The Great Gatsby carefully reveals the domination women encountered in gender roles in the 1920’s. Several social norms existed that degraded the women in a way that even the women felt ashamed but accepted the role. They had no voice at this time and felt obligated to their husbands, because the male role was the head of the household that brought in all the wealth. In his story Fitzgerald talks about the gender roles in a conservative way. In the roaring twenties the men were dominant over women, mainly with Tom, who shows off his substantial strength to overpower them. The characters like Gatsby and Tom choose relationships with women that mirror their relationship with wealth and accomplishment.
As you read on, you’ll learn all about the title role that New York City’s upper classes had in the roaring twenties in the character’s behaviors. Women were regularly interpreted as adornments and less important than the men since they were incompetent to support themselves. You can see how the women in the 1920’s can easily fall in that category because of their behavior shown at one of Gatsby’s parties. “girls were putting their heads on men’s shoulders in a puppyish, convivial way, girls were swooning backward playfully into men’s arms, even into groups, knowing that someone would arrest their falls” (Fitzgerald 50).
Nick has brought together the women at the party and is explaining their role in this story all in the same way. The men at the party are reassuring the women, that they will protect them and maleness to the swooning and puppyish women. The women in the 1920’s had no choice but to following the social norm/stereotype that men need to be their protectors since they are delicate individuals and ought to be led by a man. These women had no clue, or they were just plain naive on how they were living. Some knew, but still lived in that female gender role. They felt like they had no alternatives, but they did, they were just terrified to take that chance.
The first clue of a role switch is with Nick and Jordan. Jordan’s bisexual name showed flair and masculinize her greater than any other woman character. However, towards the end of the story, Nick will use his dominance on her by putting an end to the relationship. The group of women in the story is intriguing, because they do not split up into the historic groups of Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene, instead, not any of them are unadulterated. Myrtle stands out the most to be sensual, but, Jordan and Daisy have on white dresses merely underlines their corruption. Nick talks about Daisy and Jordan’s white dresses. “Daisy and Jordan lay upon an enormous couch, like silver idols, weighing down their own white dresses against the singing breeze of the fans” (Fitzgerald 115).
This reveals exactly how Daisy did nothing but lay around on her couch with Jordan, like beautiful little fools’, minding their looks while Tom was at work, being the provider. Towards the middle of this chapter one Nick will talk about Daisy. “Her face was sad and lovely with bright things in it, bright eyes and a bright passionate mouth, but there was an excitement in her voice that men who had cared for her found difficult to forget” (Fitzgerald 9). Nick is letting us know the way Daisy goes about life. Daisy is described as cheerful and naïve woman in the story, and yet, a portion of her is constantly unhappy. She sank into that time era where the stereotype of women stayed home while the men worked.
Myrtle Wilson is married to George Wilson, a poor, but devoted husband who loves his wife deeply. Myrle is also Tom’s mistress and is one of the women in this story that gives the “good girl” a bad reputation. Myrtle is eager to improve her position in life. That she makes rash decisions that leave a bad impression on her life, such as, getting married to George and developing an affair with Tom. Myrtle only wants to be with Tom because of his wealthy status. Even though Tom mistreats her badly with physical cruelty, Myrtle still stays with him because of the money. Myrtle absolutely ignores her poor husband because she is unhappy with her lifestyle with him. ‘She smiled slowly and walking through her husband, as if he were a ghost shook hands with Tom, looking him flesh in the eye’ (Fitzgerald 25-26). Myrtle exists as a woman who lies, cheats to get whatever she desires, has relationships with other men to get things, and has no sense of worth. Towards the end, all these awful behaviors catch up to her and cause her untimely death.
Although we see more discrepancies than similarities when it came to their obligations back in the 1920’s, the motive behind their acts was often the same. Some of the similarities that you can see in men and women’s roles in The Great Gatsby involve values or social norms, seeing one another as tools, and manipulating their character to attain their goals. As I mentioned above, in the 1920’s the man’s place was to provide for the family and to take care of business matters, and the women were needed to socialize and look elegant, in The Great Gatsby. The men and women in this story also have in common that they see each other as property to gain importance in society. Marrying into wealth was one’s job in 1920’s. Daisy felt compelled to marry for money.
