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Gender Equality In The Great Gatsby

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Today there are about 1.45 million stay-at-home dads according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (Latshaw). The United States Department of Labor states that 57% of women currently participate in the workforce (“Data & Statistics”). Although these numbers are not quite perfect, they exemplify how society is changing from its sexist and stereotypical ways. Many people today are still fighting for gender equality, but there has been a significant change recently. Although it has become acceptable for women to work and men to take care of the kids, men and women were subjected to different roles in the 1920’s. Men worked to pay the bills, while the wife stayed at home to take care of the house and the kids. Women were seen as inferior to men …show more content…

Fitzgerald’s depiction of men and women in The Great Gatsby articulate the gender roles of the 1920’s in a patriarchal light where women are submissive and compliant because of ignorance and male …show more content…

Tom Buchanan feels his role in society is to control others because he feels superior in status and gender. Lehan, in The Great Gatsby: The Limits of Wonder, studies how Tom’s brutality and impulse for power affects others: “The idea of power in The Great Gatsby is embodied in Tom Buchanan. He is not only a man of powerful build and commanding presence, but he exudes a kind of authority as he ushers people about as well as forcing moral pronouncements on them” (80). Tom Buchanan’s brutality and force within the novel represents a strong sense of male supremacy in the Jazz Age. He shows his superiority in society by using authoritative language and actions to dominate the easily oppressed women. The self-confidence and hubris Tom Buchanan possesses diminishes the dignity of his peers because masculinity was shown through suppression of others. After describing the desolate and grotesque valley of ashes, Fitzgerald labels Tom as the archetypal callous man in the Jazz Age by degrading not only his wife, Daisy Buchanan but his

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“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald, exposes the American Society during the 1920’s. The author displays many heroes and villain throughout the book. The characters in the novel are mostly mixtures of good and evil. Although the book does not clearly delineate the villains or heroes, there is one character who tends to stand out as a villain known as Tom Buchanan. Tom Buchanan is a major character in the book.

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When the gender/feminist lens is applied to The Great Gatsby, it can be clearly shown that men and women are treated differently. Society stereotypes the way women and men should act or behave, such as being masculine and feminine. When a certain gender steps over that boundary, they get looked upon as different or strange. Tom Buchanan and Jordan Baker represent perfect examples of these stereotypes. Tom embodies the tough, masculine, successful man, while Jordan isn’t quite the stereotypical woman due to her accomplishments and occupation.

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1215 Words | 5 Pages

Have you ever wondered what the stereotypes of women were in the 1920’s? Well, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, there are three different types of stereotypes for women. In this book, a man named Nick Carraway moves near a billionaire who goes by the name Gatsby. Gatsby hosts many parties which include many different types of people, such as gold diggers, golden girls, and the new women. Throughout this book, Nick gets to meet all three types of these girls, and gets to spend time with them.

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Tom Buchanan : Fragile Masculinity at Its Finest Tom Buchanan is the most pathetic character in The Great Gatsby. His presented powerful, masculine attitude is, in reality, a cover up for his insecurities, and if all of his wealth and power is taken away, he is left hollow and forlorn. In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald published The Great Gatsby, a fictional novel detailing the roaring 20’s and the plights of the upper class. Tom Buchanan is a prominent figure in this upper class, with large amounts of wealth, a beautiful wife, and a healthy baby girl. However, he also has a well known affair with another woman, is often temperamental and violent, and rarely has to face the consequences of his actions.

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826 Words | 4 Pages

The Great Gatsby is an American novel written by Scott Fitzgerald. On the surface, the book revolves around the concept of romance, the love between two individuals. However, the novel incorporates less of a romantic scope and rather focuses on the theme of the American Dream in the 1920s. Fitzgerald depicts the 1920’s as an era of decline in moral values. The strong desire for luxurious pleasure and money ultimately corrupts the American dream which was originally about individualism.

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642 Words | 3 Pages

Fitzgerald is hinting that men have life easier than women do. Throughout “The Great Gatsby” the men act as if they have control and leverage over the women. The main male characters that are going to be compared and contrasted are going to be Tom Buchanan and George Wilson. These men have very similar characteristics when it comes to dealing with their attitudes toward women, their ways of showing violence, and their reactions to being cheated on. In this essay you will have an understanding from these characteristics.

