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Gender Roles In The Great Gatsby

1020 Words5 Pages

Kaitlynn Arendall
1/10/23
Mr. Jefferson
Dominating Gender

In the 1920s, life for women was not as easy as it was for men. Women were restricted by many rules whereas men thrived as the dominating gender. The novel The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott tells a story about a man named Nick, who gets involved with a millionaire, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby uses Nick to help him achieve his fantasy of reuniting with his former lover, Daisy Buchanon, who happens to be Nick’s cousin. The author uses two female characters known as Jordan and Daisy, individuals cheat and lie, to show how women compete in this male-dominated world.
In The Great Gatsby, Jordan is a character who turned to malicious methods in order to get ahead in this world ruled by men. The …show more content…

Skirts could not be higher than 3 inches above the ankle, nor 6 inches higher than the knee when wearing a bathing suit. Women were constantly checked and put in their place. This fueled their passion to rebel against these rules, and to possess their own political, independent, and social rights. One of it’s rebellious methods was cheating. In chapter 3, Nick recalls a moment when Jordan was involved in a cheating scandal, “At her first big golf tournament there was a row that nearly reached the newspapers- a suggestion that she had moved her ball from a bad lie in the semi-final round. The thing approached the proportions of a scandal-then died away” (Fitzgerald 62). Women had little opportunities to participate in sports. Jordan makes a place for herself in this male supremacist sport by moving her …show more content…

It was not common for people to cheat on their lover or significant other in the 1920s. The person would either have more wealth, or more to show then the current partner, or simply has something that the current lover does not have. This leads to the individual being unfaithful to their current partner. Daisy cheats on her husband, Tom Buchanon, with Jay Gatsby, who displayed more of his wealth. Near the end of chapter 5, Gatsby invites Daisy and Nick over to his house to show Daisy around.
“‘That huge place there?’” she cried pointing.
“‘Do you like

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