Sexism In Antigone

After reading Antigone, many people finish the book with the idea that Haimon was the character that had the most will and strength. He stood up to his father, defending the woman he loves and risking his home and father's trust to save her. Although Haimon did attempt to save Antigone from her death, Antigone was fearless, independent and determined during her mission to let her brother rest in peace. During the time when the play was written, a person who has died would not be fully at peace without a burial ceremony. Antigone wants justice for her brother and is willing to risk her life to accomplish it. In the past, our society has believed that women need to depend on a man to care for her and protect her. In this day and age, more and

This play is a perfect example of a woman, following what she believes in and accomplishing her goal. In society, women are faced with many challenges that men just don't have to deal with. To this day, women are treated as inferior to men in every setting; work, school, public and even in households. Although I do think that Sophocles did separate Antigone's character, making her more independent and unconventional than the “traditional woman,” I think that there is more to the story. Sophocles still included Haiman, making him seem more heroic due to the fact that he defends her and kills himself over her body. People's minds get clouded by Haiman’s “heroic” acts while in fact Antigone was the real hero. How do we start progressing to the next step? Getting rid of sexism is such a huge topic today but obviously, there is still a huge amount of steps we need to accomplish to make our goals reality. The first step to change is realization. We need people to understand that this won’t go away on its own and sexist phrases and actions are getting old fast. If we want change, we have to take action and do it