The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says:It's a Girl.
- Shirley Chisholm
Krishna Kumar Selvaraj
Professor J. Mignano-Brady
EGL 102
April 21, 2014
Gender
Inequality
Gender
inequality has been a conundrum throughout history. Before post modernism, men
had more power than women. Women were considered inferior to men. During those
times, women were not allowed to do certain things such as vote, hunt or even own
property. Sophocles’ Antigone and
Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar named
Desire demonstrate gender inequality through the characters, situations and
time period they were a part of. In the play Antigone, Sophocles uses the character Ismene to show the different
characteristics and roles that women followed in ancient Greece. In the play A Streetcar named Desire, Stella and
Blanche shows the role of women in 19th century. Dominance of male in the two
plays will be discussed and a relation between the above characters and the
modern day women will be made.
In
the play Antigone, Sophocles illustrates
through Creon the extreme male dominance of women in ancient Greece. Creon is an
arrogant, strong and powerful leader. Creon believes that his laws must be
upheld and would do anything to prevent any type of rebelling. He gets infuriated
when he learns that a woman has violated his laws. Creon refuses to compromise,
especially for women. Creon states in his speech, “We cannot give victory to a
woman. If we must accept defeat, let it be from a man” (Sophocles 729-730).
This clearly shows that Creon is not ready to accept a failure in the hands of
a woman as it would be a disgrace for him. When speaking to his son, Haemon,
about his fiancé’s act, Creon strongly emphasizes the important relationship
and obligation of a man to his father than his wife. Moreover he spotlights the
importance of male in decision making by stating, “When I am alive no woman
shall rule” (Sophocles 577). As a result, he had to put her to death even if it
means finding a new wife for his son. Due to the fact that it was a woman who
defied his law, he had to punish her or he would be seen as a weak king.
In
the ancient Greece women were considered as a weak gender and not capable of
taking care of themselves. While Antigone and Ismene are talking, Ismene tells
her sister, “You ought to realize we are only women, not meant in nature to
fight against men, and that we are ruled, by those who are stronger” (Sophocles
70-71). This shows that during that time women were submissive. Women had no
power in decision making and they were confined to take care of the domestic
housekeeping duties. This is because the society has always associated power to
the person earning money. Men often make the final decision on all matters
because they earn the money. Ismene refuses to help her sister because she
feared Creon. She refuses to stand up to Creon even though she knows that
Creon’s laws are morally wrong. Ismene’s character is a close representation of
the viewpoints of the male gender regarding women. This is because women during
those times, were born to contend with men and were ruled by much stronger hands.
Ismene states, “It is better not to hunt the impossible at all” (Sophocles
107-108), this expresses her extreme fear and subordination to men. Ismene’s
view of the inferiority to men came from the many laws restricting women from
their actions.
Along
with Sophocles’ play, A Streetcar Named
Desire by Tennessee Williams also displays the notation of gender
inequality in many situations. An example of gender inequality in the play
happens during the poker scene. Blanche turns the radio on; Stanley gets annoyed
and turns it off. Blanche turns the radio back on; Stanley becomes outraged and
throws the radio out of the window. Stella saw that the men were drunk and says
to them. “Drunk-drunk-animal thing you! All of you-please go home! If any of
you have one spark of decency in you” (Williams 1190). Hearing this Stanley becomes
angry, as the head of the house, he believes no one should tell him what to do
especially not a women. As a result he took his anger out on Stella and slapped
her. This demonstrates his dominance over Stella. Mitch says, “Poker shouldn’t
be played in a house with women” (Williams 1190). This shows that during those
time women were not allowed to play poker with men or even go around the table
while the men are playing. They were left to clean houses and not be around men
when they are engaged in activities for men only. The ultimate example of male
dominance is the rape scene which is the expression of Stanley’s desire to exercise
power and dominance. This is because when men go against the will of other
people, it fulfills their desire of power and dominance.
The
present issue of women’s rights in Islamic countries can be related to the play
Antigone, where the women face the
same problem in ancient Greece. In places like Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
other Muslim countries, family matters are governed by religion based personal status
codes. Many of the codes state that women are legal minors under the eternal
guardianship of their male family members (Goodman). Women are not allowed to
go out without their husband and are not encouraged to advice men at any cost.
They must obey men or risk punishment.
In
Muslim countries, girls are often taken out of school after a certain age.
Cultural factors are the major reason for not sending girls to school. People
think that sending girls to school after third grade is a security threat. This
results in the slowing down of the enrollment of girls in schools. Literacy
rates among young Afghan women are disturbingly low, only 18 per cent of women
between 15 and 24 can read and write. The total number of children enrolled in
primary schools is increasing tremendously in Muslim countries. However the
percentage of female students is not. This leads to the lack of female
teachers. In Muslim countries, the fundamentals are like men cannot be taught
by women after a certain age. This makes a negative impact on girl’s education.
(“Combating Gender Inequality”)
People in these countries think men become inferior when they are less educated
than woman. This is related to the Stanley’s character where after Blanche’s
arrival he felt he became inferior because he is not as educated as Blanche.
Even
though Antigone and A Streetcar Named Desire took place in
different times, there is one similarity between the two that is men were not
dependent on women in both times. Men did not expect much from women until they
were challenged. However, we have come a very long way; still there is a
thought that men are superior. Ancient Greece had much stricter environment for
women who flout men when compared to 1940’s period. Antigone and A streetcar
named Desire were written on different time periods. Still they have the
same recurring idea of male dominance. The main problem in both the plays is
women disrespected and a defied man’s established laws and the way of living.
Works Cited
“ISLAMIC FEMINISM: COMBATING GENDER INEQUALITY
WITH ISLAM.” QUILLIAM. Quilliam Foundation, April 11, 2013. Blog.
Goodman, Shari, “The Mistreatment of Women in
Muslim Countries.” Family Security matters, February 6, 2012. Web.
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