Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

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Gender Roles Essay A gender role is simply a behavior learned by an individual that is considered appropriate for their own gender. Many times these roles depend on cultural norms, and most of the times these roles have a tremendous effect on people. These impacts are quite transparent in books like The Great Gatsby, or passages like The Globalization of Eating Disorders and When Bright Girls Decide that Math is “A Waste of Time”. A book set in the 1920s like The Great Gatsby is expected to have some sexist remarks and events occur, but some of these ideas still remain true in the present. For example, when Gatsby and Daisy’s accident leaves Mrs. Wilson dead and Gatsby takes the blame. This incident can be interpreted in many ways. Some might say Gatsby didn’t let Daisy take the blame because she was a woman, and he felt the need to protect her. This suggests that women didn’t need to …show more content…

A young 16-year-old in the passage says “any more science or math will just be a waste of my time” (Jacoby 184), and though this is an outrageous statement, her parents agree. A women’s gender role in society is affected by stereotypes and women are in a way forced into becoming teachers, authors, nurses, or stay at home moms. Men, on the other hand, are expected to become laborers, engineers, and the main source of income for their families. In other words, young girls don’t have as many role models in society, especially in scientific fields, they don’t have people like Elon Musk to look up to. That's why a young girl who had the potential to become the next Steve Jobs switches out of her math and science class. Just because she was born a female, and the culture around her enforces certain gender roles onto her, it becomes impossible for her to become an engineer, architect, geologist, doctor, or

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