Gender roles-stereotypes-oneonone-activities 67839

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Gender Role Stereotypes in
“A Streetcar Named Desire” and
“Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
1

The purpose of this work is to analyse how gender role stereotypes are portrayed in the
plays: “Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, both written by
Tennessee Williams in 1947 and 1955 correspondently. First of all, I will define gender
role stereotyping and identify some traditional gender role stereotypes. Then, I will
share the author’s biography in connection to the topic. Last but not least, I will include
some references in order to support research. Finally, a conclusion with my own thought
will be provided.
Introduction
No one is born knowing that crying is unmanly or that playing soccer is
unladylike. Once a child is born, he or she becomes identified with cultural concepts of
what a boy or girl should be like. Children are born male or female, but they have to
learn to be masculine or feminine. However, every society assigns different roles to its
members according to sex. These sex roles are sets of cultural expectations that define
how men and women are supposed to act according to the norms of their society in any
given time:
“We all know her. She smiles at us from billboards or stares seductively out from magazines
covers. She is beautiful and sexually available, but she never seems to be doing anything.
Once married and settled down, however, she loses her allure. When faced with dirty floors
and clogged drains, she is completely helpless until a male voice tells her what to do. She
worries that she can’t make up a decent cup of coffee or get her husband’s shirts clean. She
is lovable but just plain dumb”.
“We all know him, too. He is fearless, adventurous, and competent in every field. Whether
facing down a gunslinger in a saloon ordering champagne in a nightclub, he is always in
control of the situation. He also plays cool with women. He might let a woman lean on him
for a while, but he refuses to be domesticated. When he is not climbing a mountain or racing
his sports car, he likes to relax by drinking beer and playing games with other men”.1
Although we all know these people, few of us have ever met anyone like them.
They are the feminine and masculine images that appear before us without even being
1
Coser, Lewis A. (1991), Introduction to sociology, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
2

aware. Magazines, TV programs, a variety of advertisements offer us examples of how
gender is reproduced trough media and ideology2
. Born male or female does not mean
being masculine or feminine. Gender has to do with the social, psychological and
cultural characteristics associated with masculinity and femininity3
.
We can define gender role stereotyping as a set of expected behavior, attitudes,
beliefs and emotions of men and women. It’s also a cultural mechanism that might
differ across cultures. However, what we perceive as being masculine or being
feminine depends on how society dictates what is socially acceptable or not. “When
carried to extremes, sex-role stereotyping leads to sexist attitudes and practices. For
example, the physical abuse of women through wife beating and rape”4
. Unfortunately,
traditional gender role stereotyping might affect social relationships, they bring upon
conflict, social inequality as well as unfair treatment because of a person’s gender. In
the fifties, particularly in the South of the United States, a commonly patriarchal idea
was that men were hard and tough, while women were soft and vulnerable.
In connection to women, common stereotypes such as “the mother, the
submissive wife and the southern belle”, are portrayed as “an obedient and passive
woman.5
According to research, submissive women are portrayed as “a nurturing wife,
mother or muse”. Traditionally, the wife’s role was to stay at home and take care of the
children while her husband worked and brought money to the house.
2
http://wellmedicated.com/inspiration/50-inspiring-vintage-advertisements/
3
. Coser, Lewis A. (1991), Introduction to sociology, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
4
Coser, Lewis A. (1991), Introduction to sociology, San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
5
Langland, Elizabeth. “Images of Women: A Literature Perspective”. Foundations for a Feminist
restructuring of the Academic Disciplines. Paludi, Michele and Steuernagel, Gertrude A. Eds. New York:
Haworth Press, 1990. 69-98. Google Books. 8 December 2011
3

