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Clothing In The Great Gatsby

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Throughout the 1920s, the role of women was constantly changing. This change was due to the type of work that they did during World War I. This time brought along the start of flappers. These women smoked in town, did all the new dances, and had sex all of the time. The women’s clothing also changed. Their clothing was more convenient for activity and they stopped wearing long skirts and tight clothing. Divorces during this time skyrocketed because of how much easy they were to have. A graph by Dr. Andrew Cherlin, who is a Sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, showed that in the 1880s, divorce happened about two times for every one thousand marriages. In the 1930s, divorced happened about ten times for every one thousand marriages. …show more content…

In an article by Harold Bloom titled The Great Gatsby, he says that “...young women [are viewed] as status objects and ciphers for wealth and influence.” Myrtle and Daisy both work on Tom in different ways, and George Wilson is more attached to his wife, and more vulnerable to her loss, than he thinks, while Tom emerges as protective of Daisy. In The Sexual Drama of The Great Gatsby, Edward Wasiolek says that “Myrtle is Tom's dirty woman and as the image of underground and dirty sex, she embodies what Gatsby has repressed in his consciousness and symbolizes what Gatsby has attempted to kill in himself.” Tom Buchanan shows no respect for the opposite gender. Even though Tom does this, Daisy decides to act like a fool on her own. While she is talking about her daughter she says, "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 6). It is hard for someone to really care about themselves and grow as a person if all they think that they can be is a fool. It is difficult because some of the women can not do anything to get themselves out of this situation because they do not have the financial status to do it. Women in this book are treated very unjustly and it is not

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