Gender Expectations in Different Cultures “Women are supposed to cook and do house chores… Women should be responsible for raising children… Men should tell women what they should do… Men are superior than women.” Gender expectations are evident in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and the society in Korea. Due to their different culture and lifestyle, The Youngers, the African American family, in A Raisin in the Sun have gender expectations that are different from the those in Korea. Gender expectations in the Youngers and Korea and are mainly noticeable in these three categories: occupation, personality traits, and physical appearance. Occupation and domestic behaviors play a major role in gender responsibilities in 1950s United States …show more content…
In A Raisin in the Sun, Walter and Ruth have a personality that correlates to the traditional gender expectation. Walter has an abrupt nature, while Ruth is demure and quiet; the temperament of the two characters corresponds to a man expectation to be dominant and superior to women. Walter comments, “Don’t call it that. See there, that just goes to show you what women understand about the world. Baby, don’t nothing happen for you in this world ’less you pay somebody off!” (Act 1, Scene 1). Through the quote, it suggests that women should be ignorant about the world, and calling “baby” instead of her name shows the inferiority of the women to men. In addition, Walter is expected to be the head of the family; Mama says, “It ain’t much, but it’s all I got in the world and I’m putting it in your hands. I’m telling you to be the head of this family from now on like you supposed to be” (Act 2, Scene 2). Although Walter does not deserve the power, the manhood of Walter Lee enables him to “control” the family. Conversely, Beneatha’s talkativeness and her aggressive personality are against how a 1950s African American should act. Ruth asks “Can’t you be a little sweeter sometimes? (Act 1, Scene 1)” to indicate the modest characteristics women should have. Furthermore, Ruth’s decision of abortion at the beginning of the play was unconventional since it was against gender expectation because it is against her duty as a wife and a mother. In Korea nowadays, the personality of a person is not judged based on their sex. Women are not expected to be shy and passive; not all women are clean and organized. Men are not expected to be tough and belligerent; not all men are lazy and disorganized. Although gender expectation greatly impacts the Youngers by categorizing them to superior and inferior, it scarcely affects people’s identity in
The violence resulted by racism lasted for remained in U.S. society for hundreds of years, it is only a matter of physical or mental violence. Black people during the history of U.S.A. face discrimination, ridicule, verbal abusement and even physical struggles from the White people.. During the time period after WWII, the conflicts between the black population and the white population rise to a higher level due to the introduction of redlining. Many newspapers, magazines, books and videos were based off on real events happening on black people due to redlining. The book “A Raisin in the Sun” wrote by Lorraine Hansberry was a prominent figure that reveal the life of black people to everyone in the society during this time period.
The idea of manhood is something that has come up again and again throughout history. It is a topic that has been the themes of many novels and even some plays. Lorraine Hansberry focuses on the concept of manhood in her well-known play A Raisin in the Sun. In this play, Hansberry develops the idea of manhood through several characters, primarily Walter. She shows that being a man does not just have to do with what material items you have in your life but also your character and what you are like as a person.
A Look at Gender Expectations in Japanese Society Japan
In “To Be a Man,” Julie Burrell claims that there are two types of masculinity present in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun: Mama’s version of masculinity that’s rooted from “a life-affirming Black tradition” and Walter’s version of masculinity that’s dependent on earning money for the family. (3). Initially, in Hansberry’s play, Walter was solely focused on acquiring power through wealth; however, with the decision he made to move into the white neighborhood in the end, he had grew out of his mindset of having a “capitalist masculinity.” Burrell stated that “Walter's newfound manhood...allows him to support the dreams of the women in the household against the obstacles of racist and sexist oppression"
In "a raisin in the sun." Walter doesn 't believe that mom is trying to give them a better life. Walter thoughts on what she 's trying to do is dumb. Author believes he knows what he 's doing, and believes that his ideas of a bar is right. Beneatha Believe is the one what mama is doing is right and what she wants to do for the family.
As growing up in the East Asian culture, the agents such as school, mass media, friends, family, etc. had very strict expectations and conservative ideology on gender. Gender norms were prominent in my culture and there were strict norms that considered what types of behaviors are acceptable and appropriate for being a female or a male. For instance, female children in the school needed wipe the floors of the classroom, during gym time girls didn 't get to play soccer, hockey, any sports that is considered as ‘men sports’ etc. Today, laws give women near equal status however women are still expected to behave in a way that meets cultural gender norms. For instance, in my culture, women should take care of the family and even if they have a job
This indicates Walter has forgotten just how much this means to his family and that now he has put his own greed ahead of his sister’s future. Thus, the need of money making one forget his families and needs is shown through the climax of A Raisin in the
6. How can social expectations change our own perspective of ourselves? 7. Who has a harder role in life, male or females? American Socialization
Through the Christian faith, Korean women felt a sense of liberty that they were unaccustomed to because Korean traditional family-system spelled out set of marital roles; husband earns a living and commands his submissive wife (Rhee 66). They have always been expected to play out a subordinate, filial role. This filial role can be compared with the concept of filial piety in Milton Murayama’s “All I Asking For Is My Body”; which is a Confucian philosophy that stresses an individuals’ duty of respect to the elders. Frankly, I think it is an idea with major drawbacks because of its limiting factor.
Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun presents the rise of feminism in America in the 1960s. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, with the feminist notions displayed in the play, women establish their rights to fulfil their individual dreams which diverge from traditional conventions of that time. Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger (Mama) and Ruth Younger are the three primary characters displaying evidences of feminism in the play. Moreover, Hansberry creates male characters who demonstrate oppressive attitudes towards women yet enhance the feminist ideology in the play. A Raisin in the Sun is feminist because, the play encourages women to develop an identity for themselves, particularly through education and career.
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.
In this situation, Walter desire for dominance is exposed because if he is the one earning the money, he is able to use it any way he wants. When the Younger family received the life insurance money as a result of the passing of Mama’s husband, Walter had little say in how the money was going to be used because it did not belong to him. Walter’s power of authority was lost as a result of
Walter was introduced as a man who cared about nothing other than his business. He had sacrificed his sister’s dream of becoming a doctor, and held the power to wipe out Mama’s dream for a better home. Walter sees the gender roles as boundaries keeping him from loosening up to his family. He is given the insight that men must be powerful, wealthy, and demanding for them to truly be the head of the household. However, Walter sees past these gender roles, and not only challenges these rigid roles, but he also regains his family’s trust along the
Furthermore, investigating the relationship between female and perfection in the Korean culture can be an interesting topic for the class per se; whereas in the United States bravery and masculinity are more traditional when talking about the
Just within the recent decades, men and women started to fight against the gender stereotypes and started to challenge their roles in a family and in the society. The play, A Raisin in the Sun, portrays the lives of African–Americans during the 1950s. Lorraine Hansberry, a writer and a social activist, reinforced the traditional gender roles, especially female’s, by depicting how the Youngers interact and how they act in an economical struggle. Throughout the play, A Raisin in the Sun, she uses Walter Lee Younger, Ruth Younger and Lena Younger to reinforce the traditional role of fathers, wives and mothers within a family.