Inequality In Antigone

Over time both female and male roles in society have changed, both in literature and in real life, but one thing that hasn’t changed is gender inequality. Men are allowed to stay at home and take care of the children while women are able to work outside of home. Women have gained many rights such as voting and going to college, but they still have a far way to go. There are more male than female protagonists in movies. There are more men in the government who are repeatedly trying to make bills regulating the woman’s body. Men also earn roughly twenty-five cents more than women do (Newsom). Gender inequality is still a problem today in America because gender roles change as society grows and America’s society isn’t done growing.
During Ancient Greece, women were seen as less than men and were thought to not be able to do anything. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Antigone decides to go against the law and bury her deceased brother Polyneices. When word that someone has broken one of his laws by burying Polyneices, the king says to the guard “What? Which man has the audacity to do such a thing?” (Sophocles 7) The king automatically assumes …show more content…
Women are still seen as less than men, and are represented less than men in both films and literature. For example, of the works of literature students in the tenth grade honors English class are required to read in the first semester, only two of them have females that have large roles in the stories. In War of the Worlds, women were mentioned but did not take any big parts in the story. Most of the other works of literature that were read did not even mention women at all in the story. Other than books, movies and films also represent women less. For instance, in the animated films made between the years 1935 and 2005 only 13 of the protagonists were female (Newsom). Also only 11% of the protagonists in movies in 2011 were female