Also, these particular women might have a tendency to put up with their men’s violent
behavior and abuse. So, by following norms and values in society, the traditional wife
reflects the stereotypical role of a woman.
Another common female stereotype is the “Southern belle”. The typical
Southern belle has the chance to reach the status of a Southern Lady when she has
received the right education. In addition, she is conceived as beautiful, graceful,
charming and virtuous. Moreover, Southern belles are very sensitive and aware of how
they are perceived by people around them. The desired behavior for Belles is stick to
social patterns based on good manners. The concept of gentlemen callers courting
women is one of the results of their upbringing.
In connection to men, one male stereotype is the macho. According to the
Dictionary and Thesaurus —Merriam-Webster Online, being macho is defined as being
“aggressively virile”. Furthermore, the term macho originates from the word machismo,
which means, “a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity”. Being
macho is also described as “having or showing qualities that also agree with traditional
ideas about what men are like: manly or masculine in a very noticeable or exaggerated
way” 6
Another gender role which cannot be overlooked is the homosexual. Through
the lens of society of the 50’s, homosexuality was neither spoken of nor considered a
subject that could be explicitly referenced, particularly in The South of The United
States. As a matter of fact, for much of 20th
century, gay people were considered
mentally ill or suffering from a psychological personality disorder.
6
www.learnersdictionary.com/search/Macho
4

Also, during the Second Red Scare, homosexuals faced the growing oppression
of Senator McCarthy and his “witch hunts”. Being homosexual was associated with
subversion, un-American behavior. The popular opinion was that homosexuals were
capable of the worst crimes against their own country and God.
Gender Roles in Tennessee William’s life
Williams once said “he had never written about anything he had not experienced in his
life first7
. So, most of the conflicts or issues portrayed in his plays can be considered
autobiographical.
His upbringing was characterized by Puritanism, which was of vital importance in
the family. This might be the reason why he struggled with his sexuality throughout
his youth. In connection with his father, Cornelious Williams, Tennessee perceived that
he was as boisterous as frightening. So, we can assume that his father displayed the
same type of harsh and brutal characteristics as Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”
and Stanley Kowalsky in “A Streetcar Named Desire” as I will discuss later on. The
fact that he also grew up in The South of The United States cannot be disregarded. The
region’s heat, its storms, the colourful imagery, the music and the rhythms of the
language were the context of his settings and dialogues as well.
Post-war American society turned the balance of power between men and women
upside down. During the fifties’, men resumed their dominant role. Tennessee Williams
wrote “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” around the time this
reversal was occurring.
7
Muller, Kerstin, “Gender Conflicts in the Dramas of Tennessee page 2- Verlag- 2004
5

