The very concept of gender roles in human society is in the constant process of changing and redeveloping. This statement can be made on the basis of evaluating numerous sources that present a witnessing to this matter. For example, the literature pieces by many writers often address the themes of the role of a woman in society. Among them are Nathaniel Hawthome, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Kate Chopin, Virginia Woolf, John Steinbeck, Susan Brownmiller, and Tom Chiarella. Besides, the other cultural evidences provide more insight into understanding the role of a woman. In particular, a lot of information regarding this can be derived from modern-day advertisements. In the following paper, the vision of the role of a woman by a number of writers beginning from the XIX century will be compared with the vision by contemporary advertizing business specialists. Overall, after the analysis of the essay by Diane Barthel, the literature pieces by the prominent writers exploring gender issues, and the piece called “Taiga Leather. Louis Vuitton” by modern masters of advertizing, a conclusion can be made that a serious shift in the role of a woman in modern society has taken place because it became possible for females to occupy their places in the world of business together with men, which seemed outrageous during the previous periods of time.
First of all, while juxtaposing the text by Barthel, and the ideas from the advertisement “Taiga Leather. Louis Vuitton”, the shift of the female role in positioning herself as a passive agent can be observed. In her essay, Barthel states that the role of a woman in the society of the 1990s is still inactive and stationary. According to her, “whereas the feminine model is based on passivity, complacency, and narcissism, the masculine model is based on exactingness and choice” (Barthel 130). Thus, Barthel makes an emphasis on the situation, when women are seen as passive supporters and assistants for men. This position is not different from the position by the earlier writers, exploring the theme of gender inequality. For example, in their works, Woolf and Brownmiller state that women are limited in the opportunities for realizing their potential. This happens due to the peculiarities of society organization. In particular, it is accepted that women are caregivers, secretaries, and mothers (Brownmiller 1; Woolf 2). Similar ideas are shown by Hawthorne in “The Birthmark“, where he states that the role of a woman is in supporting her husband, and being his reason of pride. In the final part of this work, the audience reads:
As the last crimson tint of the birth-mark—that sole token of human imperfection—faded from her cheek, the parting breath of the now perfect woman passed into the atmosphere, and her soul, lingering a moment near her husband, took its heavenward flight (Hawthorne 9).
This quotation shows a woman as a being tied to her husband, and purposed for pleasing him by her perfected nature. In the essay by Perrin, the readers may see analogous ideas. For example, Perrin distinguishes the roles of a man and a woman in society by saying “Let me come back to the inkblots, with their assumption that masculine equates with machinery and science, and feminine with art and nature” (2). This statement shows that this author is also confident that females should be limited in their options for self-fulfillment in the community by being allowed to participate only in minor tasks’ realization, which does not require much ambition and flurry of activity. However, in the 2000s, the idea of gender roles’ division in the western world has undergone significant changes. For instance, this can be seen in the article “What Is a Man?” by Tom Chiarella. In this article, the author describes the characteristics of a modern-day concept of masculinity, and surprisingly he enumerates the characteristics, which were only females’ characteristics before, as factors that distinguish a contemporary man. For example, he shows a man as targeting fashion; as someone capable of acknowledging one’s mistakes and openly confessing them; and as someone who “does not wither at the thought of dancing” (Chiarella 1). All of the above-mentioned characteristics used to depict women in earlier periods. This identifies the shift in the idea about the role of a woman in today’s society.
With regards to the thought that a woman is passive and the advertisement under consideration, it should be stated that they have nothing in common. Contrary to the earlier statements by Barthel, Woolf, Brownmiller, Hawthorne, and Perrin, the advertisement “Taiga Leather. Louis Vuitton” shows a woman as an active agent of her own financial prosperity and his social status. The woman in the photo is depicted between the two men, in one row with them, but her right leg is even ahead of both of those men. This symbol suggests that today, a woman is not less ambitious than men. She is allowed to participate in business. Moreover, she strives to perform better than men. Thus, even from the first glance at this advertisement, a conclusion can be made that the passive role of a woman in human society is already a matter of the past. A detailed approach to studying the composition of this advertisement shows that its authors want the message of female independence and ambitious nature to be emphasized. Particularly, it can be seen that the woman’s face expression is accentuated by lighting effects. She is shown as confident, proud of herself, and independent. This effect is strengthened by highlighting the face expression of the man on the right from her. He is depicted as challenged and astonished by her confidence.
