Table of ContentsIntroductionDiscussionWorks Cited IntroductionSince the dawn of time, there have been gender roles. Men and women have never had the same responsibilities and daily routines. Men were generally seen as the "breadwinners", while women were housewives and stayed at home, working only to please their husbands and take care of their families. Clearly, over time, these standards no longer became socially acceptable as women wanted more from their lives. This idea of ​​gender norms was explored in both Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. The way gender norms are explored is different in the two stories because they take place in different time periods, the economic conditions were different, and they focus on different ethnicities and racial groups. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayDiscussion The Great Gatsby is set in the 1920s. It is the story of an eccentric millionaire named Jay Gatsby and his romantic ambition told by narrator Nick Carraway. Women of this period were finally able to begin to express themselves as they finally gained the right to vote. Many of them were considered “flappers.” These were women who smoked in public, wore more conventional clothing, and moved away from old gender norms. They were much more expressive than women of previous generations. Linda Simon wrote an article about the state of “flappers” at that time. She cited "In the stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who summed her up as 'pretty, impudent, superbly assured, as worldly, scantily clad and 'tough' as ​​they come." Flappers were more expressive than any other generation of women before them. This era of growth for women truly set the tone for their liberation from gender roles and norms in the future. The Great Gatsby represents the flapper of the 1920s through the character of Jordan Baker. She is a professional golf player and is completely content not to get married if she continues playing. Jordan even says: “I like big parties. They are so intimate. At small parties there is no privacy” (Fitzgerald 54). Flappers prefer larger social situations so they can converse with tons of people at once and act however they want. In smaller situations, they would feel pressured to act differently and have boring conversations. For example, Jordan Baker avoided small gatherings and was rarely seen outside of parties. If she wasn't playing golf, she was at a party. She was the complete opposite of a character like Daisy, who can be seen wearing fancy clothes and fulfilling more of a stereotypical female role. She was much less expressive than Jordan and stuck to traditional housewife activities. Daisy was much more feminine than Jordan and preferred fancy outfits and singing to golf and short skirts. The Great Gatsby was not only able to explore the flappers of the time, but also all the roles of women. A Raisin in the Sun is set in the 1950s. Hansberry tells the story of an African-American family who receives a check for $10,000 and wonders where the money will go and what they will spend it on. "The dilemma most American women faced in the 1950s, feeling the need to project an ideal image of themselves, but sufferinginternally about its lack of consistency with reality" (Barker Ellsworth). The women in this story seemed to play more of a controlling role in the family. Since Walter was the only adult male in the house, he felt the need to follow in the footsteps of his father and being the "man" of the house However, since there were so many women with different opinions, it was very difficult for him to bring this idea to fruition. Mama and Beneatha were two prominent women in the novel. Mom being the eldest, she had the most influence on major decisions in history. Beneatha represented the young woman of the time who was trying to get a good education and a good job. 1950s, men and women finally seemed to be on an equal playing field. With this playing field being normalized in society, it had an impact on the relationship between Walter and Beneatha. Walter dreams of opening a clothing store. alcohol, which in itself is a good investment. Walter is content to make this dream come true and wants to achieve it by any means possible. He was more than willing to use the family's $10,000 for his own benefit. However, the family had differing views on how to use the money. With the changing dynamics of modern times, it would be a wise investment to spend money on Beneatha medical school. In turn, she would also be able to support the entire family with the salary from her career. Before this period, Walter could have used the money as he wished, as the family patriarch had the most say in financial decisions. Now he must be held accountable and possibly lose his dreams for the rest of the family to benefit, especially his sister. It's honestly more stable for Beneatha to become a doctor rather than working at a liquor store as her primary source of income. Gender norms were greatly affected during the 1920s due to the economic boom. “The American economy entered a period of unprecedented expansion and higher standards of living that continued until the fall of 1929. Industrial production nearly doubled during this period – the result of more efficient management, greater mechanization and more intensive research into new products. Thanks to the many improvements made to the infrastructure, some entrepreneurs and businessmen were able to make their fortune. Unfortunately, not everyone prospered from the economic boom of this period. There were three social classes in the 1920s: lower, middle and upper. The lower class citizens consisted of unemployed and poorly paid workers. The upper class is the wealthiest of the rich, and their professions generally enjoy high status. The middle class includes everyone in between. This system is very similar to today, however, in the 1920s the population seemed to be more evenly distributed between the lower and upper classes. The middle class had a much smaller population than today. Surprisingly, the economy of the 1950s was not much different from its 1920s predecessor. Both economies existed after the world wars. TIME Magazine wrote an article on the history of the American economy. They used newspaper headlines to summarize the economic conditions of each decade. For the 1950s, they wrote: “The United States and the dollar reign supreme. The baby boom economy fuels the construction of homes, schools and highways. Both periods prospered economically due to an increase in consumer spending. Post-war countries needrepairs and maintenance to return to their previous conditions. None of these wars were just ordinary wars. Both were global and required a lot of hardware and resources. In turn, postwar economies would boom on all the consumer spending; which makes the economy prosper and creates more jobs for men and women. The Great Gatsby focuses primarily on the white culture of New York. There was a much higher population of whites than blacks in the 1920s, so it makes sense that the story is about whites. The Great Gatsby contains many rich white people who only care about themselves and the money they have. Jay Gatsby is probably the richest character in the entire novel. He earned his money through illegal means just to get closer to Daisy. He is only interested in himself and his love for her. Nick Carraway gave a brief description of Gatsby's daily parties. He remembers: “There was music coming from my neighbor's house on summer nights. In its blue gardens, men and girls came and went like moths among the whispers, the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon, I watched his guests dive from the top of his raft tower, or sunbathe on the warm sand of his beach while his motorboats glided across the waters of the Sound, pulling aquaplanes on cataracts of foam. On weekends, his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, ferrying groups to and from the city between nine in the morning and well after midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a bright yellow insect to meet all the trains. Fitzgerald 43). Gatsby has all this wealth, but he is still not happy because he only wants to rebuild his relationship with Daisy. A Raisin in the Sun focuses on the opposite end of the spectrum. The story focuses on a poor African-American family. The Youngers are much more focused on family and the American dream. Mom asked Walter why he always talks about money; “Mom: Oh — So now this is life. Money is life. Freedom used to be life, now it's money. I guess the world is really changing. . . Walter: No, it was always money, Mom. We just didn't know it. Mom: No. . . something has changed. You're something new, boy. In my time, we were afraid of being lynched. . . You are neither satisfied nor proud of anything we have done. I mean you had a house; that we kept you out of trouble until you were an adult; that you don’t have to ride to work on anyone’s streetcar – You my children – but how different we have become” (Hansberry). By asking Walter about money, Mama helped the reader realize that money is actually a problem for the characters in this story. When the $10,000 check comes into play, all the characters have differing opinions on what it should be spent on. When it comes to the ever-changing dynamics of societal dreams and struggles, the Younger family has been greatly affected. Originally, the Youngers and all other African American families simply yearned for freedoms that were only available to whites. Nowadays, in 1950s Chicago, freedoms were gradually being granted to African Americans, as demonstrated by Walter's attitude toward his own goals and aspirations. Mom protected her family from the societal prejudices they faced growing up. In doing so, Walter was able to develop a more independent perspective on his own success. He got to the point where he didn't.