Gender Roles In 'Y, The Last Man'

Improved Essays
Traditionally, men are considered more aggressive and violent and women are considered more peaceful in nature. But in Y, The Last Man, Vaughn makes this statement about gender roles completely opposite. Y, The Last Man revolves around Yorick Brown and his monkey Ampersand, who were the only male species left on the Earth. And all other male species were dead due to some defect in Y chromosomes. The problem in Y chromosome wiped out all the men on the Earth. Vaughn, the author of graphic novel Y, the Last Man has shown how women are coming out of their traditional roles and becoming more ferocious like men. The character Victoria is a great example used by Vaughn to show the contrasting power structure between gender roles in the society. Victoria

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    This reveals the operations of patriarchy where men hold the power against women. Everything seems to be evolving around men since the characters only come into…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Oscar Wao Gender Roles

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Junot Diaz's book called “The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, the book is mainly about the life of a man named “Oscar Wao” in which gender plays an important role in society and also highlights the significance of the comparisons between the genders. Throughout the book, men's roles in society are represented as controlling and dominating due to their expected role of being the protectors and providers of their family. The main character of the book named “Oscar Wao” is a man that has “nerdy” interests in various hobbies such as comics associated with superheroes, books such as “The Lord of the Rings” and science fiction (Act II, Chapter 6). As a result, Oscar fails to meet the expectations of his role as a man in society to be a…

    • 352 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    William Shakespeare did not become arguably the most famous playwright in the history of the world for coloring inside the lines. In each one of his complex plays, he pushes against the boundaries of social norms. Shakespeare incorporates bold discussions of fleeting love, gender uncertainty, mistaken identity, and ironic comedy into his creative plots during the 1600’s when public discussion on such progressive ideas were rare. In his comedy Twelfth Night, Shakespeare uses dialogue between his three main characters, Viola, Orsino, and Olivia, to express his critique on the strict nature of gender roles during his time. Through his manipulation of his characters’ identities, his placement of women in leadership positions, and his questioning of traditional gender roles, Shakespeare reveals his theme that strict definitions of gender reinforce false stereotypes of both men and women.…

    • 1503 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Gender Roles In Mad Men

    • 2352 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Some believe that the more money a person has, the less satisfaction the person will have in life. When women are involved with successful men, women tend to depend on men more; however, single women earn independence as the single females do not depend on the income of men. The show, Mad Men, takes place in the 1960’s New York, portraying the life of the protagonist, Don Draper (Jon Hamm), the Creative Director of Sterling Cooper Agency, an advertising agency owned by Roger Sterling (John Slattery). Don Draper is praised for his work, but many of the employees in the company, including Draper, are filled with arrogance and disrespect that not only the men face, but that women tolerate. The episode “Shoot” mainly focuses on Don’s wife…

    • 2352 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    I have only seen a couple episodes of The L Word, but from what I have seen it is a show about the lives of lesbian and bisexual individuals living in Los Angeles. Two of the main characters, Bette and Tina have a daughter together and are starting to go get a divorce. I thought this was an interesting topic because in mixed-sex couples typically, the mom is the one who gains full custody. I thought that Tina would be the one granted more custody because Bette is portrayed as having more of a stereotypical father role in the family I.e. she is the bread-winner and she takes care of the financial aspects of the family and is home with their daughter less. I also thought maybe Tina would be the one granted full custody because she is biologically…

    • 239 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This article, written by Jon Witt, is about how children affect their parent's gender roles. When parents have sons, the father is more likely to be more "masculine" and the mother is more likely to be more "feminine". Parents respond to their sons like this because their sons will eventually grow up and have a more "rigid" gender role. Daughters do not have the same effect on their parents because they will not have the same "rigid" gender role. I agree with the article because when children are young they are most impressionable and parents want to give their children a clear idea of gender roles.…

