Gender Interactions: The Key to a Healthy Society - Essay Sample

Introduction

A society is an aggregate of people living together in a more organized manner. The presence and the interaction of people determine the quality of life among the participants in any society. Since there are different classes of people, the nature of the interaction between the varied groups plays a critical role in the creation of social status and position in the social hierarchy. Two main groups of people in any community are men and women. For centuries, the interactions of men and women in ancient society were characterized by a lack of balance (Ellemers 276). Men have always enjoyed higher social status and power than women because of their biological difference. The resulting imbalance between men and women has resulted in gender struggle for equity and equality. The play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams demonstrates the inequality between men and women in society by focusing on gender stereotyping in the post-war American community.

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Gender Stereotype

Tennessee Williams used the play to criticize the way women were treated in American societies after the end of the Second World War. The play shows the struggle that women had to endure because men treated them as inferior. Men imposed gender-based restrictions on women, the fact that disabled women's ability to live their lives fully. The imposition of gender-based restriction to women in the society is not a phenomenon that is evident in the play alone, but in the actual real life, the past and present (Ellemers 276). Although many societies have significantly shifted in the way they treat their women, there are other societies where women are still victims of gender stereotypes. Gender stereotyping is psychological characteristics and behaviors occurring with differential frequency in men and women (Wang 45). Since men write most literary works about women, these works have successfully stereotyped a woman as a sacrificial mother, an angel in the house, the wife, a wicked stepmother, the Southern belle, and the mammy, among others.

Apart from stereotyping women, the same literature has glorified men by representing them as strong, macho warriors. The image created about men created by them in their writings is the only acceptable representation of this group as "real man." Stereotyping has been an effective tool used by men to support traditional sex roles where men are the breadwinners, while men are the nurturers (Ellemers 277). Even in the current world, which seems more tolerant with many countries adopting democracy, men and women still face prejudice asserted to them by their culture centuries ago. Because of improved freedom as a result of democracy, feminists began fighting for equality of sexes, but despite their achievements, there is still much to be done.

Female Stereotypic Position in the Society

Tennessee Williams used a wide range of characters in the play to demonstrate the extent of gender stereotyping in society. In the play, gender stereotyping affected both men and women characters. The shock of the play was the fact that when it was first staged, it was the earliest play in America ever to live, with its power to destroy or redeem, to negate or compound the forces associated with social interactions. The female protagonist in the play, Stella Kowalski and Blanche DuBois, help to demonstrate female stereotypes in the society (Iftimie 75). Through their actions, thoughts, and speech, the playwright can show the way gender stereotyping works. Both Blanche and Stella are forced by society to depend on men. They see men as their only means to get happiness. For example, despite Stella being mistreated by her husband, she cannot leave him. On the other side, Blanche sees marriage as the only means for survival. Her belief that getting married to Mitch will help her escape hardship and poverty. When Mitch rejects her, she began thinking Dhep Hunteigh, as the man who can rescue her. She does not realize that her dependence on men put her is the reason for her downfall because her fate is in the hands of other people.

The same male-female relationship evident in the play is evident in a real-life situation. In some societies, men are still the breadwinners in the family, while women are always the housekeepers. It is no suppressing that the number of women in high ranking jobs is much lower compared to women. At the same time, many women are victims of domestic violence perpetrated by their husbands (Khafaji 105). However, because they cannot be financially able to support themselves on their own, they have to endure the pain inflicted on them by their male counterparts. Stella and Blanche are sisters who came from a wealthy family, yet these characters are too poor to survive by themselves without the support of men (Iftimie 72). Blanche is worried about her future because she is aging yet not married. The same case applies to other women in the play. Eunice, like Stella, ignores the brutality of her husband and only accept his affections. In this case, women have to ignore the atrocities they face in their marriage because they have no choice. Like in the play, some women in society are driven by sexual desires and dependence on the male characters (Cooley et al. 45). As a result, they submit their lives to men and are even not able to set themselves free and live on their own.

Blanche's life is the play is a symbol of many women who have been destroyed by sexual desires. Unlike men, women in society are greatly affected by their sexual relationships. For example, after a divorce or the death of husbands, many women find it hard to move on. Instead, some of them are desperate to getting affection from other men regardless of the condition (Khafaji 106). In the case of Blanche, she is forced to have a relationship with her student, a fact that led her to lose her job. She is even forced to lie about her age and also fear to appear in a harsh light because she is losing her beauty, an important feature that women should have to attract men (Iftimie 70). Lastly, she is raped by her brother-in-law, an action that drove her to madness. It evident that her problems in life are related to her relationship with men: her husband, student, and brother-in-law. Like Blanche, the fate of many women in society in the hands of men.

