An Exploration of Gender Roles Utilizing A Raisin in the Sun
In A Raisin in the Sun, the female characters really reflect the gender roles of the time period. Ruth represents how women would succumb and submit to those society assigned roles, whereas Beneatha represents how women would try to break the mold.
During the 1950s, the mass media was very "whitewashed" and African American women were hardly portrayed at all. But just like Walter wanted what whiteness represented for men, (because he saw all the successful business men were white), Ruth wanted the same thing... but for women.
Rich white women were most often and most commonly portrayed in the media as wives and mothers, because that was actually the reality for the majority of them. This led to African American women desiring that life too - the one that Ruth is desperately trying to emulate in any way possible - the latest attempt being the action of moving into a bigger house. To Ruth, that is one small step towards achieving the American Dream and becoming more like a wealthy white family. Maybe if she has a bigger house she will be able to raise her kids better, maybe the role of "stay at home mom" will become slightly easier with more space. But the reality is that Ruth can never have the life of a rich white woman and '[pack] up [her] suitcases and [pile] on one of them big steamships" (Hansberry 44), because she doesn't have the money to do that. Societal racism has trapped her in a box, and the economical factors of that box hinder her from having the freedom of stereotypical white women. She can't just be a stay at home mom and a wife; she is forced to sacrifice every day of her life to work to provide for her family. The way in which she conforms to her societal imposed gender and race biased role though, is believing that she can only do domestic work. During her desperate plea to Mama she says, "I'll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago... and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to..." (Hansberry 140). This is all domestic housework - which she automatically goes to - assuming she can't do anything else. We don't know for sure that Ruth can't do anything else because we don't know if she got an education that allows her to get another job, but if she doesn't have a good education, would it be that far fetched to think that she doesn't due to the segregation of schools?
The other thing worth noticing is that Ruth announces to Mama that those are the sacrifices that she will make so that her family can still move and pay for the house, even without the rest of the insurance money. Yet Walter - the one who actually lost the insurance money, never announces what he will sacrifice to fix his mistake. The only argument that could be made, is that Walter was willing to sacrifice his pride in order to get the money for the house back. But by doing that he was also taking away his family's dreams. His idea to sell back the house and collect the money... still had selfish intent behind it. He wanted to fix his mistake, rid himself of his humiliation, regain the pride he would be sacrificing in the act by fixing it, and then use that money for his own investments. In this way, it is just assumed that "when the world gets ugly enough – a woman will do anything for her family" (Hansberry 75). Who decided that it was a woman's role to sacrifice everything for the family?! What is Walter going to do?! Wasn't it his mistake?! Isn't it his family too?!
There are still gender bias roles that society has assigned today. More minor and a stretch for the sake of the title of this post, but still very irritating to almost any woman out there, is the fact that fashion designers still don't think that women need pockets - or should I say BIG ENOUGH pockets! Why does society believe that it is a woman's "role" to carry a purse - maybe full of the childcare products she is supposed to have because she is supposed to be a stay at home mom?! A woman should be able to wear a pantsuit (yes I said a pantsuit) with big enough pockets to fit... maybe her phone!? At least her phone would be nice! See, I got the idea for this post and its premise (OH, there I go using vocab) while sitting in my chem class and watching my chem teacher take at least five dry erase markers out of his pocket! In the process of watching this, I saw his hand reach a FOOT down his leg as he reached into HUGE DEEP pockets that he could fit a puppy in, and I realized; not only do men have pockets, but they are WAY bigger than any women's pockets that I've ever seen! I mean they still make leggings with little tiny pockets for iPods - which are so outdated now, that it's just comical! No one takes their iPod nano on their run anymore Under Armour and Nike, so can you please make your pockets big enough to fit five dry erase markers, a puppy, and my iPhone 11 Pro Max please?! Gah-leee, where is Beneatha when you need her feistiness to help your cause?
