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A Raisin In The Sun Gender Roles

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Gender Roles in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun
The traditional gender roles in the 1950’s and today negatively impact our lives. In the play A Raisin in the Sun 1958 by Lorraine Hansberry, she uses the characters to express the truth about following the norms. She introduces and defines these gender roles by calling the reader to defy conforming to the stereotypes.
Lorraine Hansberry portrays the masculine gender role, through Walter and his failure to live up to the responsibility of being a strong male role model. These gender roles have not quite changed in many years, though peoples opinions on them have. A masculine gender role being the head man and provider for the family, to demonstrate qualities like power, strength, …show more content…

She not only lost her tuition because of her brother, but Walter dismissed Beneatha and her dreams. Walter is very stereotypical when it comes to gender. He believes and expresses that Beneatha should no longer try to be a doctor. He believes that women are meant to stay home and take care of their husbands. In Act 1 Scene 1, Walter says ”who the hell told you you had to be a doctor? If you so crazy ’bout messing ’round with sick people—then go be a nurse like other women—or just get married and be quiet …” (38). Walter tends to say stuff like this throughout the entire book, exemplifying that women are told to abide by the norms. Beneatha wants to do more than conform like the rest of women, she wants to chase her dreams. She doesn't want to stay home and take care of a family and house, or have to work some horrible job that wont pay her enough. Hansberry uses Beneathas’ character to create conflict and make others think twice about the gender roles set up. This makes the reader question lots of things happening in the younger family and in the …show more content…

She does this because there are normally very defined gender roles in families. These gender roles influence how partners share household chores, how family members communicate with one another, and how parents interact with their children. For children these roles start at a young age because they grow up around it. Girls are typically assigned domestic tasks like cooking and cleaning, while boys are more likely to be assigned maintenance tasks like mowing the grass. This division of labor in the home teaches kids that they should assume different roles depending on their gender. Teaching children to comply with gender roles is destructive to them. If Walter continues to show his son that being the head of a family, and treating others in a disrespectful manner is the right way to live, nothing will change. No one will want to step out of the stereotypical roles if that's what they were taught their whole lives. This creates a cycle that can only break if people like Hansberry speak up on

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Beneatha wants to become a doctor but Walter and the rest of her family wonder why she just does not become a nurse instead. The fact that her family questions her dream of helping people in the way she wants too can really put her down. A quote that can explain this is when Beneatha is ranting to Asagai about her struggle, “And where does it end? […] An end to misery! To stupidity!

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Walter, believes Beneatha should give up on her dream of becoming a doctor. In the story, he states, ¨If you so crazy ´bout messing ´round with sick people- then go be a nurse like other women- or just get married and be quiet...¨(Hansberry 38). Her attitude towards his response was very fitting for the situation. She is tired of his attitude toward his dream and lets him know by telling him to give up. It seems as if Walter was the reason for Beneatha 's dream to become deferred.

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This shows the family such as Mama and Ruth that they can’t trust Walter with anything now because he lost all of the portion of the money. He is looked down upon for not becoming the “Man” of the house and taking full responsibility when he is supposed to. Another traditional gender role that I see Hansberry challenging is Beneatha in the middle of the book. Beneatha explains how she has started taking guitar lessons Mama and Ruth laugh out loud making fun of her and asking why she wants to play the guitar. All of sudden she gets upset when Mama and Ruth don’t take it seriously “How come you done taken it in your mind to learn to play the guitar?”

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Beneatha wants to study to become a doctor, but instead Walter Lee wants to spend his family’s insurance money so he can open a liquor store with Willy and Bobo his friends and be a man. Since Walter Lee and his family were in a bad position and were very poor it was Walter Younger’s responsibility to keep the family together and he saw this a very big responsibility. He frequently complained about being a chauffeur and ridding rich people, every day when he woke up in the morning. He would always fight with his wife Ruth, Mama and his sister Beneatha. For instance (Hansberry 32-34) he says to Ruth his wife “You tired, ain’t you?