Next, in her argument, Barthel speaks about the role division between a man and a woman by means of the concept that only women care about such points as grooming, fashion, appearance, looks, etc. According to her:
If we are looking for comparative evidence as to how advertisements define gender roles for men and women, we should not then see the male role as defined primarily through beauty and fashion. This seems an obvious point, but it is important to emphasize how different cultural attitudes toward both the social person and the physical body shape the gender roles of men and women (Barthel 131).
This idea by Barthel has much support among numerous writers, who observed gender roles in human society during earlier periods. In this vein, approaching the matter of beauty and fashion from the most diversified angles, Barthel, Woolf, Brownmiller, Hawthorne, and Perrin state that it is the main duty of a woman to illuminate a man by her beauty, and an unexampled taste and fashion in her toilette. For example, this how this tendency is described by Brownmiller: “Even as it [femininity] hurries forward in the 1980s, putting on lipstick and high heels to appear well dressed, it trips on the ruffled petticoats and hoopskirts of an era gone by”. In this comment, the readers see that the main features of womanhood are style, fashion, and glamorous looks. In the article by Woolf, the audience may see the same suggestions regarding the role of a woman as the one, who is supposed to be the symbol of gentleness and style. The author uses multiple expressions to describe this idea. For instance, among these expressions are “the shadow of her wings” and “the rustling of her skirts in the room”. Thus, it is evident that a woman is seen as the “angel” of beauty and fashion. However, a different approach is demonstrated by the modern-day writer, Tom Chiarella, who no longer believes in such a division of gender roles in the area of style and fashion. According to this writer, “style — a man has that. No matter how eccentric that style is, it is uncontrived. It’s a set of rules” (Chiarella 1).
In contrast to the vision of fashion by Barthel in her article, the advertisement “Taiga Leather. Louis Vuitton” shows both a male and a female as genders striving to make an emphasis on their taste and sophistication in style. Despite the fact that this advertizing piece is targeting the people of business, and it shows people of business, its characters are dressed very smartly. It can be said if to evaluate the woman’s sophisticated shoes, the men’s glamorous ties, and even the way all of them are groomed. Not only the woman has a beautiful hairdressing and make up, but men as well. Thus, the role of a woman as the one responsible for fashion and style in society is no longer timely.
As a final point, the shift in the concept of gender role in human society takes place on a regular basis. This conclusion can be supported by means of analyzing of numerous pieces of writing from the past periods including the essays by Barthel, Woolf, Brownmiller, Hawthorne, and Perrin. The artifacts of modern culture support the above-mentioned statement as well. For instance, the advertisement “Taiga Leather. Louis Vuitton” depicts a woman in a very different light from what had been accepted during earlier periods of history. In this advertisement, the woman is shown as an ambitious and active agent of her financial well-being, capable of solving a variety of tasks in the business field such as competing with males, and keeping herself in great looks and excellent style.
References
Barthel, Diane. “A Gentleman and a Consumer.” Signs of Life in the U.S.A. (1994):128-138. Print.
Brownmiller, Susan. “Femininity.” The Prologue to Femininity (1984): 1-2. Print.
Chiarella, Tom. “What Is a Man?” ESQUIRE (2012): 1. Print.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Birthmark.“ Course Reading (2012): 1-9. Print.
Perrin, Noel. “The Androgynous Man.” Course Reading (2012): 1-2. Print.
Woolf, Virginia. “Professions for Women.” The Women’s Service League (1931): 1-3. Print.