Williams was a homosexual from the South, so most of his plays deal with
physical, emotional and sexual conflict around this matter. Williams was also interested
in femininity. It’s an interesting fact that his female characters, Maggie and Blanche,
were not only central figures but also desiring subjects in both plays. Gender roles
stereotypes are reflected in the dynamics of character’s behaviour, dialogues, silence
and even stage directions.
When Williams decided to come out and assume his sexuality, he was known for
leading a very promiscuous life. The themes of desire and isolation show, among other
things, the influence of having grown up in a society where being gay was considered
outrageous.
William won The Pulitzer Prize twice—for A Streetcar Named Desire
(1947) and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955), and became one of the greatest playwrights
His plays challenged social values and social preconceptions. He was forced to remove
some scenes by some Hollywood and Broadway producers because of his allusions to
sexuality8
. Throughout that scenario, “Williams's life was full of sadness, especially
during the 1960s when he suffered from alcoholism, drugs abuse, depression, and the
death of his companion, Frank Merlo in 1963. Williams rebounded in the 1970s,
continuing to write until the time of his death in 1983”.9
Stereotyping the Feminine
Blanche Dubois, from Streetcar, is from the “old South”. She is the faded-
southern, genteel lady. Being beautiful and charming, as well as educated, Blanche
constantly gives remarks and asks about her looks throughout the play. Clothes, powder
8
Gassner, John, 1958. Best American Plays. “Can on a Hot Tin Roof” page 78
9
http://college.cengage.com/english/kalaidjian/understanding_lit/1e/students/drama/williams.
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and make-up dictate her life. Appearance is of enormous importance to Blanche. This
obsession with her looks corresponds to the portrayal of a stereotypical Southern belle.
“I want you to look at my figure! (She turns around) You know I haven’t put on one
ounce in ten years, Stella?”10
Blanche: with “feverish vivacity,” Blanche says: “Now, then, let me look at you
[Stella]. But don’t you look at me, Stella, no, no, no, not till later, not till I’ve bathed
and rested. And turn that over-light off! Turn that off! I won’t be looked at in this
merciless glare”11
Another good example of Blanche’s desire to be considered attractive is portrayed
in scene two when Stanley searches through her luggage.
STANLEY:” It looks like you raided some stylish shops in Paris.
BLANCHE. Ha-ha! Yes – clothes are my passion!
STANLEY: What does it cost for a string of fur-pieces like that?
BLANCHE: Why, those were a tribute from an admirer of mine!
STANLEY: He must have had a lot of – admiration!
BLANCHE: Oh, in my youth I excited some admiration! But look at me now! Would
you think it possible that I was once considered to be – attractive?12
Similarly, Maggie Pollitt in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, although regarded as an
outcast for not having babies, is shown as exquisitely beautiful. She personifies female
sexuality, bragging about her body and men’s desire for it in order to get her unloving
husband’s attention. Posing in front of the mirror, Williams allows her to question her
role:
(Margaret`s stage directions): What she sees is the long oval mirror and she rushes
straight to it with a grimace and says: “Who are you?”13
Margaret: “I’m confident of it. That’s why I’m keeping myself attractive. You’ll see me
again like other men see me”
Margaret: Look Brick! She stands before the long oval mirror, touches her breasts and
then her hips with her two hands. How high my body stays on me!- Nothing has fallen
on me!- not a fraction….. Other men still want me.”14
Margaret: “Way he always drops eyes to my body when I’m talking to him, drop his
eyes to my boops and links his old chops!! Ha ha”15
10
Scene One, page 123 “A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams.
11
Scene One, page 120 “A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams.
12
Scene Two, page 136 “A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams.
13
Scene One, page 48 “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
14
Scene One, page 48 “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
15
Scene One, page 41 “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams.
7

