Gender, sexuality, mental illness Flashcards
What are the main gender roles presented in the play?
The power struggle between Stanley and Blanche conveys culturally dominant ideas about gender such as the primitive nature, aggression and brutality of the masculine and the vulnerability and physicality of the feminine.
How did the end of the war impact gender roles in society?
Streetcar inhabits an uneasy period of transition for women between some empowerment during the war and a return to patriarchal control once men returned from that war. That uneasiness is evident in the hypocrisy of Stanley’s attitudes towards Blanche.
What was life like for [American] women in the post-war period?
Women had few opportunities for independence and, indeed, by the 1950s, American society was geared
toward the family. Marriage and children were
part of the national agenda. The Cold War was in part a culture war, with the American family at the centre of the struggle. This was the era of the “happy homemaker.” For young mothers in the 1950s, domesticity was idealised, and women were encouraged to stay at home if the family could afford it. Women who chose to work when they didn’t need the money were often considered selfish, putting themselves before the needs of their family.
How was homosexuality viewed by society in 1940s America?
In the 1940s homosexuality was illegal and was rarely mentioned in mainstream media or entertainment and was thought of as something to be condemned or even ‘cured’.
What was the most likely fate for someone with a mental illness in 1940s America?
Before the development of psychiatric drug therapy, the most commonly used treatments for mental illness in the mid 20th century were electroconvulsive therapy, insulin coma therapy and lobotomies. These treatments often left patients severely damaged, until new psychiatric drugs were developed in the 1950s.
