Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
Song Character Analysis Worksheet - The University of North ...
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
communion.” 5 This bias continued well into the twentieth century. <strong>The</strong> acquisition <strong>of</strong><br />
gender role stereotypes was (and still is) easily available through mainstream culture<br />
mediums (magazines, theatre, movies, popular music), personal interaction with specific<br />
men and women in careers, and tacit influences from schools and the legal system. 6<br />
In her article on “Femininity,” Jill G. Morawski discussed female gender stereo-<br />
types <strong>of</strong> the late nineteenth century through three areas: fictional characterization<br />
(women’s sensibilities), “prescriptions for social and moral arrangements” (separate<br />
spheres, or the cult <strong>of</strong> domesticity), and scientific research on biological differences (the<br />
“Woman Question”). 7 I believe a brief investigation into the areas <strong>of</strong> separate spheres<br />
and the “Woman Question” is necessary to appreciate fully the subtypes <strong>of</strong> gender roles<br />
encountered in the female characters <strong>of</strong> Show Boat.<br />
Separate Spheres and the Cult <strong>of</strong> Domesticity<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the prevailing themes <strong>of</strong> the female gender stereotype in the late nine-<br />
teenth century was the discussion <strong>of</strong> “separate spheres” for men and women. <strong>The</strong> advent<br />
<strong>of</strong> an industrialized society and the increased impersonality <strong>of</strong> mechanized business<br />
created a division <strong>of</strong> home and the marketplace for the first time in history. Man’s sphere<br />
was the public arena where he was expected to excel in his business field and then return<br />
5 Women’s Studies Encyclopedia, s.v. “Gender Stereotypes,” ed. Helen Tierney (Greenwood Press,<br />
2002). Jill Morawski adds independence, rationality, and an interest in objects as characteristics <strong>of</strong> male<br />
roles, and emotionality, dependence, and involvement in personal relationships to characteristics <strong>of</strong> female<br />
roles. “Femininity,” Women’s Studies Encyclopedia.<br />
6 “Gender Stereotypes.” Gilman argued that stereotypes “can also be perpetuated, resurrected, and<br />
shaped” through cultural mediums, independent <strong>of</strong> any personal contact with a specific group. Difference<br />
and Pathology, 20.<br />
7 “Femininity.”<br />
36