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924 Words | 4 Pages

In a book about a tragic love story, one would not expect to find a deeper meaning behind the dangers of jealousy or peril of lust. However, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, there is a deeper meaning beyond jealousy and love. In The Great Gatsby, the author uses an empathetic storyline as a symbol to unwittingly give a complex depiction of the nuisance that people create that not only destroy our world but our society and gives warning to what will occur if we continue the path of destruction. With this intention, the brilliant opinionated writer, expressed his opinion through symbols such as the characters he uses, the setting the story takes place in, and the objects he uses in the book.

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Tom Buchanan is Fitzgerald’s masterpiece of creating a character who portrays the life, and characteristics as an alpha male. Through the vision of character’s surrounding Tom we began to see how his loftier masculinity characterizes him in the story. I begin with a quote from Tom’s wife Daisy that embodies the intimidating masculine characteristics of Tom, “I know you didn’t mean to, but you did do it. That’s what I get for marrying a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen of a-----” (Fitzgerald 12). In this quote from Daisy we view a list of characteristics that are associated with Tom’s masculinity.

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1421 Words | 6 Pages

Scott Fitzgerald’s depiction of women in The Great Gatsby readers see women are prepared to emerge into the modern way of life, but society is not ready for the new nontraditional image of

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In today’s duplicitous society, men often pursue the “perfect woman”. This woman is construed to be; fit, provocative and ravishing. However, in greatly distinguished American novel, The Great Gatsby, the men have strayed from stalking women for their looks. Instead, Gatsby chases Daisy to achieve her as a prize of his bounty and any affection Gatsby demonstrates toward her, is simply to appease to her sense of status and wealth. The author F. Scott Fitzgerald, exhibits Gatsby’s these feelings for Daisy through the clever usage of connotation, symbolism and metaphors.

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The Roaring Twenties Have you ever wondered what the stereotypes of women were in the 1920’s? Well, in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book, The Great Gatsby, there are three major different types of stereotypes of women. In this book, a man named Nick Carraway moves near a millionaire who goes by the name Gatsby. Gatsby hosts frequent parties which include several different types of people, such as gold diggers, golden girls, and the new women. Throughout this book, Nick gets to meet all three types of these girls, and gets to spend time with them.

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Tom was arrogant in his ways and put himself before others. Even though he claimed to be loyal to Daisy, he could not hide his mistress from everyone. Tom was a brute of a man and claimed to be part of a master race. His arrogance and neglection of Daisy and others end up getting him into trouble. Gatsby did everything out of love for Daisy and it was as if he had blinders on and could only see a future for himself with her in it.

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2439 Words | 10 Pages

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel, The Great Gatsby, is full of themes of wealth, love, and tragedy. Also during the time this book was written, women’s suffrage had begun, so women were taking their first steps towards equality with men. The three main women characters in the novel: Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, all have things in common but can be vastly different; they reflect the view of women in the early 20th century. The Great Gatsby portrays the characters Daisy, Myrtle, and Jordan as stereotypes of women during the 1920s, seen in their behavior, beliefs, and their ultimate fate.

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1399 Words | 6 Pages

Through use of comparison between Daisy Buchanan, Myrtle Wilson, and Jordan Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s message about women and feminine power is that having a man deprives the women of their power, ranking higher in social standards deepens the wound of selfishness, and being deceptive

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878 Words | 4 Pages

Historians agree that feminism’s fate broke through in the 1920’s, yet this reformation of social justice was not been embraced by a majority of Americans. In this decade, women were finally allowed to vote, they cut their hair short, and rebelled against the norms of society; however, misogyny remained mentally within the community through media, politics, and even in literature. In 1925, five years after the flappers movement was initiated in America, F. Scott Fitzgerald published his most reputable novel: The Great Gatsby, where the misportrayal of women is apparent within the distinctive natures of his characters. Fitzgerald’s novel focuses on the complexities of American society and the struggles to attain dreams, all while enduring the

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