Daisy's Treatment Of Women In The Great Gatsby

Women of Great Gatsby
“The Great Gatsby” was published in 1922. It was written by Scott Fitzgerald. The era of the 1920’s was called “The Roaring Twenties”. In this time period, there were flappers, and women who were criticized by the men in society. Women were restrained in many ways prior to the 1920s, such as not having voting rights. In “Gatsby”, women’s roles in society are emphasized to the point where the reader knows exactly how women were treated back then. They were treated like fools, and like they did not have a say in what they do with their lives. Women’s roles were changing in the 1920s, and this change is reflected in “The Great Gatsby”.
The way women were treated by men in society is brought up multiple times throughout the book. Men cheating on women was normal in the 1920s. Jordan tells Nick that “Tom’s got some woman in New York” (Fitzgerald 15). Daisy has to act like it doesn’t affect her and that she is okay with being cheated on. Women in the past were given no choice. They had to deal with being cheated on.

To be born in society where women are being disrespected is hard.

To give birth to a daughter in that society is even worse, on both the mother and daughter. Daisy tells Nick about when she was pregnant. She says, “She [her daughter] was less than an hour old and Tom was god knows where” (Fitzgerald 16). At the time, Tom was not involved in his own daughter coming into the world, and he leaves Daisy alone so that he can go cheat on her. As Daisy continues the story, she says she cried when she found out it was a girl and says to the nurse, “I’m glad it’s a girl. And I hope she’ll be a fool . . . . a beautiful fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy says that she hopes her daughter will be a fool because that’s how she feels in society. She feels as if every woman is treated unfairly by a man. Daisy’s daughter is growing up to be exactly like Daisy, someone who men take advantage

of.
Tom is not the only man cheating on his wife. During Gatsby’s party, many women are fighting with their “husbands”: “You promised!” (Fitzgerald 51), a lady whispers into her husband’s ear as he is conversing with another woman. It shows that he talks to other women when his wife is not around, but the wife does not have enough courage or strength to leave him.
Womanhood is destroyed in Gatsby. George Wilson’s neighbor is concerned about a noise he hears from the Wilsons’ garage. George says “I’ve got my wife locked up there, she’s going to stay there…then we’re going to move away (Fitzgerald 136). Myrtle is accused of having an affair and this is her consequence. Myrtle fights back and starts screaming “Beat me! Throw me down, and beat me you dirty little coward” (Fitzgerald 137), and runs out of the garage. Daisy accidentally kills Myrtle with her car.
By Fitzgerald’s time, Women had begun to fight for the rights they deserve. In 1848, a feminists gathering, led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony took place at Seneca Falls, New York. In 1879, History of Woman Suffrage was published and it divided up the two organizations, one led by Lucy Stone, American Woman Suffrage Association, and the other led by Stanton and Anthony, National Woman Suffrage Association. As the suffrage movement went on, the 19th amendment was ratified. The 19th amendment gave all women the right to vote (Yearly).
In 1920, there was a conventional textbook that not only talked about the suffrage movement, but also talked about the “new woman.” The new woman was inspired by the flappers, which was the persuasive icon of the decade. Flappers were big in Gatsby. The women at Gatsby’s party had the short flapper hair and the flapper dress. The new women also focused on family changes and women in the work place (Dumenil).
Many groups and organizations were created to support the rights and equality of women. Belle Sherwin succeeded Carrie Chapmen Catt, leader of the International Women’s Suffrage alliance. Belle Sherwin was the leader of the National League of Women Voters (Zeiger). NLWV was a nonpartisan group that encouraged active citizenship from women instead of supporting a specific candidate or party. National Womans Party, led by Alice Paul, was another organization women followed because it focused strictly on equal rights. Woman were involved in the election process after World War I (Graham and Dolton). Each group contained different ideas, goals, and accomplishments (Dumenil).
White women were not the only ones fighting for the right to vote. The 13th amendment, the abolishment of slavery, was passed, but African American women still had to fight for the right to vote. Literacy tests and poll taxes were established to prevent any African Americans from voting, but soon was stopped after the 15th amendment. White southerners denied suffrage and registration to vote. African American women were not going to take that, so they fought with National Association of Colored Women. The organization failed, so the African American women asked for support from the white women. Two organizations, The League of Women Voters, and the National Womans party denied their request. African American women focused on a specific party, the Republicans, which served as an advantage over the white women (Dumenil). By the 1930s, the organization, National Association of Colored Women, stuck as a mainstay political organization.
In The Great Gatsby, the theme that runs throughout the story is women trying to assert their independence from men, with some being successful and some not. Jordan Baker is a golf fanatic and has no interest in men, except for Nick. They do have a love interest, but that was lost when Nick ends the relationship, and Jordan claiming that she is engaged. Jordan claims that she is engaged because she is not used to guys breaking up with her. Jordan relies on herself and no one else. Nick describes Jordan by saying “She was a slender, small breasted girl, with an erect carriage, which she accentuated by throwing her body backward at the shoulders like a young cadet” (Fitzgerald), meaning that Jordan stands like she is in the Army. Nick is also saying that she has a masculine side to her because he relates her to a cadet. Tom calls Jordan an independent rebel, saying, “She’s a nice girl, they oughtn’t to let her run around the country this way” (Fitzgerald).
Daisy has love for her husband, Tom, and Jay Gatsby. Tom is cheating on Daisy with another woman in New York, and Daisy has developed a love interest in Gatsby, again. Daisy is trying to be free from Tom, but Tom gets her back. He forces Daisy to move away from the East Egg and away from everyone.
Myrtle Wilson is killed because she wanted to be free from her husband because he locks her in a room and also forces her to leave their home. Both Daisy and Myrtle do not have the freedom that Jordan has, simply because she is not married and they are. Women that are married in the book are deprived of the independence that all women deserve. The 1920s women had to deal with being cheated on and with being disrespected by all men in society.
Women’s right advocates, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, have had a big impact on other women throughout the world. The Great Gatsby shows that women in the 1920s were not given equal treatment. Fitzgerald shows the truth behind how women were truly treated by men. Womanhood was destroyed and corrupted by men in society. Fitzgerald shows how women attempted to fight back and fight for equality in their own ways.