The Best Thing A Girl Can Be: Feminism and Women
Are the women in The Great Gatsby examples of the positive portrayal of females, considering the circumstances and time period?
“She was less than an hour old and Tom was God knows where. I woke up out of the ether with an utterly abandoned feeling, and asked the nurse right away if it was a boy or a girl. She told me it was a girl, and so I turned my head away and wept. 'All right,' I said, 'I'm glad it's a girl. And I hope she'll be a fool—that's the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.'"
-Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby
The Jazz Age was characterized by the glamour and excessive lifestyle of liquor, parties, and carelessness. Feminism rose with young women, tired of the oppressiveness of the Victorian lifestyle, getting divorces and moving into the city to live the carefree life of singleness. They cut their hair short, wore revealing dresses, smoked, drank, and lived on their own. At the time, women also gained the right to vote. Through fashion, women could assert themselves as individuals and not as beautiful objects for men. These women were known as flappers. Before the twenties, fashion was generally quite restrictive and painful for women to wear, with corsets, long curls, and large dresses. This generation of women were known as Gibson girls. In The Great Gatsby, the subject of gender roles comes up which displays the transition from the Gibsons to the flappers.
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French existentialist philosopher and writer. The Second Sex became one of her greatest writings that contributed to philosophy through its serious discussion on feminism, looking at women from several perspectives. The main idea of the book was that women have been forced into unequal relationships with men and are taught at a young age to be a man’s “other” while men are to be superior. In her opinion, women were educated to live meaningless lives of having children, tending the home, and be a sex object; to be a mother, a wife, and a prostitute. With the chance to be able to work at home, women can be given financial independence and freedom from men. The two marriages presented in the novel are the Buchanans and the Wilsons, both with the husband caretaker and the stay at home wife roles. In Daisy’s case, although neither Tom nor her work, it’s obvious who in the relationship has is the dominant one. Tom wanted a wife to fit in with his East Egg lifestyle and Daisy needed a man to feel safe and loved. Unfortunately for Daisy, she has to choose between safety and love. Daisy grew up in a time period that taught her the role of women as the submissive obedient wife in all aspects of life, to be the golden girl. She never got an education, never had a job, never lived on her own. It’s sad that her life most represents the lives of the many women who conformed to this stereotype of the ‘beautiful fool’. Although, this is not the say Daisy was ignorant unintelligent. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a political philosopher, briefly discussed women, marriage, and family life in his book Emile. He described very common gender roles as men being the independent, stronger, and more educated person while women were to be submissive to men. Although men desired women, women needed and wanted men. Rousseau was not entirely unfair to the opposite sex, stating that women were also cleverer and more practical than men. Daisy was conscience of what was occurring around her in the world and her marriage. She seems to be acutely and heartbreakingly aware of her importance and meaning in a male-dominated society. Daisy and Jordan are categorized as flappers from the Roaring Twenties though there still appears to be lingering gender roles. There are double standards for men and women in things like ethics, education, and extramarital affairs, which is especially evident through Tom. He finds it unacceptable for women to do the things that he has done on a constant basis.
Myrtle embodies another gender role but of the lower class. While Daisy is the mother-wife character, Myrtle would be labeled more closely as a prostitute or a sex object. She’s not beautiful, young, or rich like Daisy but she is able to characterize herself in a very sexual and stunning way. Like Daisy, Myrtle understands that because she is a woman, she won’t be able to get anywhere and make a fortune, especially without an education. With both Daisy and Myrtle, men are the only way they can achieve their goal or desire. However, for Myrtle, this isn’t a possibility since Tom only views her as a ‘prostitute’ and not a wife. Tom felt he could use her and abuse her openly because he thought of her as an object to fulfil his need to assert his dominance.
Unlike Myrtle and Daisy, Jordan is the one of the most independent and self-sufficient character, even moreso then some of the men. Jordan personifies the modern day women, career driven with no serious romantic relationships. To use a more current day philosopher, Ariel Levy is a New York Times journalist who wrote the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Even though the book was aimed at American twenty first century culture, the core ideas of the book still accurately reflects the personality of Jordan Baker and feminism of the Jazz Age. The book recognizes that women place male made stereotypes on other women by judging appearances as men would and acting a certain way. It also denounces ‘lipstick feminists’ (women who believe that it is empowering to do things that appeal to males such as stripping) and ‘loophole women.’ Loophole women are women that act and view the world as men do in order to get by. Jordan can be classified as a ‘loophole woman’ in her treatment of males and the unethical life she lives. She is attracted to men she can dominate over; she has a successful career, founded on dishonesty; and she smokes and drinks with little care about the people around her. Jordan is the most successful and independent woman in the novel but to do this, she must adhere to the rules of men. This contradicts feminism since it does not empower females to be unique and self-sufficient individuals but rather, adopt the perspectives of men. It is interesting to note that Myrtle is the only woman that dies and Jordan is the only woman that ends up alone.
-Daisy Buchanan, The Great Gatsby
The Jazz Age was characterized by the glamour and excessive lifestyle of liquor, parties, and carelessness. Feminism rose with young women, tired of the oppressiveness of the Victorian lifestyle, getting divorces and moving into the city to live the carefree life of singleness. They cut their hair short, wore revealing dresses, smoked, drank, and lived on their own. At the time, women also gained the right to vote. Through fashion, women could assert themselves as individuals and not as beautiful objects for men. These women were known as flappers. Before the twenties, fashion was generally quite restrictive and painful for women to wear, with corsets, long curls, and large dresses. This generation of women were known as Gibson girls. In The Great Gatsby, the subject of gender roles comes up which displays the transition from the Gibsons to the flappers.
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986) was a French existentialist philosopher and writer. The Second Sex became one of her greatest writings that contributed to philosophy through its serious discussion on feminism, looking at women from several perspectives. The main idea of the book was that women have been forced into unequal relationships with men and are taught at a young age to be a man’s “other” while men are to be superior. In her opinion, women were educated to live meaningless lives of having children, tending the home, and be a sex object; to be a mother, a wife, and a prostitute. With the chance to be able to work at home, women can be given financial independence and freedom from men. The two marriages presented in the novel are the Buchanans and the Wilsons, both with the husband caretaker and the stay at home wife roles. In Daisy’s case, although neither Tom nor her work, it’s obvious who in the relationship has is the dominant one. Tom wanted a wife to fit in with his East Egg lifestyle and Daisy needed a man to feel safe and loved. Unfortunately for Daisy, she has to choose between safety and love. Daisy grew up in a time period that taught her the role of women as the submissive obedient wife in all aspects of life, to be the golden girl. She never got an education, never had a job, never lived on her own. It’s sad that her life most represents the lives of the many women who conformed to this stereotype of the ‘beautiful fool’. Although, this is not the say Daisy was ignorant unintelligent. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a political philosopher, briefly discussed women, marriage, and family life in his book Emile. He described very common gender roles as men being the independent, stronger, and more educated person while women were to be submissive to men. Although men desired women, women needed and wanted men. Rousseau was not entirely unfair to the opposite sex, stating that women were also cleverer and more practical than men. Daisy was conscience of what was occurring around her in the world and her marriage. She seems to be acutely and heartbreakingly aware of her importance and meaning in a male-dominated society. Daisy and Jordan are categorized as flappers from the Roaring Twenties though there still appears to be lingering gender roles. There are double standards for men and women in things like ethics, education, and extramarital affairs, which is especially evident through Tom. He finds it unacceptable for women to do the things that he has done on a constant basis.
Myrtle embodies another gender role but of the lower class. While Daisy is the mother-wife character, Myrtle would be labeled more closely as a prostitute or a sex object. She’s not beautiful, young, or rich like Daisy but she is able to characterize herself in a very sexual and stunning way. Like Daisy, Myrtle understands that because she is a woman, she won’t be able to get anywhere and make a fortune, especially without an education. With both Daisy and Myrtle, men are the only way they can achieve their goal or desire. However, for Myrtle, this isn’t a possibility since Tom only views her as a ‘prostitute’ and not a wife. Tom felt he could use her and abuse her openly because he thought of her as an object to fulfil his need to assert his dominance.
Unlike Myrtle and Daisy, Jordan is the one of the most independent and self-sufficient character, even moreso then some of the men. Jordan personifies the modern day women, career driven with no serious romantic relationships. To use a more current day philosopher, Ariel Levy is a New York Times journalist who wrote the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Even though the book was aimed at American twenty first century culture, the core ideas of the book still accurately reflects the personality of Jordan Baker and feminism of the Jazz Age. The book recognizes that women place male made stereotypes on other women by judging appearances as men would and acting a certain way. It also denounces ‘lipstick feminists’ (women who believe that it is empowering to do things that appeal to males such as stripping) and ‘loophole women.’ Loophole women are women that act and view the world as men do in order to get by. Jordan can be classified as a ‘loophole woman’ in her treatment of males and the unethical life she lives. She is attracted to men she can dominate over; she has a successful career, founded on dishonesty; and she smokes and drinks with little care about the people around her. Jordan is the most successful and independent woman in the novel but to do this, she must adhere to the rules of men. This contradicts feminism since it does not empower females to be unique and self-sufficient individuals but rather, adopt the perspectives of men. It is interesting to note that Myrtle is the only woman that dies and Jordan is the only woman that ends up alone.