Gender Conflicts In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

From the 1920s and even before then, women were treated below men and had less opportunities due to their gender. Originally traditional values meant that women had barely any rights. However, as these traditional values changed into modern values, women began to gain more opportunities. Both traditional and modern values of gender are included in the novel The Great Gatsby. In the novel the two main characters that were women lived completely different lives. On one hand, there was Daisy, who was a traditional woman that lived a life like someone that lived before the 1920s. However, there was also another character named Jordan who was a traditional type of women that was independent and lived like someone who lived after or during the 1920s. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the traditional vs. modern gender conflicts that began to arise in the 1920s. In the novel, a traditional woman named Daisy, was expected to live a specific way in society due to her being a woman. After Daisy’s daughter is born she knows that “the best thing a girl can be in this world [… is a] beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Daisy was disappointed that the gender of her child was a girl. This was because traditionally women were treated less than men and given …show more content…
Due to their gender, women have been constantly treated less then and below men. If you were born into society as a male, then it automatically made your life better then someone who was born as a woman. This was because in society men are constantly dominant over women. Gender Equality improved in the 1920s, but was not still fully resolved. Throughout Fitzgerald’s novel Tom was considered more important than both Daisy and Myrtle. Fitzgerald’s main purpose in the novel was that the more modern of a woman you are, the less conflicted and difficult your life in society will