Marilyn Frye's Definition Of Sexism

Even in today’s society, sexism is still prevalent and inhibits the people who are affected by it. For the purpose of this essay, sexism will be defined as any action that consciously contributes to a gender stereotyping society. In her essay, Marilyn Frye notes this definition of sexism stating that “making decisions on the basis of sex reinforces the patterns that make it relevant” (846). Therefore, any decision that contributes to the gender binary and its framework is considered sexist. The musical Gypsy has instances in which the main character, Rose, can be considered both going against and contributing to the “patterns that make sex relevant.” In one scene, Rose can be seen subjecting her children to gender roles which feeds in to sexism,

June, wearing a very feminine outfit, dances to the song of “Let Me Entertain You” while Louise has a more masculine appearance. This gender division continues in the dance, as June seems to be more elegant then Louise. This is a clear example of Frye’s definition of sexism, as both June and Louise are buying into the gender binary. Extrapolating from how June and Louise are contributing to the gender binary, it can be assumed that June and Louise’s guardian also does the same, which is not the case. Rose, their mother, comes onto the stage to critique the children and make it apparent to the director that her kids deserve the part. The dedication and strong will Rose elicits when talking about her kids is empowering, and contrasted by the other stage moms who emphasize the binary by being pushed around and rushed off the stage. Uncle Jocko emphasizes this strength of Rose’s character in his comment “Decisions, Decisions, Decisions” when Rose is talking about the technical parts of the act, implying that he is actually listening to what she has to say (4:50). Rose is different and refuses to fit into this normal feminine category that allows them to be pushed around and get told what to do. This ambiance of individualism is inspiring, but starkly shows how she does not imbue these values on her

The act that Rose has pushed for so long eventually fails. With nowhere to go, June abandons her stage career to get married to one of the stage boys. Rose, Herbie, and Louise find word of this at a train station, on the way to another act. Rose takes this as a complete shock, and doesn’t know what to say. In fact, she sits on the bench at the rail station traumatized, and doesn’t move for minutes. Furthermore, while this is going on, Herbie and Louise repetitively try to convince Rose to quit the show business so that they can settle down as a family. This seems to hurt Rose, who ignores these requests and tries to formulate, in her song “I had a dream”, a plan for Louise to be the new star (1:19:55). Throughout the scenes examined before, Rose’s individualism and self-oriented actions have shown through, but not to this degree. Rose wants to make Louise the star and Louise responds to this by hiding and hugging Herbie, both with a look of dismay on their face. Herbie and Louise are second to Roses ambitions, that point is made clear. Roses actions speak volumes as well. When speaking about her future plans for success, Rose looks upward almost like she can see the peak, and then looks back down at Louise almost as if to include a forgotten, now an important piece of the puzzle. This is also one of the starkest times that Rose has subjected Louise, against her wishes, just