Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

Around the 1920s, gender roles depended on what city you were located in at the time, it be Chicago or New York aka the big apple. While women in Chicago were aspiring to become actresses, make the papers, take over media, sell products with their name on it, and perform plays on stage...women in New York were simply living to get played by men with money and power, they had almost no ambition or dreams. Both women in both worlds portray how gender roles were taking a toll on society, for the good of women or for the worse.

‘Playing’ in Chicago for women is taken to a whole different level. The ultimate goal is to be able to make a living off of it, accomplish your lifelong goals, and for some characters in Chicago...the attention.

Creating a good, well rounded image for women is the idea and Roxie Hart is the poster girl for that. She is constantly daydreaming about becoming a star just like Velma Kelly and when she rises to stardom, she takes full advantage of it. Roxie is able to grasp the attention of many men, women, and almost everybody in Chicago. Could this hunger for attention be motivated by the fact that she never got any as a kid? Famous lawyer Billy Flynn creates a story that makes reporters and others think just that. One reporter in specific, known as Miss Sunshine shows her sympathy towards Roxie by saying, “ Poor Dear, I can’t believe what you have been though”. This sympathy is used to win the people's hearts, which can then be used as a method of influence. When this good image was in place, and the fake childhood was out there in the public, Roxie was able to influence men, women, children, and almost anything that crosses her path, it be a good influence or a bad one. Not only Roxie, but other women are also influential, and able to sell the fans, tickets to shows, merchandise, and other things as well. Roxie wigs and dolls sell pretty quick, but her own clothes and possessions, sell even quicker...If Roxie had not taken the spotlight, or have had ambition then these things would have been worthless. Newspapers and the media sort of give Roxie, and other influential women the superior, dominating role in society as well, and they make it seem as if women are the trendsetters in Chicago which they are. Besides being influential in the terms of society, women can also influence political decisions. A great example of this is shown when in court, Roxie lifts her skirt up just enough to give the jury some eye candy. This action gives the jury a second thought on whether to vote Roxie guilty/not guilty, and the defendant comes out with a win because of this. The Jury was influenced because of Roxies status, and the fact that somebody of that status noticed them and even flirted with them. Her influence and good image was enough to seduce the men in the stands to vote in favor of her, something that could not have been done if the women hadn’t been ambitious, or superior in society. So, in Chicago the women are basically the almighty, nothing can be done without them, they are the superior figure in society, in their home, in the media...this chain of events ultimately leads to women ‘wearing the pants’ if you will.
As for women in the Great Gatsby, they play a lesser role in society and wield a lesser power than those in Chicago.

We can say that the women are the puppets and the men act as puppet masters in New York, yet somehow women still have an influence on some men. In the relative beginning of the story, Ms. Baker explains to Nick how, “ ‘ Tom’s got some woman in New York’ ” (Fitzgerald 15). This woman is not Daisy, but Daisy knows this very well and she is not willing do anything about it but watch and just hope that she eventually goes away. New York women, in this situation, seem more naive and unsure of what they want in life. Unlike Roxie and other women in Chicago, Daisy and the women of New York are the exact opposite. They allow men to control them, and they do not do anything for themselves or their own good. It seems as if they are powerless, and have no say in society or almost anywhere. Women in The Great Gatsby are portrayed as indecisive, not knowing what they want, and not being able to get what they want. In Chicago, women are able to get exactly what they want when they want it. A great example of this is when Tom, Gatsby, Nick, and the rest of the gang go out for a while. At this moment, Gatsby and Daisy reveal how they truly feel about each other...and this gets Tom aggravated. While arguing, Daisy explains how she, “did love him once, but I loved you too” (Fitzgerald 266). Daisy was trying to explain how she did love Tom at one point, but how she had

also loved Gatsby. This could be because of the fact that Daisy feels insecure, and she does not feel she has the power to pick a side...so she picks both. Daisy does not know how to feel about getting cheated on by Tom, she is only with him because he is old money, because of his wealth, because of his status, because of where he is at in life. The same with Gatsby...Daisy only falls in love with him again because she see’s that he has gained money, status, and everything else that a gold digger looks for. Despite this though, Daisy and other women in The Great Gatsby still have influence on me somehow. Even if they are below men, they are still influential to the men in society. The only reason Gatsby wanted wealth and money was to be able to marry Daisy, and to be able to impress her. Before his riches, Gatsby and Daisy had known each other and they even had a thing, but they could not marry each other because of Gatsby's lack of money. These could have been conscious, or even unconscious motives, but Daisy still had influenced Gatsby to do something he was not going to initially do. In Chicago, the same thing had taken place, just that the women here were in a position of power and they used it to their advantage.
It doesn't matter if you're in Chicago or in New York, if you are a woman you’re going to be exploited for what you have to offer.

The main difference though was that the women in New York were very innocent and gave what they had to offer for nothing in return...they didn't learn from their mistakes. In Chicago, if women were played once they learned and they took action. Roxie was played by a man who claimed that he could get her into the show biz, but he lied just to get into her pants. Fred Casely was his name, and he promised Roxie how, “It's already taken care of”. In the end Roxie shoots him after they had sex because he was lying. She had learned her lesson and moved on with life, eventually rising to stardom and fulfilling her dream. On the other hand is Daisy, who was also played, but didn’t do much about it just complain. This shows us how the women in Chicago were much more driven and determined to do what they wanted to do...and that was make money and get attention off of plays. In Chicago, we also see how the woman is cheating on the man, where as in The Great Gatsby it's the other way around. Roxy is caught cheating with Fred Casely...remember... the guy that got shot. The role of women is not the average wife, but that of a more superior, controlling, seductive wife, something like Roxie. Part of these traits given to her come from the fame and publicity she has been receiving lately, her and other women. You don't see many men in the papers in Chicago.

For the women in The Great Gatsby, well they were only getting played with, and the only power they had was influencing men when it came down to love. Chicago women have the pants on in the relationship, while New York women still play the stereotypical role of the housewife with no say or power in the house. Both these women are exploited, but for very different reasons, yet they both still influence the men...what a coincidence.
So both cities in the same time period had almost complete opposite women, similar in the fact that they were both able to influence men. They had their ambitions, getting rich off of men and getting media attention to make money, but you can say they were total opposites in how they were viewed in society. Daisy was merely another woman to Tom, while Roxie was hot stuff down in Chicago gaining attention of all men, and taking over the city. In the end, both ladies from both towns had a purpose in their life, some were just much better and pleasant than others. The pants in New York were worn by most men, rarely any women wore the pants and took control. This is the exact opposite for women in Chicago. It seems as if they were born to wear them, and not only wear them but rock them too. They took over Chicago with showbiz, but that is just how it works over there.