Tom wed to secure a picture-perfect trophy wife, Daisy, and so, their task was completed. Myrtle aims to get prosperity, so she utilizes Tom, and Gatsby desires to be with Daisy, so he utilizes his fortune, each character adding to the story. In this sense, men and women’s responsibilities are primarily the same- they utilize one another to get a superior level in society or to be recognized as superior. The dissimilarities amongst gender roles in The Great Gatsby are diverse. A few of the key differences is how they are portrayed, how their characters are admired, and how they are respected.
At that point in time, men like Tom and Gatsby were dominant and highly respected. Because of their prominence, men’s unfair acts were regularly unnoticed. One illustration of this is Tom’s affair with Myrtle how it’s recognized and at the same time talked about at the dinner table. However, Tom expresses his outlook on women’s affairs by stating “By God, I may be old-fashioned in my ideas, but women run around too much these days to suit me… they meet all kinds of crazy fish” (Fitzgerald 103). All the men in this story are portrayed favorably: Tom Buchanan is rich and powerful, Gatsby is determined, Nick is accurate, and George Wilson is a devoted, hard-working man. As for the women they are perceived as goods, and merely only useful for enjoyment. This era really degrades women and it must be upsetting for the women of today who educate themselves with the readings of gender roles back in the 1920’s. Because women have come a long way since then.
Nowadays, there are some women who don’t need a man’s support. Some are single parents who are providing for their own family with no support of a dominate male figure in the household. In the 1920’s the female gender since birth believed that they had to marry a man of money, but in today’s era, the female gender is a different breed of women who are strong and independent mothers who are a role model for their daughters. By this example, these daughters grow up to be women who can and will make their own decisions in life rather it be a housewife or have a career, some women do both. Either way they have that mentality to accomplish what they want in life. Still today there are some women who are good with the male domination, like Daisy Buchanan.
Daisy, “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” when her daughter is born (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy is voicing this from her own personal experience, with having plenty of experience in a period of gender unfairness. The women in this story are displayed as “trophy wives, mistresses, cheaters, and fools”, and all this was precisely what was anticipated by them. The major difference between gender roles has decreased throughout the years, although the belief society sets of individuals are as compelling as it occurred during the “Roaring Twenties.” Marriages today end up in counseling or even divorce when it comes to affairs. Some men and women do marry for wealth, but mainly for love. The women in this story seem to want just the prosperity when it comes to their marriage.
Today, the lifespan of men and women are now completely different from the lifestyle, in 1920’s, but stereotype’s even now get a say. Nowadays, the man of the house is still expected to bring in the utmost income and women manage the housekeeping and care for the children. Nevertheless, respect is often needed from both genders, as well as a woman’s importance in a workplace is accepted more often. Men and women today know the importance of education and being a “beautiful little fool” certainly isn’t viewed the best a woman can do. In today’s societies, it takes two incomes to support a family and men have come a long way in their thinking that the woman should be at home while they work.
In today’s society, men have become supportive of women having a career. Especially when it benefits their family’s lifestyle. In the Great Gatsby, the single character, Jordan Baker was the closest to break the social walls in the 1920’s. Jordan has a man’s occupation, a unisex name, and is humbly self-sufficient. Jordan Baker would be an inspiration to woman and at this present time women have become a Jordan Baker by having an amazing career and by being independent. Just to name a couple, Katrina Adams, CEO/president, U.S. Tennis Association and Valerie Jarrett’s official title is Assistant to the President. Also, there are plenty of women who are recognized for their sportsmanship like, Serena Williams, who is a tennis star and Alex Morgan, who is an American soccer player and Olympic gold medalist. Women have tossed that gender role out the window since the 1920’s.
In this day of age, men’s responsibilities have remained the same, but then again, their arrogance of authority has enhanced over time. The women’s title role has increased, and they begin to partake in both a career and parental beliefs. To this day, the physical roles of men and women are diverse, although the differences are much less so. In certain American households today, the husband actually sits at home to keep house and look after the children while the wife manages to provide for the family, the roles have reversed. In the Great Gatsby, the importance of each gender, and the influence the social order had on people’s lives were all displayed within the story. Maybe by viewing what they were, the reader can see what they can and ought to become.
