Men, Women and Culture

Men, women and culture after the war

Introduction

Tennessee Williams in his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, focuses on a society with women as the epitome. The play however has a twist in that the same women who are in the centre of the community do not have any power in that community. The men call the shots in that community, they control everything with women just there to listen and follow. Williams paints an image of community where women are entirely dependent on men. The women use the men to achieve their goals.

The play shows an image of a society where the men control everything and women are there just to follow without asking. Women are portrayed as creatures with no power and are subject to following orders (Berson, 110). The men are seen to have power over everything and women have no power at all. The community lives that way. The men are in control of everything and women, on the other hand, look upon to the men and are dependent on them to get to where they desire. The play creates an image of a culture where men have power over women and women are supposed to obey men. The play widely reflects on other cultural issues that were rooted from the world war like use of drugs, homosexuality, and rape.

The post-war period was marked by widespread use of alcohol. Liquor misuse had a negative effect on the social behavior of men. Their morality was affected by the use of alcohol. Alcohol is shown as a source of problems in the family (Holland, 10). Abuse of alcohol leads to erosion of morality and introduces a new culture which allows excessive drinking. The play gives a perfect example of the changes in society brought by alcohol abuse through the character of Stanley who develops a bipolar condition. Women often suffer when their men go drinking. They are faced with violence in their men that result from alcoholism. This culture becomes a rooted problem. Individuals from the low-class society are seen to abuse whiskey and alcohol massively....