Robbins 1

Kayla Robbins

Denton Tulloch

Enc 1102

28 April 2021

Gender Roles Research Paper

Throughout every society known to humanity, women are often placed beneath men; this

is seen as far back when civilization first formed to modern-day society. Sexism is characterized

as a type of hierarchy-enhancing ideology, using systematic techniques to heed such results by

the villainfication woman who speaks out against the social injustices or is treated as crazy or

strange for speaking out (Brandt 1). The fear of women, or more accurately, the fear of

significant social change, is seen throughout society, including many literary pieces making

commentary on such. Women are often portrayed as the root of evil, dating as far back as Greek

mythology, most notably “Pandora’s Box,” indicating that women were the source of the pain

and evil in the world (Johnson). In the works such as “A Rose for Emily” and “Lottery,” women

are placed in a heinous light due to pushing back against the society that mistreats them.

Emily in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is seen as more of tradition in the

unnamed town in which she resided before her death and less of whom she is. “Miss Emily had

been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation. . .” (Faulkner 1). While this

line may suggest that the town cared for her to a degree, it more portrays her as a chore to hold

on to tradition. A relic of her historic family that represents the rich Southern history seen

throughout this town. This entitlement is portrayed during her funeral “the men through a sort of

respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of
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her house” (Faulkner 1). No one attending is shown to be mourning for her, instead mourning

the history. She is held at high standards due to being seen less as a person and more as a

historical ideal, heavily scrutinized, and expected to be the epitome of a good southern lady.

Emily’s brief relationship with Homer rebels against the town, even stating that “the ladies

forced the Baptist minister upon her” due to the “promiscuous behavior portrayed (Faulkner 6).

Homer is, in a sense, a representation of everything that is not expected of people at the time,

rivaling the cultural values of this town. Emily romanticized this freedom from the chains of

what she was supposed to represent; this freedom made her truly happy. When Emily enters this

love affair with Barron, she is rebelling against the southern values, and then, by ending the

affair with him, at least in the town’s perspective, she conforms to her expected role (Dilworth

1). By killing Homer Barron in a deranged and macabre way, she secures him as her eternal

lover and appeases those around her (Dilworth 1). This feeling of having to hide her affairs with

this man due to social backlash is familiar among women, especially during this era. By the end

of the story, readers are left with a feeling of disgust and discomfort due to the implied

necrophile and drastic measures taken by Emily through the blood is equally on the hands of the

ones in the town that pushed her to this extreme. Though Emily never received any physical

repercussions from those around her, that is not always the case; around the world, women are

beaten to death behind the guise of tradition.

A tradition that places men in a position of power while beating women into submission

is displayed in the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. As an author, Shirley Jackson

wrote the critical moral analysis of American society, and “The Lottery” is no exception. The

portrayal of the lottery demonstrates a patriarchal society pitting male authority against female

resistance (Oehlschlaeger 1). “The Lottery” illustrates the difference between women’s role in
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society against male authority; for example, men run the lottery every year, deciding who dies

annually. When Tessie attempts to speak up about the situation, her husband tells her to “Shut

up.” By portraying women as being submissive to the male authority, it is safe to presume that

the lottery represents a system meant to keep women in control. Despite this control, women in

subtle ways still attempt to reject the lottery, not helping with collecting rocks or pointing out

“some places have already quit lotteries.” However, these statements are often ignored or treated

like they are preposterous. The latching on to traditions that are harmful to women is seen

worldwide though not always to a fatal extreme. For example, in modern-day America, women

are expected to take the last name of their husbands and join his family. While this may seem

insignificant, seemly small inequalities like this begin to stack up, keeping women in a lesser

role than men.

Rebellion against a male-oriented society will do all in its power to silence the voices that

speak out against it. While the examples above are older examples of literature, these themes of

punishing women who reject the male hierarchy can be seen in modern-day society. The most

prominent example of such would be death by stoning. Stoning women has been a common

punishment seen throughout many cultures as a punishment for “crimes” committed by a

woman. The real-life case of Ashtiani, a 42-year-old middle eastern woman, and mother of two,

is up for the death sentence by stoning due to her activism in the name of expanding woman’s

rights in the middle east for being accused of adultery (Basu et al.).

Throughout history, women’s fight for equality has been changing and morphing as they

dismantle systems and traditions that have been put in place to keep the male hierarchy in place.

Despite the progress, not much has changed in the vilification of women who wish to push back
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against their oppressors—being silenced by upholding outdated traditions or being punished with

violence and social vindication.

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Works Cited

Basu, Moni, et al. “Human Rights Activist Tries to Stop Death by Stoning for Iranian Woman.”

CNN, Cable News Network, 5 July 2010,

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/07/05/iran.stoning/index.html. Accessed 18 Apr.

2021.

Brandt, Mark J. “Sexism and Gender Inequality Across 57 Societies”. vol. 22, no. 11, 2011, pp.

1413–1418. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41320046. Accessed 8 Apr. 2021.

Cleveland, Carol. "Shirley Jackson.", vol. 60, Gale, 1990. Gale Literature Resource Center,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1100001373/GLS?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=GLS&xid=d51f098a.

Accessed 7 Apr. 2021.

Dilworth, Thomas. "A romance to kill for: homicidal complicity in Faulkner's 'A Rose for

Emily'." Studies in Short Fiction, vol. 36, no. 3, 1999, p. 251+. Gale Literature Resource

Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A391308646/GLS?

u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=GLS&xid=716b83c5. Accessed 7 Apr. 2021.

Faulkner, William. “A Rose For Emily”. Black Board, uploaded by Denton Tulloch, 10 Jan.

2021, Blackboard.mdc.edu

Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery”. Black Board, uploaded by Denton Tulloch, 10 Jan. 2021,

Blackboard.mdc.edu

Marguerite Johnson. “A Feminist Nightmare: How Fear of Women Haunts Our Earliest Myths”,

theconversation.com/a-feminist-nightmare-how-fear-of-women-haunts-our-earliest-

myths-37789. Accessed 7 Apr. 2021.

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Oehlschlaeger, Fritz. "The Stoning of Mistress Hutchinson: Meaning and Context in 'The

Lottery'.", vol. 60, Gale, 1990. Gale Literature Resource Center,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1100001375/GLS?u=lincclin_mdcc&sid=GLS&xid=727c9ba6.

Accessed 7 Apr. 2021.