Gender Roles In Pleasantville

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Pleasantville Film Response In the film Pleasantville everything is made to be perfect. Everyday is the same day. Everything is done a certain way so there is no room for change to occur. Change is brought upon their life through Jenifer and David. They turn their world upside down and bring conflict by introducing new things they were not allowed to feel or be aware of. They slowly introduce color into their world by doing this. The “perfect” village turns into a village full of emotions and new discoveries. Through this film important concepts are demonstrated such as social class, race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and social order and institutions. The film is portraying the stereotypical 1950s. Social …show more content…

They had no right to do anything other than what they were supposed to do. They did not have the same rights as men did. They were considered to be nothing but a form of maid to their husband. They were not allowed to have a say in anything including themselves. Their opinion was not as valuable as men. Gender roles are institutionalized in Pleasantville through the way women and men were expected to do certain roles. In the film women were expected to do the housework and stay at home. It was not normal for a women to work or to not have dinner made .A woman was supposed to stay in the house with the kids, prepare food for the family and have it ready when the husband came back from work. They were also expected to look beautiful at all times with their makeup and hair done so they can look attractive for their husbands. They were to not worry about a thing because It was not allowed for them to worry about anything since they only had to worry about pleasing their husband. They were also supposed to act “ladylike” because anything other than this was not accepted in their village. Men were the only workers in the family and were the sole provider because women were not allowed to work. Being the sole provider gave them power over their family which contributed to the feeling of male superiority and gave women less power in the household. They were also to be the decision makers of the family. The gender of a person determined everything. It determine how you were supposed to act and what was your role within your family. Gender roles also dictated how each gender is to speak, think, act, and engage with each

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