role of women in The Great Gatsby is important because it talks about the amount of freedom and power they have compared to men. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, women are given no respect, controlled by men, and are treated like trophies to win over.

By implying that Gatsby would have to steal a ring for Daisy, Tom displays his view that Gatsby is significantly lower than himself. In the end, Daisy chooses to stay with Tom and through assembling the pieces that Fitzgerald provided his readers with, we can infer that it was largely due to Tom’s ‘top of the pyramid’ social status. While both Gatsby and Tom were very wealthy, Tom’s money was the more fashionable ‘old money’ and Gatsby’s was ‘new money’. Even more, Gatsby’s money was acquired through less than respectable ways. Tom informs us “’I picked [Gatsby] for a bootlegger the first time I saw him, and I wasn’t far wrong’” (133). Instead of joining Gatsby, with whom she would possibly be happier with, Daisy decides to stay with Tom and continue to reside at the top of the social pyramid.