Gender

• • 1945
  • Women gained more rights in comparison to 1912
  • Audience shocked of archaic views and treatment showed towards women in AIC
• Womens roles

  • Men went to war, women took over their jobs - revolutionised views of women
  • 1945- idealised pre-war conditions and traditions
  • Suffragettes threatened traditions
  • Focus on dark side illustrates: Conflict + Suffering, reset of gender stereotyping, open conversations , benefits everyone
• Big ideas

  • Gender roles and expectations
  • Gender and social responsibility
  • Gender and power dynamics
• Gender roles and expectations- Mrs Birling

  Mrs B's dependence on men

  > Symbol of 1912 traditional women- subordinate

  > described as "Husband's social superior"

  > "So your father can decide what to do" / "go into the drawing room and leave you men" - invalidates herself- physically separates the two genders, Mens occupy public sphere, women are confined

  > Conservative rules to uphold patriarchal society
• Gender roles and expectations

  Sheila

  > "Mummy- isn't it beautiful?" - infantilises her

  > Repress her own feelings to appear respectful and conform to societal norms

  > Confronts Gerald "Half serious, half playful" - duality connotes internal conflict

  > "hands him the ring" Sees through patriarch inventions

  > Allegory for women's suffrage
• Social responsibility and gender

  > Moral responsibility- Men in power exploit and disregard women like Eva

  > Contrast in responsibility- reaction of inspector's message

  " We are members of one body"- metaphor, suggests unity and mutual dependence, body cannot function if one part is ailing

  > Society cannot thrive if its members are neglected and mistreated

  "But these girls aren't cheap labour- they're people"

  > Emotive language- "cheap" connotes low value of worth, "people" evokes a sense of injustice

  > Direct address- personal and impactful nudge towards allegory of women's suffrage
• Power dynamics 


  Gerald

  "I hate those hard-eyes dough-faced women"/ "intensely grateful"

  > superficial and sexist attitudes towards women, his disdain to those that don't fit the standards reveal;s pervasive objectification

  > illustrates women as expendable, reflecting societal norms

  > exploitation under guise of being her benefactor

  Mrs B

  "You'll have to get used to it, just as I had"

  > Resigned to feminine roles as inferior to men
• Younger generations taught misogyny from their fathers


  "Not the kind of father a chap could go to when he's in trouble"

  > Toxic masculinity prevents men from supporting each other

  "I'm old enough to be married"

  > Marriage is a symbol of manhood

  > Eric feels pressured to get married to make his father proud