Gender Roles And Objectification Of Women In 'On The Road'
Guadalupe Alejandre
Professor K. Cunningham
English 100
1 April 2014
Beat Generation: Keeping Women in the Shadows
Gender roles and objectification of women has always been an issue in America even in today’s society. Gender roles are the social and behavioral “norms” that are appropriate for a man or a woman. Objectification is often heard when talking about women, and it is when something or someone is treated as an object rather than a human being. In On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a great example of America’s way of viewing women. On the Road is during a time period of change; regardless of the change happening women somehow were still treated unequally. In On the Road and real life women tend to be looked down on and are expected to know and do the “normal” things any women should like cook, clean, and especially have lots of sex with men due to this women are seen as objects and gender roles keep existing.
On the Road novel has two main characters being Sal Paradise and Dean …show more content…
Many characters seem to be unsatisfied with their love life and their frustration often leads to violent acts. Women are in an inferior position throughout the novel. For instance, there is a division of labor according to sex and better known as gender role which implies that the home is the place for women and the men are only there when they have free time. One example of this is when Sal visits a ranching family and the husband is free to relax and enjoy himself while his “housewife” prepares the food. Sal praises all the food that is there, but he also realizes that the wife complains about the “rural solitude” (Kerouac 64). The narrator knows that the wife is not happy with a life at home and that she would like some of the freedom that her husband thinks he deserves just because he is a
Professor K. Cunningham
English 100
1 April 2014
Beat Generation: Keeping Women in the Shadows
Gender roles and objectification of women has always been an issue in America even in today’s society. Gender roles are the social and behavioral “norms” that are appropriate for a man or a woman. Objectification is often heard when talking about women, and it is when something or someone is treated as an object rather than a human being. In On the Road by Jack Kerouac is a great example of America’s way of viewing women. On the Road is during a time period of change; regardless of the change happening women somehow were still treated unequally. In On the Road and real life women tend to be looked down on and are expected to know and do the “normal” things any women should like cook, clean, and especially have lots of sex with men due to this women are seen as objects and gender roles keep existing.
On the Road novel has two main characters being Sal Paradise and Dean …show more content…
Many characters seem to be unsatisfied with their love life and their frustration often leads to violent acts. Women are in an inferior position throughout the novel. For instance, there is a division of labor according to sex and better known as gender role which implies that the home is the place for women and the men are only there when they have free time. One example of this is when Sal visits a ranching family and the husband is free to relax and enjoy himself while his “housewife” prepares the food. Sal praises all the food that is there, but he also realizes that the wife complains about the “rural solitude” (Kerouac 64). The narrator knows that the wife is not happy with a life at home and that she would like some of the freedom that her husband thinks he deserves just because he is a