The Devastating
Displays of Gender Inequality
As society
has progressed, the depiction of inequality due to gender in the real world has
become more and more prevalent. Similarly, gender issues have been shown to
also be dreadful through the representation of multiple pieces of literature. A
piece of literature that displays excellent examples of gender inequality is Antigone,
written by famous Greek philosopher Sophocles. In addition to the writing of
Sophocles, there have been other playwrights willing to show not only their
lives through their work, but also how gender inequality is a custom of the
dominant culture. The famous playwright of the mid-twentieth, Tennessee Williams
established both his career and his perception of gender inequality within his
well renowned play A Streetcar Named Desire. Both Williams and Sophocles
establish the concept of inequality due to gender amazingly within their works,
with characters that display an utterly determined perspective to be as
stubborn as possible, as well as characters that try their hardest to be the
voice of reason in times of struggle and strife. However, even though there are
multiple writings that depict gender inequality as an issue of the past, it
should go without saying that, regardless of location in the world, the
inequality due to one’s gender is still rampant. Within Sophocles’ play, Antigone,
it is vividly represented that characters such as Creon and Antigone are aware
of the situation in their society involving gender and try to modify the
situation accordingly.
Sophocles
portrays the society of the ancient theocratic Greece fluidly throughout his
play Antigone. Depictions of treatment between men and women within the
play of Sophocles clearly display favorability towards men in every sense. The
embodiment of reason in the play, Ismene, is clearly aware of the precarious
predicament in society and as a result tries to take hold of the situation
rather than putting her and her sister’s life further at risk. “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, to obedience in this and even more
painful matters, (Sophocles 1131-1132). Ismene, within the play, is not the
only one who takes note at the fact that because they are women they have less
power and control. Creon, Ismene’s uncle and King of Thebes, displays
visualization of the gender inequality situation in Sophoclean Greece. However,
Creon is depicted as a misogynist and is unrelenting in his distaste for women
being anything other than a wife and caretaker. Characters such as Antigone and
Haemon, on the contrary to Ismene and Creon, provide breaking of specific roles
or morals present in this time period. Antigone displays avid insubordination
of the law regardless of her intended gender roles, while Haemon tries his
absolute hardest to convince his father to rethink his decision on putting
Antigone to death for the burying of Polyneices. Within Creon and Haemon’s
conversation, Haemon expresses his core beliefs of the situation saying, “If
you are a woman – care is all for you,” (1149). The thorough depictions of
gender inequality are rampant in most aspects of the story of Antigone showing
appearances in multiple aspects including; character interactions, setting, and
plot development. Furthermore, the theme of gender inequality can be correlated
to pieces of literature that are more recent in creation. The play A
Streetcar Named Desire is a perfect example of how gender inequality can be
devastating to both mental and physical health of people victimized in the
subject matter.
Tennessee
Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, demonstrates an amazing
instance in which American literature utilizes real life issues to evoke
complex feelings for multiple characters within the story. Characters such as
Blanche Dubois and her sister Stella Kowalski are put through hell throughout
the plot primarily because they happen to be women in an era of time in which
women, in a way drastically different to today, are treated as objects or
things rather than equals to men. The mid-twentieth century, displayed in A
Streetcar Named Desire, was a time in which a woman could not live the way
she wants, but rather abide by everyone else’s wants and desires. The plot of
Williams’ play involves a minimalized patriarchy within the Kowalski household
ruled by the, direct antagonist of the story, Stanley Kowalski. Stanley
displays an obscene amount of casual misogyny within conversations between
Stella, Blanche, and his companions. Along with Stanley’s objectification of
women present in the plot, there are multiple instances in which Stanley
displays pure hatred for Blanche. The malicious perception of Blanche on
Stanley’s part allows the readers to see the true way he acts towards his wife,
shown profoundly in the infamous poker scene where Stanley proceeds to
physically abuse Stella. However, Blanche in her mentally unstable state, as a
result of her previous marriage, becomes even more traumatized by Stanley’s
actions that occur in towards the end of the play. “Oh you want some
roughhouse! All right, let’s have some roughhouse! Tiger – tiger! Drop the
bottle-top! Drop it! We’ve had this with each other from the beginning,” (Williams
1231). Following the quote, Stanley proceeds to rape Blanche Dubois, showing
his final act of malevolence and spite within the play. Both Blanche and Stella
are put in a position within the story in which they are essentially reminded
that they are women in a time with little to no freedom and that they can do
nothing but accept that fact. Within the modern era, it should go without
saying that unfortunately, women are subjected to gender inequality.
All over the
world, even today, there are injustices that are portrayed against women,
further displaying that gender inequality is a dominant issue. Typically, when
people tend to think of gender inequality in this day and age, people might
generally think of areas within the Middle East. Moreover, Pakistan has become
an extremely important point in the discussion of the oppression of women.
Within the area of Pakistan, the lives of many revolve around the dominant
religion, which is primarily Islam. With Islam being the dominant religion,
there are multiple rules that are not to be taken lightly, primarily involving
what women can and cannot do. However, within recent months, Pakistan has
passed a bill that allows women, who are no longer Islamic, to be protected
from violence by law. “The legislation
criminalizes domestic, emotional, psychological, verbal and economic abuse, as
well as stalking and cybercrime,” (Usman). Though this legalized bill is a
moment of great strives in the Middle East, it would not be achievable without
notable people making great efforts to achieve equal rights for women. A women
that is made a took a tremendous step to change the inequality present in
Pakistan, was Malala Yousafzai. Within the fall of 2012, the assassination
attempt on Malala Yousafzai had taken place leaving the media and millions of
people at home in a sense of panic. The girl who, at the time, had established
herself as a truly dedicated activist for girl’s education and was making an
astounding effort for her cause, had been shot by the Taliban in hopes to halt
her actions. In Malala’s actions of activism and beneficial hopes for women’s
education everywhere, there is can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Malala is
one of the most astounding revolutionaries of recent history. Furthermore,
Malala, as she has progressed with her action in women’s activism, has always
kept god close to her heart. Malala, within her book I Am Malala: The Girl
Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, discusses her life
and how within the Islam religion, people shouldn’t be treated as they have
been and still are in regards to education equality. Yousafzai’s actions,
fighting gender inequality in her home country and the rest of the world, are a
true display of overcoming oppression that was put in place by the Taliban and
others who are unwilling to change their hateful and despicable demeanors towards
women. “Today we all know education is our basic right. Not just in the West;
Islam too has given us this right. Islam says that every girl and every boy
should go to school. In the Quran it is written, God wants us to have
Knowledge,” (Yousafzai 155). Malala Yousafzai is truly a beneficial example for
standing up for women in the education system and all around the world.
Throughout
history gender inequality has been a dominating issue, and still remains a
struggle for multitudes of women today. Antigone and her sister Ismene are
plainly and utterly put in a devastating situation within their time period,
which is only worsened by characters like Creon, who has a misogynistic and
totalitarian outlook on how to run Thebes in ancient Greece. Similarly to Antigone,
Blanche and Stella are subject to Stanley’s rules without any leeway in how
things go around the house. Moreover, the issue of gender inequality and those
who try to overcome the oppression imposed is most certainly still an issue
that, only with the help of people those who want change, will be nonexistent
for future generations.
Works Cited
Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. Antigone. 441 B.C. The
Norton Introduction to
Literature. New York: W.W.
Norton, 2011. 1131+. Print.
Booth, Alison, and Kelly J. Mays. A Streetcar Named
Desire. 1947. The Norton
Introduction to Literature.
New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 1231. Print.
Usman, Maria. "Pakistan Sharia Islamic Council Dubs Law
against Abusing Women Un-
Islamic." CBSNews. CBS
Interactive, 7 Mar. 2016. Web. 09 Mar. 2016.
Yousafzai, Malala, and Christina Lamb. "One Child, One
Teacher, One Book, One Pen."
I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood
up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.
London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
2013. 155. Print.
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