CJ Hodges
Benchmark
4/25/2014
In American society, males are viewed as the more dominant and powerful gender. In
the book, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stanley feels that he is the one
that has the power and wears the pants in the marriage and the Kowalski household. An
example is when Stanley hits and abuses Stella proving that he as a male has dominance over
Stella who is the female. Another example is that Stanley works making the money and
controlling what happens in his and Stella’s lives. Finally, Stanley never listens and he doesn’t
care to hear what Stella has to say. These three points show Stanleys perspective on gender
roles in the world. The article, “How Does Society Affect Behavior in Teens?” by Erica Loop, is
an example of how American society shape make attitudes and behaviors. Both these sources
are ways to show how an average American acts and behaves even if its dealing with gender
roles or not.
In the book, A Streetcar Named Desire, Stella says, “You lay your hands on me I’ll…”
(Williams 57). Stella says this because Stanley being the powerful masculine figure that he is,
goes after her and punches her in front of all their friends. Stanley strongly shows his opinion of
gender roles by performing such a vulgar action. Even though Stanley wrongly proved his point,
he showed that men have greater power and that listening to him is the only option that Stella
has. Stanley also shows his power of being a man by raping Stella's sister Blanche. In the book,
Stanley fiercely says, “Oh! So you want some rough-house! All right, lets have some roughhouse!” (Williams 130). Stanley attacks Blanche as she tries to defend herself from him, but
Stanley obviously and easily overpowers her and tosses her onto the bed. Stanley doesn’t care
how he makes women feel, nor does he care to fix his problems because he continues to act as
if he is the owner of Stella and Blanche.
Secondly, Stanley controls what happens in his and Stella’s lives. Stanley backs this
point up by stating, “In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which
what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa.” (Williams 34-35). This shows
that Stanley only cares that he is losing money and doesn’t care much about how Blanche lost
Belle Reve. In fact, he also says, “It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when
you’re swindled under the Napoleonic code I’m swindled too. And I don't like to be swindled.”
(Williams 35). Stanley obviously makes the choices for him and Stella even if Stella disagrees
with his choice. Stanley lives by the old saying it is either his way or no way and he no doubt
proved that in the book .
The third and final point from, A Streetcar Named Desire, is that Stanley doesn’t care to
hear what Stella has to say in any situation. Stella nicely asked Stanley not to mention that she
was pregnant to Blanche, but Stanley obviously paid no attention to her and mentions to
Blanche, “You see, under the Napoleonic code… a man has to take an interest in his wife’s
affairs… especially now that shes going to have a baby.” (Williams 43). Stanley is a very selfish
human being not taking any interest in his wifes wants and needs but in this situation he takes
interest in his wife’s affairs. When Stella has something to say that doesn’t involve Stanley, then
he might listen to what she has to say, but other than that, Stanley will live by following what he
wants to do even if it goes against what Stella said.
The final point that doesn’t involve, A Streetcar Named Desire, is that American society
shape make attitudes and behaviors with regard to gender roles. In the article, “How Does
Society Affect Behavior in Teens?”, It talks about how the media influences teens to do bad
things. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ Healthy Children website states, “... parents
should watch for media influences that include acts of violence, sexual situations, statements
about body image, alcohol and drug use, and gender or cultural stereotypes.” (Loop). This
means that just by seeing commercials and movies that teens and children can eventually get
the desire to perform these acts and end up getting themselves in trouble. The American Dream
created by its society is everything that teens shouldn’t do but the media influences them and
the rest of society helps teens grow up to do the bad things that are shown in movies, tv shows,
commercials, and ect.
In conclusion, the sources shown are ways that an average American acts and behaves
even if its dealing with gender roles or not.The three points in, A Streetcar Named Desire, show
that Stanley strongly believes that males have a more important gender role than women. In the
article, “How Does Society Affect Behavior in Teens?”, it shows the way society makes teens
grow up and shows how an average person should act.
Works Cited
Loop, Erica. “How Does Society Affect Behavior in Teens?” Everyday Life. Global Post, 2014.
Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Williams, Tennessee. A Streetcar Named Desire: A Play. New York: New American Library,
1947. Print.