Stereotypes In The Great Gatsby

For the first time ever in America, during the 1920s, a shift in the gender norms occurred. The ratification of the 19th Amendment, granting women’s suffrage, marked the decade with a breakdown of the traditions governing women. Meanwhile a profound novel, The Great Gatsby, recognized the rapidly changing social dynamic. A variety of taboo is exposed throughout the novel in order to accurately reflect the era, such as impractical parties, drinking, and the new woman ideology. F. Scott Fitzgerald criticizes the disturbance of gender roles in the 1920s, through the perspective of Nick Carraway, the flawed and interesting characters struggle between traditional expectations and the progressive movement, in order to express the negative feelings

of the American public.
The Roaring Twenties was the era America began to progress into a modern society, and offered abundant opportunity for women. However, the pressure on women in the elitist class to uphold tradition was especially high. Early in the novel Daisy’s identity is reduced to her husband, a phenomenon not uncommon in the earlier decades. This is mostly because, as Yancey points out, “ many conservative Americans preferred the earlier customs and opposed shocking manners of the younger generation” (Yancey 35). If she hopes to maintain status, she must seek security in a man of equal, or preferably greater, status for survival among old wealth. As Fälth explains marrying Jay Gatsby, the man she was in love with originally, but was unable to pursue a relationship because he, “does not generate a social status that is similar to Daisy’s...In the end, Fitzgerald acknowledges the influence background has on human relationships. Daisy is an example of this as she chooses to commit to her, in her society, high social status instead of a life with Gatsby” (Fälth 23). Furthermore, Daisy was raised to be a southern belle, or a golden girl, made by her family in their image. She’s a direct result of her environment and the men that love her, a concept that’s reinforced through the recurring descriptions of her voice. Due to the class she born into, she was raised to have the charm of a southern belle, and uses it to her advantage in a male-dominated society where the voices of women were filtered through men. Britt concludes in “The New Woman: Changing Views of Women in the 1920s” that Daisy as a, "Southern girl may like to earn a little money and have her fling, but the ideal in the back of her head is a nice house in the home town and a decorative position in society” (Freedman 37). Near the end of the novel, the source of Gatsby’s obsession for her is revealed, when Gatsby himself realizes, “her voice is full of money” (Fitzgerald 127). Reducing Daisy to her wealth exposes the intent of making her the central love interest, and Fitzgerald, intentionally or not, highlights the objectification of women still existing during the 1920s. Daisy is just a prize to be collected, and in the end, she conforms with the gender roles that created her.
At the center of the struggle between traditional gender roles and the push to destroy them, many women found themselves falling somewhere in the middle of both extremes. Jordan Baker, both described as physically androgynous and outwardly dominant, is able to challenge the expectations of men from a comfortable position in society. As a successful professional golfer, and a source of old wealth from her aunt, she is able to refrain from marriage and uphold independence for much longer than the average woman. Afterall, as coauthors Rogers and Wright explain, “In the case of gender inequality, the interests of men in general, and elite, powerful men in particular, in maintaining certain aspects of male domination and gender inequality weakened over time. This doesn’t mean that men ceased to be sexist” (Rogers and Wright 12). Even though Jordan appears to triumph over gender norms, she’s just as oppressed, which is clearly demonstrated at the end of novel when she announces a sudden engagement. In addition, many of her actions are self-absorbed in nature, an attribute that parallels Daisy is hinted early on in the novel when Nick notices, “her chin raised a little as if she balancing something on it which was quite likely to fall...the object she was balancing had obviously tottered a little and given her something of a fright” (Fitzgerald 13). During this first impression, the object Nick suggests she’s balancing is her reputation, and it’s her preoccupation of herself is her greatest flaw. Harnett reinforces this concept stating that the “The Modern Woman of the 1920s liberated and empowered today’s American women, while at the same time denying some women of their femininity and submerging others further into the suffocating grasp of self-regulation and societal constructs“ (Harnett 36). In striving to break out of societal expectations, many had to struggle between their own personal needs and image they presented to others. Often, women found themselves buried in the rather aggressive progressive movement, and lost their identity in the process. By Fitzgerald characterizing her so highly concerned with herself and lacking feminine qualities, he’s mocking the independent woman, and her struggle to reach emancipation as futile.
Out of the struggle between traditional and conservative values, the idea of the flapper girl emerged.

A flapper girl is defined by DiPaolo as, “a slender, fashionable, opinionated woman who partied hard, smoked and drank heavily, and flaunted her sexuality in ways considered shocking at the time” (DiPaolo 2). Myrtle Wilson is a representation of a flapper girl in the middle class who happens to participate in frowned-upon activities, such as in an affair with Tom. As a man, Tom having an affair, and normalizing it, is a show of dominance he has a right to display in the 1920s, whereas Myrtle is illustrated as dirty for her unfaithfulness. Regardless of the feminist movement raging across America during the 1920s, Myrtle’s death is a hostile attack against women participating in the same sexual freedoms as men, containing the ultimate message unfaithful women have no place in American society. Michaelis, who witnessed Myrtle's death, describes, “her left breast swinging loose like a flap and there was no need to listen for the heart beneath. The mouth was wide open and ripped at the corners as though she had choked a little in giving up the tremendous vitality she had stored for so long” (Fitzgerald 145). The aggression towards Myrtle’s open sensuality demonstrates the fear America had, and Fitzgerald warned, that liberation of sexual desire among women encouraged adultery and lead to negative consequences. As Harnett points out, “In many ways, the Twenties challenged and broke down the strict divide of masculine and feminine gender roles and ushered in ideas of female independence, individuality, and free will. Yet it was also a period of superficial exploitation and objectification of female bodies” (Harnett 68). Furthermore, Daisy being Myrtle's killer is significant, vastly because it delivers an image of the conservative wealthy woman destroying the liberated lower-class woman. In the end, Myrtle represents how the concept of the new woman will not survive in

America.
While The Great Gatsby is a story containing multiple women who fail to achieve the ideals of the progressive movement, their struggle against oppression is important nonetheless. The American society was dominated by men, and when threatened during the 1920s, they had to reinforce their dominance by reminding women they’re only as free as the men allowed them to be. Fitzgerald forces all three women to fail reaching for their ambitions, such as Daisy was reduced to a selfish brat for seeking security in a demanding society, Jordan is stripped of her femininity for seeking independence, and Myrtle is murdered for fulfilling her desires and striving to climb the social ladder. Despite it appearing that Fitzgerald is criticizing the new-found independence, he’s actually breaking down the idealization of the quiet and flawless woman. While the women face awful consequences, letting them fall short of perfect makes them human. In short, Fitzgerald was not sexist, but writing an honest criticism on the wealthy in the 1920s, and allowed women to play an active role instead of an often passive and unseen one. The feminist message in the novel is not radical, but real.