Though Blanche and Maggie do certainly display what are considered to be
feminine qualities and what is expected from Southern Belles, their other more
masculine features are also emphasized, for example their reliance on alcohol. Both
characters challenge the typical female stereotype. So, despite being feminine, they are
also transgressors:
Blanche: “Well, now you talk. Open your pretty mouth and talk while I look around for
some liquor. I know you must have some liquor on the place”16
Margaret: “Margaret looks on indulgent humor, sipping Dubonnet “on the
rocks” and watching Brick.17
In spite of the fact they had different personalities and social upbringings, both
Maggie and Blanche were portrayed hysterical, dissatisfied women left prostrate before
physical violence, contempt and indifference, just for the sake of being one of a kind.
Their statuses as women were called into question by their failure to perform the
expected behavior:
“She is as famous in Laurel as if she was the President of the United States, only she is
not respected by any party!”18
(Mitch to Blanche) “You are not clean enough to bring in the house with my mother”19
(Mitch to Blanche): “But I was fool enough to believe you was straight”20
(Big Mamma to Maggie): “Do you make Brick happy in bed?”- When a marriage goes
on the rocks, the rocks are there, right there!”21
(Margaret to Brick): “they gloat over us being childless. And this is my time by the
calendar to conceive”22
(Dixie to Maggie): “You’re jealous because you can’t have any kids”23
(Maggie to Brick): “And my poor mamma, having to maintain some semblance of
social position, to keep appearances up”24
16
Scene 1, page 120 “A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams.
17
Act 2, page 53 “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
18
19
20
21
22
23
idem
24
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Here we see clearly Maggie's ability to seem both girlish and boyish. In order to
survive, she must take care of Brick, and she must also use her feminine side to charm
and manipulate others. She transgresses the stereotypical gender role assigned to her
when she finds that the role does not help her in her plan to secure wealth, security, and
a baby.
Williams also presents other female characters who exemplify society’s
preconceptions of the times. We can find these examples in Stella Kowalsky from
Streetcar and Mae Politt from Cat.
In strong contrast to the stereotype of the Southern Belle represented by Blanche
stands her sister Stella. She embodies a lot of characteristics of the stereotypical
submissive housewife throughout the play. Stella was portrayed as a dutiful housewife,
a symbol of femininity from a current perspective. The mother stereotype stands for
bringing life to earth. Since Stella is pregnant in the play, there is a strong connection to
this image. Her husband overpowers her by abusing his position and his physical
strength:
"He hurls a plate to the floor” 25
“That's how I'll clear the table! (He seizes her arm.)26
(..). “In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen.
It’s always a powder keg. He didn’t know what he was doing… He was as good as a
lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself”.27
This part of the text indicates that Stella justifies Stanley’s behavior by saying it is
not as serious as it seemed. Stella is rarely called by her name, and is continuously
referred to as “honey, “baby” or sweetie” instead.
25
Scene 8, page 196 “A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams
26
idem
27
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Another stereotypical portrayal of a wife and woman is Maggie’s sister-in law, Mae.
She’s also described satirically as a “Monster of Fertility”, fulfilling her role as the
perfect wife by bearing “no-neck monsters”.
Big Daddy: “But Gooper’s wife’s a good breeder, you’ve got to admit she`s fertile.”28
Margaret: “He can’t stand Bother Man’s Wife, that monster of fertility”29
Stereotyping the Masculine
“The poker players – Stanley, Steve, Mitch, and Pablo – wear colored shirts, solid blues, a
purple, a red–and-white check, a light green, and they are men at the peak of their physical
manhood, as coarse and direct and powerful as the primary colors”- Tennessee Williams,
Streetcar named Desire
The setting, the atmosphere and colours, convey the physical strength of those
men and their dominant role. Stanley, the male protagonist in Streetcar, is portrayed as
violent as brutal. Stanley’s behavior confirms certain aspects of a typical macho:
Stanley’s stage directions: “Stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He
crosses the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he
tosses the instrument out of the window.”30
In scene 1 stage directions, Stanley throws a package to his wife. Through this
behavior, Williams is pointing out his feeling of superiority from this standpoint. He
also wants to symbolize Stanley’s male dominance in a what- was- considered a
patriarchal society. In scene eight, he destroys some plates after having been called a pig
by his wife because he eats with his fingers.
STELLA: Mr. Kowalski is too busy making a pig of himself to think of anything else!
STANLEY: “That’s right, baby.
STELLA: Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then
help me clear the table. (He hurls a plate to the floor.)
STANLEY: That’s how I’ll clear the table! (He seizes her arm.) Don’t ever talk that
way to me! “Pig — Polack — disgusting — vulgar — greasy!” them kind of words
28
Act one, page 57 “Cat on a hot tin roof”, Tennessee Williams
29
Act one, page 49 “Cat on a hot tin roof”, Tennessee Williams
30
Scene three, page 151 A Streetcar Named Desired”, Tennessee Williams
10

