Gender Roles in Literature

Engage
Directions: Observe these movie covers and point out things
that you notice about it. (Forgetting the characters and just
focusing on the people.) We will share our thoughts together
as a group.
Questions to consider: What impact does the portrayal of
characters in literature have on our thoughts of a certain
gender? Have you ever felt out of place or weird after reading
some literature? Why? Were there characters you didn’t like
because of how they were portrayed?

Explore
Directions: Read the articles in bold and look over the articles
and pictures found below. Take notes on what you find
interesting and what you may have questions on. Question to
keep in mind: How do our roots in past literature affect how we
perceive gender now?
Why may some people in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 not like
Yossarian:

“You have a morbid aversion to dying. You probably resent the

fact that you're at war and might get your head blown off any
second."

"I more than resent it, sir. I'm absolutely incensed."

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"You have deep-seated survival anxieties. And you don't like
bigots, bullies, snobs, or hypocrites. Subconsciously there are
many people you hate."

"Consciously, sir, consciously," Yossarian corrected in an effort

to help. "I hate them consciously."

"You're antagonistic to the idea of being robbed, exploited,

degraded, humiliated, or deceived. Misery depresses you.
Ignorance depresses you. Persecution depresses you. Violence
depresses you. Corruption depresses you. You know, it wouldn't
surprise me if you're a manic-depressive!"

"Yes, sir. Perhaps I am."

"Don't try to deny it."

"I'm not denying it, sir," said Yossarian, pleased with the
miraculous rapport that finally existed between them. "I agree
with all you've said.”

Why may some people not like Major Major despite him
following everything he is told to do?

“Whatever his elders told him to do, he did. They told him to
look before he leaped, and he always looked before he leaped.
They told him never to put off until the next day what he could
do the day before, and he never did. He was told to honor his
father and his mother, and he honored his father and his
mother. He was told that he should not kill, and he did not kill,
until he got into the Army. Then he was told to kill, and he
killed. He turned the other cheek on every occasion and always
did unto others exactly as he would have had others do unto
him. When he gave to charity, his left hand never knew what
his right hand was doing. He never once took the name of the
Lord his God in vain, committed adultery or coveted his
neighbor's ass. In fact, he loved his neighbor and never even
bore false witness against him. Major Major's elders disliked
him because he was such a flagrant nonconformist.”

https://pudding.cool/2020/07/gendered-descriptions/

https://www.futurity.org/adjectives-gender-descriptions-
books-2143682-2/

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/what-we-mean-when-we-
say-toxic-masculinity

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http://www.en.utexas.edu/Classes/Bremen/e316k/316kprivate/sca
ns/qlg.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/06/the-
damned-mob-of-scribbling-women/239882/

https://prizedwriting.ucdavis.edu/exploring-ambiguities-gender-
identity-twelfth-night

https://owlcation.com/humanities/Gender-Roles-and-Gender-
Relations-in-Shakespeares-Twelfth-Night

https://electricliterature.com/all-the-actually-decent-men-in-
fiction-we-could-think-of/

Explain
Directions: Read some of the following literature and highlight
some of the quotes, phrases, or words that correspond to what
you found while researching. Talk with your group and see
what they found while reading.

Groups One, Three, Five and Seven:

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/theliteratureofprescription/ex
hibitionAssets/digitalDocs/The-Yellow-Wall-Paper.pdf

Groups Two, Four, and Six:

https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/the_ca
sk_of_amontillado.pdf

Apply/Elaborate
What if “The Yellow Wallpaper” was written by a man? And

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what if “The Cask of Amontillado” changed the way the
character acted. (Not so aggressive, devious, etc.) What would
change and why do you think so?

Reflect/Evaluate
On Padlet, reflect on what you learned while completing this
assignment by answering this question: what impact does the
portrayal of characters in all media have on our thoughts of a
certain gender? Afterwards, we will come together as a class
and share something we found interesting that someone else
posted.
What was something someone else said that you found
interesting?:

Jot something down that you will take with you down the road:

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