A New Role for Women in The Great Gatsby

1489 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The role of women in the great Gatsby

Throughout history, women have had to overcome many setbacks. They have gone through a lot of mistreatment in the process of changing the idea of how a woman should dress, act, and participate in activities outside of the home. The role of women changed drastically in the 1920s. This change presented women with new freedoms in the workforce, at home, and in fashion. Women who took advantage of the new opportunities and independence in the 1920s are known as flappers. The flapper lifestyle is seen most clearly through Jordan Baker, a professional golfer and friend of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Through his characterization of Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the changing role of women during the 1920s in The Great Gatsby.
The 1920s allowed women to have a lot of new freedom, but women were still presented with setbacks that kept them from fully experiencing it. The Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s website explains how women were more restricted in how they dressed before the 1920s. It describes how women were forced to wear corsets and frilly clothes that were more conservative. This conservative way of dress changed during the 1920s with the flappers (“Image and Lifestyle”). The website goes on to explain that even though women had many new opportunities during the time period, they were still not given important roles at work. “Although the labor movement thrived in the early twentieth century, by 1920 a small fraction of women in the workforce had union jobs, and rarely did the movement take up issues of concern to working women or allow them leadership roles” (“Work, Education, and Reform”). The Clash of Cultures website also explains that there was some opposition to the new free...

... middle of paper ...

...the growing independence for women in how they dress, where they work, and how they act. This will continue to grow, producing the modern lifestyle of women in the United States.

Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier Books, 1991. Print.
“Flappers.” US History: Pre-Colombian to the New Millennium. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Hilliardem. "Flappers and Old Sports." The Great American Novel: 1900-1965. WordPress, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
“Image and Lifestyle.” Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
“Work, Education, and Reform.” Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Wyly, Michael J. Nick Carraway’s Price: The Loss of Innocence. Understanding the Great Gatsby: Understanding Great Literature. San Diego: Lucent Books Inc, 2002. Print.

Show More
Related

  • Cultural Confrontations of the 1920’s: KKK, Scopes Trial

    1387 Words  | 3 Pages

    Heinrichs, Tim. "American Life in the Twenties." Discussion 3, Topic 9. Washington, Bellevue. 18 Feb. 2009. American Life in the Twenties. Blackboard Vista, Bellevue Community College. 18 Feb. 2009 .

    Read More

  • The Roaring Twenties with Women's New Right to Sexuality

    941 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... fewer children was stressed to the patriarchal, consumerist society. The roaring twenties were a consumerist and capitalist age for America, and the liberalization of women occurred naturally as the younger generation was born into the new age of Freudian sexuality, however the flapper as a symbol for young women is incorrect. Out of proportion, and unfounded the flapper was a consumerist to exploit a rising cultural market. Women gained the right to their bodies, as America gained the right to its profit.

    Read More

  • The 1950’s: The Meaning Behind the Decade

    1821 Words  | 4 Pages

    Sports reached a new height in the fabulous fifties, both professionally and recreationally. More time to relax and a new wealth among society brought more participation to family athletics. Furthermore, households began to purchase televisions, which allowed enthusiasts to truly follow their favorite team or athlete (Bradley 1). Desegregation was the biggest c...

    Read More

  • Essay On The 1920's

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force. Women being giving the responsibility outside the home gave them a more independent mindset, including the change of women's wardrobe, mainly in the shortening of their skirts.

    Read More

  • Women's Role In 1920

    1173 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the 1920's women's roles were soon starting to change. After World War One it was called the "Jazz Age", known for new music and dancing styles. It was also known as the "Golden Twenties" or "Roaring Twenties" and everyone seemed to have money. Both single and married women we earning higher- paying jobs. Women were much more than just staying home with their kids and doing house work. They become independent both financially and literally. Women also earned the right to vote in 1920 after the Nineteenth Amendment was adopted. They worked hard for the same or greater equality as men and while all this was going on they also brought out a new style known as the flapper. All this brought them much much closer to their goal.

    Read More

  • The Women of the 1920's

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    The 19th Amen... ... middle of paper ... ... Women And The Politics of the 1920s. " OAH Magazine of History 21.3 (2007): 22-26. Academic Search Premier.

    Read More

  • Jazz and The Charleston in The 1920's

    1664 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lindop, Edmund, and Margaret J. Goldstein. America In The 1920s. Minneapolis: Lerner Publishing Group Inc., 2010. Print.