have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here!”31
Not only is Stanley violent towards Stella again by seizing her arm, but also manifests
his anger through destroying cutlery. Those two scenes are clear examples of verbal and
especially physical aggression towards women. Williams describes his sexual behavior
right from the beginning of the play in the stage directions: “Since earliest manhood the
center of his life has been pleasure with women. He sizes women up and glance, with
sexual classifications”32
. Stanley also rates and classifies women according to his sexual
desires:
Blanche: “You’re simply, straightforward and honest, a little bit on the primitive side I
should think. To interest you a woman would have to – [she pauses with indefinite
gesture.]
Stanley: Lay…her cards on the table”33
This euphemism - “lay her cards on the table” has a sexual connotation, implying what
he usually expects from women in general. A further example it is shown in scene 10:
“We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning”34
Stanley gets his power by means of his gender. He only cares about his own desires:
Stanley to Blanche: “Be comfortable is my motto”35
Williams also shows men’s power by creating a sense of authority during poker:
“Nothing belongs on a poker table but cards, chips, and whisky”36
“Poker should not be played in a house with women”37
As the play progresses, the conflict between Blanche and Stanley becomes
obvious. He feels threatened by her presence most of the time. So, in order to revert this
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
11

feeling, he subjects her through emotional and physical abuse. In this sense, when
Stanley rapes Blanche, Williams is not only showing the audience the ultimate act of
cruelty and abuse of power but also is conveying the power struggle between male and
female as a whole, leaving the male empowered and the female marginalized and
completely fragile.
We can also see the segregation between men and women clearly through the
character of Big Daddy in Cat, who appears as the “patriarch” and the owner of the
plantation. His name implies his immense wealth empire, successful in the eyes of a
capitalist society.
Big Daddy to Brick:” It’s lucky I’m a rich man. It is sure it’s lucky, well, I am a
rich man, Brick, yep, and I am a mighty rich ma. Y’know how much I am
worth... Close on ten million in cash and blue chip stocks, outside, mind you, of
twenty-eight thousand acres of the richest land this side of the valley Nile” 38
Big Daddy lacks respect for women in general, specially his wife. He demeans her
constantly:
“Your loud voice everywhere, your fat old body butting in here and there”.
“Bossing, talking. Sashaying your fat old boy around the place I made! I made this place!”
“I haven’t been able to stand the sight, the sound, or smell of that woman for forty years
now!- even when I laid her!”39
He clearly defines the gender role he expects his son to perform as a sexual transgressor.
In his eyes, women exist to please men. Even his daughters in -law are portrayed in an
animalistic light:
I’ll smother her in- minks! Ha ha! I’ll strip her naked and smother her in minks and choke her
with diamonds and smother her with minks and hump her from hell to breakfast. Ha aha ha ha
hha!40
38
Act two, page 58 “Cat on a hot tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
39
40
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“But Gooper’s wife is a good breeder; you’ve got to admit she’s fertile”41
“That’s right boy. They look like cats on a hot tin roof”42
Stereotyping the homosexual
“What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it's curved
like a road through mountains”. - Tennessee Williams43
“Thus most of Tennessee Williams’s plays—especially Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
and A Streetcar Named Desire— focus on struggles with homosexuality in a very
straight society”44
. To do so, Williams’s plays constantly speak of gender, and almost as
constantly of sexual orientation.
In the 1940s and the 1950s, many young American men committed suicide
because they could not deal with their homosexuality in a heterosexist
environment. In both plays the homosexuals have already committed suicide before the
plays start. Blanche’s husband Allan in Streetcar and Brick’s closest friend, Skipper, in
Cat. In Streetcar there are fewer references to homosexuality than in Cat, though:
” I know! I know! You disgust me!”45
“There was something different about the boy, a nervousness, a softness and tenderness
which wasn’t like a man’s, although he wasn’t the least bit effeminate-looking-still- that
thing was there”46
“This beautiful young man was a degenerate”47
However, in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams tells us something
about the setting in his notes for the designer. The play takes place in “the bed-sitting-
room of a plantation home in the Mississippi Delta.”48
The style of this room hasn’t
41
42
Act two, page 57 ““Cat on a hot tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
43
http://www.brainyquote.com
44
http://www.cercles.com
45
46
47
48
Gassner, John, 1958. Best American Plays. Four Series (1951-1957)
13

