Gender Roles In Macbeth And The Social Network

Gender roles are a set of societal expectations or norms describing how a person should behave, look, or act based on what is desired and accepted by society. Because recent societal change in the 21st century has blurred the lines between gender roles, the world has become more aware that gender cannot be confined to a specific definition and has begun to see the breakdown of these broad generalizations as a result. Despite this, gender roles remain firmly entrenched in our culture via classical literature and popular media and undoubtedly still have a significant influence on how society defines gender. The Social Network and Macbeth explore how characters continuously accept or reject gender roles and their effects on decision, actions and dynamics between characters. In both The Social Network and Macbeth, social constructs dictate the idea of how women should present themselves to society; they are usually created by and for the benefit of men. For instance, upon their initial encounter with the three witches, Banquo comments to Macbeth on their outward appearance. …show more content…
He interprets this as a question of his ability to get into a finals club based on his own merits. This results in an argument where he lashes out at her and ridicules her education and social status. Following the end of their relationship, Mark attempts to expand Facebook’s network to other colleges after discovering that his ex has no knowledge of his success. Regardless of his success, he doesn’t gain the recognition he desires to reinforce his superiority. The pressure to succeed and gain upward mobility guides him to greater achievement but at the personal cost of his relationship. This illustrates the pressure that gender roles place on individuals and the desire to reinforce these roles at their own