    Read More

  • The Espionage Act and The Sedition Act

    2058 Words  | 5 Pages

    Traxel, David. 1898: The Birth of the American Century. New York: A.A. Knopf, 1998. Print.

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby Femininity Analysis

    1423 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the 1920’s women were fervently depicted as inferior to men and incapable of the success. In the novel The Great Gatsby female characters are subject to gender based stereotypes and blindly follow culturally accepted norms which dictate their place and position within society. The expectations placed upon the female characters to comply with the norms of society limit their potential to become successful in comparison to the male characters, who are successful in the 1920’s. Within The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald illustrates the female characters as socially and economically limited and dependant, due to the strong implementation of patriarchal roles of men in society. Women are confined

    Read More

  • The Great Gatsby

    1401 Words  | 3 Pages

    Amidst the exceedingly prosperous decade of the 1920’s, traditional American lifestyles and principles were interjected by the new superficial and materialistic beliefs closely associated with “The Roaring Twenties.” Undoubtedly, the 1920’s were a decade of change.

    Read More

  • Gender Roles in The Great Gatsby

    1299 Words  | 3 Pages

    What’s Fitzgerald’s implicit views of modern women in this novel? Daisy and Jordan dress the part of flappers, yet Daisy also plays the role of the Louisville rich girl debutante. A good question to ask is perhaps just how much Daisy realizes this is a “role,” and whether her recognition of that would in any sense make her a modern woman character.  How significant is Nick’s final repudiation of Jordan Baker to the novel’s larger critique of modernity?

    Read More

  • The 1920s

    1825 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1920’s, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which gave women the right to vote. During this decade women became strong and more independent. Women were accomplishing a lot more than they had before. Women started going to college so she could earn her own living. More women started leaving the home and working at a factory or as a secretary. Women were discriminated at the work place. They received lower wages then man did. In the 1920’s, the term flapper was introduced. It was first used in Britain after World War 1. Young women were labeled as flappers who wore makeup shorter skirts. Fl...

    Read More

  • Class Structure in The Great Gatsby

    1941 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...e of Economic and Social Change (VOA Special English 2006-06-07)." Interesting Things for ESL/EFL Students (Fun English Study). American History in VOA Special English, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .

    Read More

  • Sexual Revolution

    1099 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the early 1900’s the ideal woman would be dressed with long dresses and would normally have long hair. Several events such as World War I, in July of 1914, changed women’s role in society. They were not only taking care of the children and the household but they were also taking the role of a man. As men went to war, women replaced them in factories. This caused woman to be more independent. Women realized that having a job was something that could be done; their sex didn’t restrict them from taking this action. This was extremely important as it lead to women being more confident and capable. In the 1920s young women began to change. They went from having long dresses and long hair, to a short haircut and wearing dresses that were above the knee. Women developed a greater interest in looking attractive. According to Russell L. Johnson, the beauty industry grew rapidly as cosmetic expenses sky rocketed from 750 million to 2 billion dollars (Johnson 3). This was one of the causes of the sexual revolution. Women became “ less formal but more expressive (Mag...

    Read More

  • Gender Issues in The Great Gatsby

    1530 Words  | 4 Pages

    The gender issues in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby adhere to the traditional gender roles of a male-dominant society where women are sexually objectified and made inferior, while men are portrayed as the dominant gender. The narrator’s relationship with the female characters of the novel and their character traits reveal not only the established patriarchal society in the novel, but the chauvinistic attitude of the author as well. While feminine conformity to the ideal standards of women in a male-dominant society is reflected through characters such as Daisy Buchanan and Myrtle Wilson, male characters such as Tom Buchanan and George Wilson appear to represent the traditional man, thus satisfying the ideal gender roles of a male-dominant society. Though it appears that Nick Carraway’s admiration for masculinity allows him to suffer from his potential anxieties about his own masculinity, Carraway’s male chauvinistic mentality is certain because of his enforcement of traditional gender roles that exerts dominance over women in the novel. Carraway’s attraction to Jordan Baker’s masculine traits and his fascination of the socioeconomic status of men, such as of Jay Gatsby’s and of Tom Buchanan’s, display his conformity to the ideal, traditional standards of gender roles in a male-dominant society that explain his admiration for masculinity.

    Read More

More about A New Role for Women in The Great Gatsby

Open Document