In the play, female characters are expected to uphold a high level of grateful subservience while acting as the physical outlet for their husbands' desires by giving them a comfortable environment. Women should be passive, restrained, vulnerable, ascetic, and impervious to sexual desires. One the contrary, males characters are depicted as domineering and authoritative because of their masculinity, where they are supposed to the physical protector of women and their financial providers (Iftimie 76). Men are supposed to be predatory, greedy, aggressive, brash, and hard. Besides, they are supposed to initiate physical contact with women and even allowed to be more sexually expressive than their counterpart females. The same expectations from men and women evident in the play are still apparent in the actual society. For example, women with highly expressive sexual desires are considered sexually immoral (Cooley et al. 45). It is with no surprise that despite both men and women being active participants in the acts of prostitution, women are perceived negatively than their men who engage in the same actions.

Male Stereotypic Position in the Society

Male characters such as Mitch and Stanley, also depict gender stereotyping and imbalance in American society. Mitch and Stanley represent two types of men, one who is sensitive man believing in romance, tradition, love, and respect, while the other is a macho man - independent, strong, brute, and controlled by sexual desire. The interactions between males and females in the play show that men are dominant and aggressive individuals.

In the play, since society has created a gender-prescribe behavior, there must be someone to enforce the policies. In the play, males are endorsed with the responsibility of ensuring that the established gender-based behavioral boundaries are not crossed (Khafaji 105). For example, Stanley's role in the play is not only to decide with infractions should be punishable but also to punish individuals who violate the established code. While other characters recognize and adhere to the established rules, they do little to change or enforce them. Stanley, unlike other characters, is the benefactor of the gender-based code because he acts as the executioner to individuals who violate the rules (Iftimie 75). However, since he is controlling, his actions are not scrutinized, a fact that motivates him always to be domineering-Stanly's desire to control more than his affection for his wife. The struggle for power by men against women is evident in the way they use their masculinity. He claims that every man is a king and that since he was a male, then he was a king (Williams 37). As a result, even in the traditionally female domain, Stanley asserts his dominion. In his porker parties, women are sent out to shows or dinner, silenced, or exiled to Eunice's apartment. He insists on complete control, where he does not allow anyone to threaten his power.

Stanly's desire for power and authority is the basis for conflict between him and Blanche. Blanche's divergence of socially accepted sexual behavior is no reason why Stanley is upset. The fact that Stanley has served in the army means that he had encountered many more promiscuous women than Blanche (Khafaji 105). However, these women did not threaten his authority as a man, unlike Blanche. In the case of Blanche, she intends to turn Stanley's patriarchal society into a matriarchy with her on the throne. For Stanley, the thought of losing authority to Blancher is unbearable and, therefore, opt to use sexuality as a means of expelling her from his world. As a result, he interprets Blanche's acts as a threat to his masculine authority (Wang 45). Her mere presence makes the residents uncomfortable with the male's behaviors towards women in Elysian Fields. According to Stanley, Blanche's aristocratic presence empower people in society that his crude behavior should be rejected. Even Mitch remarks that since Blanche is a pretty rough bunch, the male community should strike her. The same case applies to the post-war society, where any women who attempted to confront patriarchal order was condemned (Khafaji 106). Many women denied jobs in the factories, despite the fact, during the war, women were the primary source of labor in factories (Malmstrom et al. 834). Such a scenario is an indication that the lower status imposed on women is not because of the abilities associated with their biological makeup but because of the need to maintain patriarchal order.

It is evident from the above discussion that their significant imbalance between men and women in society. Tennessee Williams, in his play A Streetcar Named Desire, demonstrates how gender stereotypes affected post-war America. The gender relationship is the play is a reflection of the relationship between men and women in reality and struggle by males to maintain their status quo. The playwright shows that women are supposed to maintain their status as subordinate to men, even if it means enduring domestic violence. On the other hand, men are supposed to the domineering figures entitled with the responsibility of providing for their wives as well as maintaining the patriarchal order.

Works Cited

Cooley, Erin, et al. "Bias at the Intersection of Identity: Conflicting Social Stereotypes of Gender and Race Augment the Perceived Femininity and Interpersonal Warmth of Smiling Black Women." Journal of experimental social psychology 74 (2018): 43-49. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00220221...