Rich white women were most often and most commonly portrayed in the media as wives and mothers, because that was actually the reality for the majority of them. This led to African American women desiring that life too - the one that Ruth is desperately trying to emulate in any way possible - the latest attempt being the action of moving into a bigger house. To Ruth, that is one small step towards achieving the American Dream and becoming more like a wealthy white family. Maybe if she has a bigger house she will be able to raise her kids better, maybe the role of "stay at home mom" will become slightly easier with more space. But the reality is that Ruth can never have the life of a rich white woman and '[pack] up [her] suitcases and [pile] on one of them big steamships" (Hansberry 44), because she doesn't have the money to do that. Societal racism has trapped her in a box, and the economical factors of that box hinder her from having the freedom of stereotypical white women. She can't just be a stay at home mom and a wife; she is forced to sacrifice every day of her life to work to provide for her family. The way in which she conforms to her societal imposed gender and race biased role though, is believing that she can only do domestic work. During her desperate plea to Mama she says, "I'll work twenty hours a day in all the kitchens in Chicago... and scrub all the floors in America and wash all the sheets in America if I have to..." (Hansberry 140). This is all domestic housework - which she automatically goes to - assuming she can't do anything else. We don't know for sure that Ruth can't do anything else because we don't know if she got an education that allows her to get another job, but if she doesn't have a good education, would it be that far fetched to think that she doesn't due to the segregation of schools?
The other thing worth noticing is that Ruth announces to Mama that those are the sacrifices that she will make so that her family can still move and pay for the house, even without the rest of the insurance money. Yet Walter - the one who actually lost the insurance money, never announces what he will sacrifice to fix his mistake. The only argument that could be made, is that Walter was willing to sacrifice his pride in order to get the money for the house back. But by doing that he was also taking away his family's dreams. His idea to sell back the house and collect the money... still had selfish intent behind it. He wanted to fix his mistake, rid himself of his humiliation, regain the pride he would be sacrificing in the act by fixing it, and then use that money for his own investments. In this way, it is just assumed that "when the world gets ugly enough – a woman will do anything for her family" (Hansberry 75). Who decided that it was a woman's role to sacrifice everything for the family?! What is Walter going to do?! Wasn't it his mistake?! Isn't it his family too?!
There are still gender bias roles that society has assigned today. More minor and a stretch for the sake of the title of this post, but still very irritating to almost any woman out there, is the fact that fashion designers still don't think that women need pockets - or should I say BIG ENOUGH pockets! Why does society believe that it is a woman's "role" to carry a purse - maybe full of the childcare products she is supposed to have because she is supposed to be a stay at home mom?! A woman should be able to wear a pantsuit (yes I said a pantsuit) with big enough pockets to fit... maybe her phone!? At least her phone would be nice! See, I got the idea for this post and its premise (OH, there I go using vocab) while sitting in my chem class and watching my chem teacher take at least five dry erase markers out of his pocket! In the process of watching this, I saw his hand reach a FOOT down his leg as he reached into HUGE DEEP pockets that he could fit a puppy in, and I realized; not only do men have pockets, but they are WAY bigger than any women's pockets that I've ever seen! I mean they still make leggings with little tiny pockets for iPods - which are so outdated now, that it's just comical! No one takes their iPod nano on their run anymore Under Armour and Nike, so can you please make your pockets big enough to fit five dry erase markers, a puppy, and my iPhone 11 Pro Max please?! Gah-leee, where is Beneatha when you need her feistiness to help your cause?
Hansberry explores both sexism and racism in her play. In class we focused more on the racism experienced by the characters rather than the sexism. We talked about internalized racism especially while discussing Song of Solomon, but I think in this case Ruth experiences internalized sexism. Just as you said, she immediately thinks of housework when thinking of ways to get money. Great analysis Brenna!
ReplyDeleteI love this post! I totally agree with you that Walter should take some accountability for his actions instead of pushing all the blame on everyone else in his family. (Also, bigger pockets would be a life saver lol)
ReplyDeleteBRENNA U ARE REALLY SPEAKING FACTS HERE!!!!! arits is a great representation of gender roles and how they change when race is involved. ruth and beneatha represent two sides of a story regarding feminism and such. and you know whats even worse than womens pants with minuscule pockets? WOMENS PANTS WITH POCKETS SEWN SHUT.
ReplyDeleteI really like your analysis of the gender roles in the play. Hansberry sends powerful messages not only about race but also about gender. She emphasizes how race and genders are roles that are hard to change and people are often stuck in these roles.
ReplyDelete