"The term gender is commonly used to refer to the psychological, cultural and social characteristics that distinguish the sexes". From the idea of ​​gender, notions such as prejudice and sexist stereotypes have developed. Stereotypes have led society to believe that a man or woman should look, act, or, in more philosophical terms, be a certain way. What these gender stereotypes are and whether they actually exist will be discussed in more detail so that they can be examined with reference to the plays Mother Courage and Her Children and M. Butterfly. In Mother Courage and Her Children, "motherhood", and what it should be, is called into question due to the actions and qualities of Mother Courage's character. M. Butterfly gives us a great portrayal of a stereotypical male and uses the female stereotype against him. These two plays invert, modify and even glorify gender stereotypes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Society has women and men assigned to roles that have basic characteristics that are inverses of each other. Although this began to change over the past thirty years, men were generally considered superior to women. This superior image is today in the process of being reduced little by little to an image of complete equality between the two sexes. Before the start of the feminist revolution, women were traditionally responsible for taking care of children and the home. Her image in life was that of a wife, mother and caring person. Some of the traits considered uniquely feminine were: "emotional, sensitive, gentle, calm, caring, interested in personal appearance and beauty, focused on home and family." Generally, the image of the woman was calm, submissive and devoted to the well-being of her family. “The stereotypical role of women is to focus their lives on marriage, home and children. They depend on men for their livelihood and status. Women are expected to engage in nurturing and life-preserving activities through procreative and caring behaviors. Additionally, there is also an emphasis on personal appearance and the prohibition of direct expression of aggression, assertiveness and power-seeking. "The stereotypical image of man was completely opposite to that of woman. Men were seen as the heads of the household, breadwinners, and rational thinkers. Their characteristics were seen as: "aggressive, unemotional, objective, dominant, competitive, logical/rational, decisive, assertive, analytical, strong, sexual, physical, successful. . ." . Men were the protectors of their families and had the responsibility to provide the family with the strength it would need to survive. They did not like having their judgment questioned or being told how to act. for women and children “These ideals of what men and women should be certainly leave men with more power and women with the responsibility to stand aside. As was briefly mentioned earlier, the plays Mother Courage and Her Children and M. Butterfly subvert or glorify these stereotypes attributed to both genres. The character of Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children has personality traits that are far from the same. of those stereotypically defined as feminine. In fact, if one closely examines her characteristics and actions, she appears to have assumed those of a man. She tries to help her children survive the Thirty Years' War. Even if taking careof them is typically a feminine quality and responsibility, doing so by running a small business and welcoming war rather than running from it is much more masculine. She was given the name Courage, after driving her bread cart into the middle of a military bombing because she was broke and her bread was moldy. This isn't really the action of someone who isn't supposed to assert themselves or strive for power. Women are not supposed to be responsible for generating money for the family to survive, but Courage did it ruthlessly. At one point, she was so concerned with saving money that one of her sons, Swiss Cheese, ended up being executed because she tried to negotiate with his captors. Even then, her death does not bring out any feminine emotion in her; she keeps pushing, trying to survive. At the end of the play, when the last of his children dies, Courage continues on his way. She picks up her cart without hesitation and moves forward alone. While conversely, the typical woman would be drowned in emotion, Mother Courage's reaction is that of a stereotypical man. Mother Courage is a character who expresses herself in a very concrete way. Women are capable of achieving exactly what men do. Women and war are images that are not traditionally linked. Perhaps if there's one connection to be made during war, it's the fact that women wait for their men to come home after defending their honor. Mother Courage shows us that if a woman is placed in such a situation of conflict and disparity, she too can survive; even if, in doing so, she acquires these ideal masculine qualities. These qualities are displayed throughout the play, and the only time we see true female motherhood in Courage is when a recruiter tries to get her boys to enlist. She immediately tries to convince him that he should ignore them. His boys are not ready to be traded. This maternal protection is supposed to be typical of women. As Cook quotes, “. . women will engage in activities that nourish and preserve life. . » . However, we quickly see Mother Courage revert to her masculine characteristics as the recruiter decides to continue pressing the issue of her sons' enlistment. She suddenly points a knife at the man and says: "Come on, you kidnap him, try it. I'll cut you open, trash." Protectiveness is one thing, but pure aggression is considered a masculine trait. Mother Courage is a physical force to be reckoned with and this strength is not a quality indicative of a stereotypical woman. Butterfly depicts a man, Gallimard, as possessing very typical ideal masculine qualities. He is the male stereotype. In this play, the feminine stereotype is what destroys him. The girl Gallimard meets and falls in love with, Song, portrays the ideal woman so perfectly that Gallimard cannot comprehend the idea, or at the very least deny that she could be a spy; not to mention a male actor. The male actor knows exactly how to get Gallimard to pursue Song. He creates a girl so fragile that Gallimard immediately finds in his arms the desire to protect her. Song begins to attract Gallimard when she calls him at 5:30 a.m. and says "I waited until I saw the sun. That was as much discipline as I could manage for one night. Do you forgive me?" (Hwang 1.9.76-77) She appeals to Gallimard's sexual and dominant characteristics because the stereotypical man likes the idea of ​​a woman who desperately needs his attention. Song plays on Gallimard's need for domination and puts him on a pedestal. She acts calm and scared. She even told him, 1993.