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She wants to become a doctor and get the education she needs to become one. Throughout the play she proves that her independence means a lot to her. Beneatha wants to be free and have her own life, just like the American Dream. In the play she says to Mama and Ruth, “Listen, I’m going to be a doctor. I’m not worried about who I’m going to marry yet-if I ever get married” (Hansberry32).

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The traditional gender roles are noticeable in the novel because the women were either in the homes or in the Red Center. The men could have different kinds of jobs and even rise to a higher social status. Women were to remain the same all through their

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Trusting Walter, her son, she mistakenly gave him the money. Mama specifically told Walter to put away some money away for Beneatha Walter's sister. Like Walter Beneatha has big dreams. She wants to go to medical school

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The one-act play, “Trifles,” by Susan Glaspell, has several themes that are incorporated within it. There are several dominant ideas such as female identity, patriarchal dominance, isolation, and justice are themes that are all reflected in different ways throughout the play; however, gender is the main theme of “Trifles.” There is a considerable difference between the roles of the men and the women in this play. The men are expected to act in a more controlling, dominant way, while the women are expected to act in the typical ‘housekeeper’ fashion. The theme of gender is brought out through the play in many dramatic elements such as character, tone, and dramatic irony.

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She defies the ideal life for a woman and expresses her opinion loud and clear. Beneatha throughout the play finds herself and her African American roots. Walter does not approve of Beneatha’s hopes to become a doctor he tells her, “If you so crazy ‘bout messing ‘round with sick people---then go be a nurse like other women---or just get married and be quiet. . .” (1.1.125) These social issues that the characters faced in their lives made them out to be the people that they were meant to be.

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Beneatha dreams to be a doctor, which is a male-dominated profession. She says, “I am going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 33). This shows her feminist attitude in the play when Beneatha takes a largely optimistic stance when facing troubles of entering a male-dominated profession, implying that she is a ‘non-conformist’. Additionally, Beneatha refuses to “just get married and be quiet” (Hansberry 22), as her chauvinistic brother, Walter Lee, expects her to be.

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Whereas Ruth adheres to patriarchal standards, Beneatha rebels against them. Hansberry contrasts Ruth and Beneatha to study how their adherence affects their personal and social well-beings. Through her play, she suggests that opposing the patriarchy leads to a more positive mindset and more stable relationships. In conforming to patriarchal norms, Ruth fulfills the roles of homemaker and wife. In the first scene of the play, Ruth makes breakfast and tells her son Travis, “Sit down and have your breakfast,” signifying that she has embraced her role as mother (Hansberry 490).

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His sister, Beneatha, wants to become a doctor and Walter isn't very supportive of her decision. Walter's wife, Ruth, is the recipient of the majority of Walter's anger and sexist remarks. In Act 1 Scene 1, the audience learns that Beneatha, a colored woman, wants to become a doctor and attends medical school. Beneatha and Walter begin to banter with each other about Mama’s money.

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Hence, A Raisin in the Sun play is feminist since it depicts the leadership of a woman who exerts control on the collective decisions for the family, when instead, a woman is stereotypically expected to be submissive to the men in the

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In Act 1, Beneatha’s quest to find her personal identity is seen in the way she expresses herself, her ambitions, her roots and the way she deviates from what is acceptable in her family. She tries to find ways to express herself such as trying different hobbies. In the past, Beneatha has been a part of a play-acting group, horseback-riding club, and in Act 1 starts guitar lessons (47). She also has the ambition to become a doctor which is looked down upon by her brother, Walter Lee (38). Additionally, her African roots are important to her search for identity.

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Hansberry portrays the role of fathers within their families through her only male character in the play, Walter Lee Younger. She stresses the fact that the role of fathers is to be a role model for his child. Fathers influence their children significantly especially their sons. Boys will model themselves after their dads since they look at fathers’ behaviors and recognize those behaviors as successful (Gross). As a father, Walter believes that he is not a qualitative role model to his son, Travis Younger.

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