    • 124 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the film Mr. Mom a husband and wife are forced to temporarily swap gender roles at work and at home. The film demonstrates gendered division of labor at home and at work. In the film the husband and father, Jack, gets laid off of his job as an engineer at an automobile industry. In return Jack makes it a competition between him and his wife, Carlyon, to see who can get a job fist, Carlyon wins the competition by finding a job as an executive for an advertising agency. The roles in the house swap when Carlyon goes to work; she becomes the breadwinner, while Jack becomes the caretaker.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “One winter evening she looked at them: the husband durable, receptive, gentle; the child tender golden three. The sight of them made her so sad and sick she did not want to see them ever again” (Godwin 1). Gender roles in the 70’s tell us that being a successful woman means being a good wife and mother and taking care of her family. “A Sorrowful Woman” by Gail Godwin portrays the story of a mother who is going against the roles given to her by society. The woman in the story is seen as mentally ill, but in actuality she is challenging the gender roles assigned to her by not wanting to be a wife and a mother and hiding herself away and trying to discover what her true passions are.…

    • 1260 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Final Girl, who is the last character standing by the end of the film, represents an adjustment in terms of gender representation. The female character possesses both masculine and feminine characteristics. This mixture of personalities allows the male audience to connect with the female character without feeling as if his manhood is being taken from him. Although the Final Girl is a female character, she strategically embodies both genders which allows all audiences to connect with the…

    • 872 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    There 's no doubt that in The Great Gatsby, the gender roles are somewhat differentiated between dominance of men, and independence of woman. With several theories going around as to what women are portrayed as “gentle”, and what woman are considered “tough”. Fitzgerald in truth wanted to have the woman subdued by the men with their physical and authoritative strength, where there is one case of role reversal in the case of Nick and Jordan. Here, in this essay, you will understand why the gender roles of women are seen at “pure”, “innocent”, and traditionally mannered. Although in the end, you will find out that their white dresses are only hiding who they truly are- just as tough and independently equal to men.…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gender and Politics in Mad Max: Fury Road POL-1101-005 Silke Groeneweg Student Number: 3070107 A film like Mad Max: Fury Road, like any blockbuster, is meant to excite, entertain and elicit emotions. The most recent instalment in the Mad Max franchise does all that and more. Taking place in a desert wasteland caused by nuclear war, Mad Max: Fury Road examines power that individuals have and the role gender has in determining power. This examination of power and gender can extend to examining the greater society where men and women deal with gender roles and where they face to either overcome predetermined social stereotypes, fight to uphold them or are forced to conform.…

    • 1458 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Y The Last Man Analysis

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Nowadays, women are pilots, doctors, army, bus driver and many other jobs, once that were traditionally considered jobs for males only. The author Brian K. Vaughn has examined the fallacious traditional stereotypes about men and women in his novel Y, the Last Man. Vaughn, challenges the traditional gender roles in society by contrasting the power structure between men and women which leaves women more aggressive.…

    • 828 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Chronicle of a Death Foretold is a narrative that retells the events leading up to the death of Santiago Nasar. Throughout the novella, there are many instances in which a man is in a place of power, however, the female characters often are denied this opportunity. Power can be defined as having the ability to stand up for yourself or others, make your own decisions, and having an important role in society. It is the sole characteristic that differentiates men from women in Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Despite the few instances where women are placed in positions of power, Gabriel Garcia Marquez effectively proves that women are depicted as powerless through the use of machismo throughout the story, integrating Colombian gender roles…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The world of Salinger has no room for women The Cather in the Rye written by J.D Salinger is known for its themes of teen angst, alienation and more importantly its views against feminism. Holden’s views of women in general are not pleasant all of which is due to the fact that there are only there are three types of women throughout the world of Holden Caulfield: Role models who break away from stereotypical roles such as Phoebe, the weak who have the potential to become role models like Jane Gallagher and women whom of which’s actions are the embodiment of gender stereotypes women like these would be the three women at the bar, Sunny and Sally Hayes. There are only a handful of women in the novel who act as respectable female role models;…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The male sex role theory popularized by Robert Brannon created a great foundation for gender studies, specifically studies concerning masculinity. The following essay will uncover his research design and analysis, his key contributions to the theory, and some strengths and weaknesses of his theory. Ultimately, the central premise is to show how his conception of masculinity and the sex role, in particular, has many faults and lacks evidentiary basis, which conclusively leads to its demise. First off, it is important to note that the nature of the research design is lacking in many respects. Robert Brannon’s publication of the male sex role theory adopted a mixed method analysis approach.…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays