By: Mariela Alvarez
As a child do you remember the first time someone commented or treated you in a way that was related to your gender? Do you have to behave a certain way due to individuals telling you how each gender must act? Finally, throughout life does gender become less or more important? Or is there a point where you are no longer defined by your gender? Over centuries, gender roles have existed and most likely will continue to exist throughout the course of our lives. From the day we are born to the day we are gone, gender roles will always be pushed upon us in many ways. This can be through society, what other individuals push on you, and your own beliefs. As gender roles slowly evolve throughout the years, many individuals still have the traditional view. With a wide amount of individuals still having the traditional view in the 21st century, women are more affected than men. Society holds men at a higher level than women, due to gender roles, which causes many barriers to develop for a female. Men will usually always be seen as masculine and are expected to display attributes as assertiveness and leadership. Women on the other hand will be seen as weak and are to display attributes as nurturance and passivity.
These characteristics can be seen in the Netflix show Bridgerton. The show revolves around the protagonists’ Lady Daphne and the Duke. Viewers are taken through both these individuals' lives and witness how their love story develops throughout the episodes. Although the main idea is to see whether these two individuals end up together, there were other major issues that were seen throughout the show. Even though the storyline is about the love story and complications between Lady Daphne and The Duke, the show provides insight into other characters that struggle in the series. Specifically, the female characters are unable to achieve their own goals or do what men do. Bridgerton allows individuals to see similarities of the gender roles from different time periods and see the effects it has. By looking at how set apart both periods are, women in the 21st century and in Bridgerton serve as a reminder that gender roles will usually have a greater effect on women and will always end up creating more barriers and obstacles for females than males. Bridgerton overall had an effective way in representing the impact gender roles had on women in the 18th century and allows viewers to mirror similarities of gender roles currently in the 21st century.
Bridgerton, taken during the 18th century, demonstrates how gender roles have slowly evolved to how it is now in the 21st century, but demonstrates how both time periods still have many similarities when it comes to the roles of each gender. As stated by Boehnke, over the last 50 years there has been a shift toward egalitarian gender role attitude instead of the traditional attitude. Unlike centuries ago, in today’s society females of all ages are given the opportunity to get an education in the United States. This provides women with more knowledge and opportunities in their life. Even though women are given the chance to get an education, gender roles still create barriers that stop many females from achieving their goals. This is similar to how women were treated in the Regency-era because even if a woman had an education back then she would still not be able to do what she wanted and would also be criticized by society. For example, Alpers, a journalist for The Harvard Crimson, speaks about Eloise, Daphne’s sister, and how she had very different goals compared to other females in the show. Eloise was uninterested in “the marriage mart” and she desired to go to school, travel, and write, but she was unable to because of her gender. Since she was a female, she did not have the privilege males had during that time. Marriage and motherhood were pushed upon her by her family and society. This was Eloise's barrier because her own family and society’s expectations of females stopped her from following her dreams. We can see the similarities between these two different time periods because women today still have to face complications while trying to achieve their goals just how the women in Bridgerton are cut from doing what they want because of their gender.
As shown in the show Bridgerton and the 21st century, both genders are treated differently by society due to what is expected of them. In the 21st century, women are still seen as individuals that need to have feminine attributes while men have to have masculine characteristics. As Wurm mentions, “Today we see that sex is often viewed in the same way. Men are encouraged to have as much sex as possible, and society affirms men’s sexuality by telling them sex makes them masculine and cool.” For women, it is completely the opposite. This can be seen in the show when Daphne’s older brother Anthony participates in premarital sex with a low-class woman (episodes 1 and 5). The brother is not degraded for his action, but if a woman participated in premarital sex in the 18th century her status would be completely ruined. This can be seen when the high-class community found out Marina, a low-class female who was sent to a high-class family became pregnant before marriage. We can see the connection between the show and the 21st century because women in today’s society are judged for having sexual interactions, unlike men. Usually, women would be degraded and greatly criticized if they have had sexual intercourse with more than one person. For both time periods, women are supposed to have the aspiration of becoming a wife and accepting motherhood. This can be seen in the show when Daphne has these aspirations and does not think of anything else. Since her family and the high-class community have been an influence on her, these aspirations were the only thing she needed to worry about in her life. Stated by Ahmed, society has come a long way from how it was in the 1800s, “however, there is still the presupposition of women adhering to these norms and values, less they are faced with judgment and shaming”. Similar to the show and women in that time period being limited to their aspirations, females still in today’s society are forced to think about the traditional view of a women’s role and are still greatly criticized if they do something that is unladylike. Just like in Bridgerton, Regency- Era, these values and norms become one of the many barriers that are still placed on women in today’s society.
In the 21st century and in the show Bridgerton, gender roles have a negative impact on many females. Women in the 21st century face many stereotypes that were created many years ago, but continue to affect them when it comes to work or other situations. In Equality for Women= Prosperity for All: The Disastrous Global Crisis of Gender Inequality, Lopez- Carlos and Nakhjavani describe how gender roles have a negative impact on women in the United States. Gender role has to do with what an individual does and because of this, it contributes to gender inequality. Currently in the 21st-century gender role stereotypes affect women in their daily life, for example like their living wage. Lopez- Carlos and Nakjavani mention how wherever men are perceived to have more right to a job than women, fewer women are found working outside the house. Similar to Bridgerton, high-class ladies are not allowed to work or even get an education because those “rights” belong to the men. Women have one duty which is to be a housewife and a supporter to the husband. We can see this with Eloise Bridgerton who was an aromantic and just wanted to have the freedom a man had in the 18th century. She wanted to succeed in life, but because she was a female it went against the expectation society held. According to Rice and Barth, there are three factors that relate to work gender stereotypes. These three factors are the activation of culturally held gender role stereotypes, personally held gender role beliefs, and occupation gender stereotypes. These three factors can be seen in Bridgerton and in the 21st century. Gender role stereotypes like “women are supposed to be housewives” or “women are weak to do what men do” are still very commonly said in modern times and were said in the show itself. Due to a person’s gender in today’s society, being a woman would most likely make you have more obstacles in life and struggle in achieving a goal like females in Bridgerton.
As Bridgerton's time period, the Regency- Era, and the 21st centuries are many years apart, we can currently see in today’s society gender roles have receded in time due to Covid-19. Covid-19 is the current pandemic that has been going around since 2020. Because of it many individuals have lost their jobs and have had to quit to be able to take care of family, specifically women. With the closure of school and child care, many parents have had to stop working to be able to take care of their families. According to Glynn, Kashen, and Novello approximately four times as many women as men have dropped out of labor since September of 2020. Covid-19 has impacted women more because it has set them back generations, just like if they were the women in Bridgerton. In Bridgerton women had the same duty as women have currently, which is taking care of the family, being a housewife, and supporting their husband. At this moment in time women are again being housewives and taking care of their children while men are the ones providing for their family. Since the majority of women are the ones leaving their job to take back the responsibility of housewives, the pandemic has led them to a drastic decline in total wages. As stated by Smyth, “COVID-19 has hit women particularly hard in terms of job losses, increased care responsibilities at home, and heavy representation among low-wage workers on the front line”. Even though many men have left their job to take this responsibility too, the pandemic has affected women the most. This is because since women supposedly have the attribute of caring and nurturing, they would be better off at home while men are better off doing the important work that brings back supplies for the family. These stereotypes were similarly presented in the show when Daphne states how her duty is to her husband and she is there to support and provide an heir for him. We can see the resemblance between Bridgerton Regency-Era and the 21st century currently because women are back to doing what the women characters in the show did and women are worried about their family instead of working their jobs and providing for their family.
Even though Bridgerton does a good job in portraying the effect of gender roles on women, it also demonstrates how it has an impact on male characters in the show. Throughout the show, we witness how Henry Granville, a famous artist in London society, has to hide his true identity and has to portray masculinity even though he has romantic feelings for individuals of his same-sex. Besides Granville being a gay individual, gender roles do not affect him as much it affects women. Henry Granville still got the chance to travel and go to school to get an education. Even though he is gay, he was able to achieve his goal and become someone famous. Women were not allowed to travel or get an education at all. As stated before, females would be criticized, but Granville being a male did not have to face so many obstacles. No matter what, the show portrays how being a male allows you to have so many opportunities while being a female limits you from doing the things you love.
Overall, Bridgerton portrays gender inequality throughout the main and supporting characters in the series. It displayed how the female and male characters are treated very differently and have to usually follow the roles that are set for the genders. It allows the audience to view how men are allowed to do what they want without being greatly criticized by society, unlike women who are not allowed to do what they want and are degraded with the simplest mistake they make. Similar to the 21st century, men are praised for doing many things while women are judged and even put down for doing the same action. Just like females in Bridgerton are strictly forbidden of having the same desire and goals as males, women in the 21st century continue to go through many obstacles that have been created by gender inequality and face the same stereotypes that have been ongoing for centuries.
Mariela Alvarez is currently a freshman at Bloomfield College. She is majoring in Nursing and plans on becoming a Physician Assistant Pediatric.
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