Paper 1

Jake Mango

Professor Mignano Brady

English 102

3 March 2016

            Males have oppressed females for thousands of years. Gender inequality was prominent in ancient Greece throughout the play Antigone by Sophocles. As well as in the famous play from the 1940’s A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams. Furthermore, it still takes place in many countries around the world today with one major example being Iran. Each of these instances involve cultures that promote women having a lower social status than men, The women living in these time periods all deal with this oppression in different ways.

            The play Antigone took place in ancient Greece where women’s rights were culturally unheard of. In the play, the absolutist ruler known as Creon refused to give anyone that disobeys his order. Everyone was expected to follow Creon’s rules without question. Antigone’s sister Ismene said, “Shall we not perish wretchedness of all, if in defiance of the law we cross a monarch’s will?—weak women, think of that, Not framed by nature to contend with men. Remember this too that the stronger rules; We must obey his orders, these or worse” (Ismene, 58). This showed Ismene was not going to be the orders because Creon gave them, but specifically because she is a woman that believed she didn’t have the right to disagree. Antigone decided being a woman wouldn’t stop her from accomplishing what she believed needed to be done. After Creon became aware of her decision to rebel, he said to her “No woman shall be the master while I live” (Creon 524). This shows that it is not only a belief shared by women during this time, but also Creon himself makes his decisions based on misogyny. Ultimately, Antigone overcame this oppression by going against her ruler’s orders and gave her brother a proper burial even though it led to her own death.

            The play A Streetcar Named Desire took place is the 1940’s where it was culturally expected that men were more important than women in relationships. In the play, Stanley takes this assumption too far by abusing Stella in their relationship. Stanley says “Remember what Huey Long said – “Every Man is a King!” And I am the King around here, so don’t forget it!” (Stanley 1850). This quote made it clear that Stanley believed the man having more power than the woman is how things should be. Stella’s sister Blanche is characterized by being extremely delusional throughout the play but even she understands this is not how a relationship should work. Stanley abused Stella verbally and physically on multiple occasions. Stella shared with Blanche, “Why on our wedding night—soon as we came in here—he snatched off one of my slippers and rushed about the place smashing light bulbs with it” (Stella 1829). After hearing this example of abuse, Blanche responded in disbelief by asking “And you—you let him? Didn’t run, didn’t scream? (Blanche 1829). Stella admitted she was thrilled by Stanley’s inappropriate actions. Stella submitted to Stanley’s abuse in this time because in this time period it was difficult for women to get by without a man. Blanche coped with Stanley’s abuse while interacting with him by living in her own fantasy world by not allowing anything he said or did affect her negatively. (change this to not letting him control her life)

            The modern example of gender inequality takes place in Iran. The culture in this country revolves around the extremely popular religion of Islam. According to the International Journal of Middle East Studies, people follow this religion so strictly that it is believed to play a role in the female oppression that takes place there. “Instead, Kazemzadeh (A political science major from California) deems Islam to be a “contributing factor” to gender inequality where the patriarchy in Islamic countries in general and in Iran in particular has used and abused the tenets of Islam to perpetuate such inequities. Ultimately, he lays blame not with Islam but with Islamic fundamentalists who have manipulated the religion to pursue their own misogynist policies” (Vakil 1). This means Islam is not the only reason for gender inequality but it is a contributing factor. Islamic fundamentalists abuse religious women in various ways to force them to give into their personal beliefs that women should not have the freedom they deserve in today’s society. “Moreover, all previous gains with regards to polygyny, divorce, hijab, Sigheh, and education were ultimately reversed. Women were relegated to a subordinate position in society” (Vakil 1). Women believe all of these examples are justified simply because their religion historically infers it. “Using diversity of tactics ranging from revoking gender protection in the workplace to with drawing social services and nullifying the family protection laws, Khomeini and his supporters forced women out of the public sphere and back into their “natural” role of motherhood” (Vakil 1). It is also inferred that Islam pushed women’s progression backwards to the time of women only needing to be mothers and nothing more. Women can overcome this oppression today by immigrating to other countries with more opportunities for women and it is becoming more common to find occurrences of women doing exactly that.

            The culture during the time period is the main reason for the gender inequality in each example. Each of the three cases involved women that naturally accepted the imbalances of women’s rights because they believed it was normal. However, the women that attempted to overcome the oppression were each aware of their respective unfair situations and did whatever they could do to overcome the oppression. Antigone rebelled against Creon because she had to in order to accomplish her goal of burying her brother. If she didn’t rebel, her brother would’ve never received the traditional burial he deserved. Stella dealt with Stanley’s abuse because she believed she needed him in order to live a satisfying life in this time period. If she didn’t stay with him, she most likely would have ended up having a tough time living on her own. Women in Iran have the option in today’s world to travel to destinations that encourage freedom rather than having to follow unfair standards. If they stay where they are it may take decades to receive their freedom as it already has. If all women throughout history just accepted the oppression they received, feminism would never be alive like it is today.