changed much since it was occupied by the original owners of the place, Jack Straw and
Peter Ochello, a pair of old bachelors who shared this room all their lives together.
Even though, the euphemism “a pair of old bachelors” and the fact that they shared the
room is not conveying factual references about their sexual orientation, it might be
assumed that Williams is accumulating references to the great love Straw and Ochello
felt for one another.
Both plays seem to highlight how social conventions or constrains played a
significant role on the people who felt differently. The emphasis on Bricks disdain and
terror is highly stressed by Williams in his conversation with Big Daddy in Act 2,
alluding to the society prejudice against homosexuality in this era:
Brick: “you think me and Skipper did, did, did! Sodomy! - together?49
ducking sissies? Queers? Is that what you-50
….Poured in his mind the dirty, false idea that we were, him and me, was a frustrated case
of that old pair of sisters.51
“Don’t you know how people feel about things like that? How, how, disgusted they are by
things like that? Why at Ole Miss when it was discovered a pledge to our fraternity,
Skipper’s and mine, did a, attempted to do a, unnatural thing wish-52
From everything stated before Tennessee Williams dramas´ offer a good basis
of analysis for many of the society’s mind set towards men and women‘s gender role in
the fifties. Through a deep analysis, we can also perceive Williams’ point of view on
the matter and how he dared to challenge society’s preconceptions of gender
stereotyping. He owned a particular style distinguished by its grotesque
characterization and a blending of comedy and tragedy. His plays can be considered as
49
Act 2, page 66 “ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof”, Tennessee Williams
50
idem
51
52
idem
14

a means to explore the social values of the Old South. Also, they can be conceived as a
personal reflection of his experiences regarding gender struggle.
Conclusion
After doing this paper, I found it quite interesting how these perceptions of male and
female were depicted in Tennessee Williams’s dramas. Both Streetcar Named Desire
and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Williams showed us his extraordinary ability to portray his
time’s societal views in terms of gender. He depicted his characters as ridiculous, even
grotesque but realistic at the same time. They are accurate representations of the gender
stereotypes of the period they were created. I became so fascinated by the different
ways in which Williams lets us pose ourselves questions such as: What does being
“feminine” mean? What does being “masculine” mean? What does being “straight”
mean? Who defines these roles? Would you go with the flow? Or would you dare
yourself to break free from the prescribed social roles you were confined and swim
against the current? Williams asserts through his female characters that within the
context of that society, women who challenged the feminine stereotype were forced to
submission or surrender. In my opinion, Williams's women main characters are the
most fascinating characters. In spite of being neurotic, eccentric and flawed through the
lens of that society, they show an extraordinary depth and a very human side. These
wounded or deflowered women are our heroines and serve as martyrs for common
women like us. They are a reflection of how Tennessee felt like in those times.
Although many considered most of William’s plays violent and sexual, they were
beautifully, wittingly crafted and elegantly written.
15

Bibliography
• Gassner, John, 1958. Best American Plays. Four Series (1951-1957)
• Williams, Tennessee. (1947). A Streetcar Named Desire. Penguin Plays.
Mitchan, Victoria: Penguin, 1963. Print.
• Retrieved from
from:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/tennessee_williams.html
• Langland, Elizabeth. “Images of Women: A Literature Perspective”.
Foundations for a Feminist Restructuring of the Academic Disciplines. Paludi,
Michele and Steuernagel, Gertrude A. Eds. New York: Haworth Press, 1990. 69-
98. Google Books. 8 December 2011. Web.
• Coser, Lewis A. (1991), Introduction to sociology, San Diego: Harcourt Brace
Jovanovich
• Retrieved from
http://college.cengage.com/english/kalaidjian/understanding_lit/1e/students/dra
ma/williams.
• Retrieved from http://www.cercles.com
• www.learnersdictionary.com/search/Macho
• Muller, Kerstin, “Gender Conflicts in the Dramas of Tennesse Williams”, Grin
Verlag- 2004
16

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