Essay Example on Gender Equality: Women's Role in Society Evolving

Gender roles or beliefs have changed over the years. The gender stereotype theory considers women to be more feminine than men. The scales that have been used in measuring stereotype includes expressivity, competence, and communion. Over the years, women have made several achievements in the economic and social sectors. Also, the way women are viewed in society has changed over the years through birth control and women's suffrage. Currently, women are considered to be equal to men as they can perform the tasks performed by men. "The Awakening," "The chrysanthemums," and "The Yellow Wall-Paper" will be used to show the changes in portrayals of and beliefs about femininity from being housewives to professional women.

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In the past, women were portrayed as individuals who can only be given narrow roles. Women were placed mainly in the domestic sphere, where they could perform roles such as housework and cleaning. Also, they were portrayed as family nurturers. However, this has changed over the years as women also can perform technical roles like their male counterparts. According to Aja (12), in Hollywood, women are portrayed as hypersexualized, passive, and hype attractive females whose intentions are around a romantic interest. In analyzing movies from 1990 to 2006, how women are portrayed has changed (Aja 12). The reason is that women are portrayed in two different ways, including "hypersexual" and "traditional" female. Still in the films, most of the speaking characters are usually meaning that women are still considered as lesser beings in society.

The representation of women in society and the media has changed in the past. For instance, women are portrayed as individuals who are committed to their relationships and committed parents as compared to males (Aja 12). For instance, in "The Yellow Wall-paper," the narrator emotionally and economically depends on John, who is the husband and questions herself on several occasions on the reasons why she is in the room all the time. However, she responds by saying, "I lie down ever so much now, John says it is good for me, and to sleep all I can" (Gilman 851). In the story of "The Yellow Wall-Paper, the narrator thinks that the husband is more important and wise as compared to her (849). It is a confirmation on the way the male individuals were being treated in the time the story was published. At that time, society discouraged women not to enter the workforce as they were better to be mothers instead of employees. This issue is considered as one of the stereotype women did their best in overcoming through the introduction of several women's movement. At the end of the story, the narrator gains freedom from being suppressed by the husband, and this is evident that women did their best in disregarding the beliefs about them in the 19th century. The reason is that they gained the right to vote and making contributions to the political decisions that affect the community.

"The Yellow Wall-paper" is a story that is related to feminism as the narrator, who is a woman, tries to get her identity in a society that is dominated by the men. In the story, the woman suffers from melancholia. Unfortunately, the specialist who is a man tells her to live a domestic life as far as possible... and never to touch a pen, brush or pencil..." (Gilman 850). She abided by the rules until she suffered from a breakdown of the nervous system. Despite the advice of the specialist, she continued writing, and this helped her overcome the sickness.

In the social world, femininity was defined and controlled with severity. In any stage of life, there are prescriptions and rules regarding what a girl, a teenage girl, a married woman, a widow, and a mother should do. During the 19th century, when women only had few rights, some states like Louisiana gave them only a few rights. During that time, the women did not have the right to vote, filing a divorce, and holding property. Their main aim was taking care of their families as that is what the society believed that they could do best. In "The Awakening," the society considers Edna as her husband's possession and a slave to the children. However, as he continues to have an unending love for Robert, she rejects the roles that were considered to be for women. In the novel, she distinguishes two forms of femininity, including internalized and externalized femininity. Externalized femininity is characterized by purity, perfection, and delicacy, while internalized femininity is characterized by strong, thoughtful, contradictory, and strong.

For one to be heroic, then there are some characteristics that he or she should possess, including brave, valiant, and courageous. Actions taken by a person show the type of people they are, and it is only a heroic person that is able to break the barriers. In society, women have faced several forms of oppression because of the idea that men are more superior. The women who are affected by these ideologies normally have little power in making decisions regarding their lives. Therefore, "The Awakening" shows how women struggle and the way an individual can change society.

In the past, women were supposed to live by the Republican Motherhood concept, where women only had a few major roles of staying at home, training the children on being good citizens, and abiding by their husband's demands. Feminism movements were introduced in the 19th century to define and defend equal social, political, and economic rights of the women in society. Even today, some people still believe that women should perform the roles of a mother as they stay at home.

The relationship between Robert and Edna is what made her be awake. Edna's husband, Leonce, on several occasions, asked her to go to bed with him. However, she stood firm on what she believed in and denied his request. Despite the situations that they were in, Edna never gave him the chance to control and to taunt her. All through, Leonce wanted Edna to agree and meet all his requests without questioning, and since she did not oblige, he thought that she is crazy (Choplin 554). I that marriage, love never existed since Edna found love in another man. Unfortunately, during that period, women were not allowed to file a divorce. However, Edna tries to change this by leaving her husband, having an affair, and rebelling against the social norms. In the novel, the role of women changed from being caring to neglecting children as portrayed by Mr. Pontellier's wife (Choplin 552)

Currently, women are being portrayed as male equals. It is believed that all the roles and activities that are performed by the men can also be performed by women. The other changes that have taken place in the current society are women having promising careers in professional settings, unlike in the past when it was believed that only the men could work. Also, currently, women have the choice to have children or not unlike in the past when that was their main duty. In the women's magazine, traditionally, women were depicted as wife-mother-housewife, superwoman, and an object of desire (Roca-Sales and Guillermo 190).

According to Avery et al. (160), women are still portrayed using their physical attributes. Also, considering women as sex objects has increased over time. In "The Chrysanthemums," Elisa is considered to be caring about how she is concerned about her flowers, and that shows a feminine image. During the time when the book was written, women were supposed to stay at home and have children. However, Elisa and her husband did not have any children, and she treated chrysanthemums as her children. She protected them the way a mother protects her children, and they were her joy and pride. However, there is antifeminism in the way her physical characteristics are described. For example, "Her face was lean and strong... Her figure looked blocked and heavy in her gardening costume..." (Steinbeck 846)

Conclusion

In conclusion, "The Awakening," "The chrysanthemums," and "The Yellow Wall-Paper" have been used to show the changes in portrayals of and beliefs about femininity. Women have risen from bringing housewives to professionals. The several feminists' movements enabled them to make an impact on the economic and social sectors. Currently, women are being portrayed as male equals as they are able to perform the role and activities performed by men.

Works Cited

Aja, Chinyere E. "Depictions of Femininity and Female Sexuality across Levels of Culture in Contemporary Hollywood." 2015.

Avery, Lanice R., et al. "Tuning gender: Representations of femininity and masculinity in popular music by Black artists." Journal of Black Psychology 43.2. 2017: 159-191.

Gilman, Charlotte P. "The Yellow Wallpaper."

Chopin, Kate. "The Awakening."

Steinbeck, John. "The Chrysanthemums."

Roca-Sales, Meritxell, and Guillermo Lopez-Garcia. "Contemporary portrayals of women and femininity. A case study of lifestyle blogs in the US." Journal of Research in Gender Studies 7.2. 2017.