Forrest Gump Gender Roles

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Forrest Gump (1994) and Dr. Strangelove (1964) were films made thirty years apart, however Forrest Gump is filled with short stories starting in the 1950’s, spanning until the 1980’s. Dr. Strangelove is also set around that time period. Dr. Strangelove deals with military protocol, fear of nuclear weapons, threat to the American Society, international affairs, and men dominating society. Forrest Gump deals with a boy coming of age in this time, war, love, and opportunity. In both films, it is apparent the gender roles were not challenged. They were as they were in history, men in the military, women were there for sex in Dr. Strangelove, and Forrest Gump. In Forrest Gump, you see the racial tension, and you see that line being crossed. …show more content…

As a child he was in braces, for some medical condition, he needed them to walk. Eventually he ran out of them, and found something he was good at, running. Forrest grew up with a single mother, something that was not as common today as in 1950’s. Now when you see a single mom, you think she is a hard worker, she has to raise a family on her own. In the 1950’s, people would look down on a single mother, that she couldn’t keep her husband, or she was lose. Forrest was none the wiser, all he needed was his mother. His mother tried her hardest to give Forrest ample opportunity in life. In one scene, his mother sleeps with the school principle, so Forrest could stay in the regular school, and not go to a special school. This is an example of gender roles in the 1950’s. The fact that she had no other solution, then to have sex with the school principle shows how little women were thought of. Her only way to ensure her sons education, was to give up her body to the man who was the deciding factor. This also shows how men viewed women. He could have let Forrest in, but he used his authority, and higher gender status to take advantage of that child’s mother, demeaning women

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