Male / female gender roles
Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 11:40 am
Another topic in this Forum brought this to mind... The roles of men and women in the society Billy grows up in.
The town's existence depends on the mines and it's the men who go down into the mines. The women are destined to stay at home and be mothers. This is the framework that has been there for years. As Billy grows up though this status quo is challenged. The mines are in danger of closing which means the foundation of the society itself is in danger and with it all the rules and roles and codes that go with it.
Grandma grew up in the old situation. She was married because that's the way it went back then. "Seventeen, that was it, your life ended when you had a ring around your finger". If you were unlucky enough to become a victim of domestic violence you couldn't get out. Grandpa apparently was an alcoholic too and as we know from Debbie, alcholism is still around in Billy's days. Both men and women look for a way out of a situation they feel trapped in - men in booze, women in dancing, as in Grandma's case and also in the message from Mrs. Wilkinson: "outside, our lives are loony and sad but in here we sparkle". But you always end up sober again. No real change is made, it's all an illusion.
And in this environment, where boys do boxing and girls do ballet, Billy crosses the boundaries. This is ofcourse the heart of the story and not only a symbol of following your dreams through adversity but also an obvious example of challenging gender roles.
Throughout all this, the gender division is played out more subtly as well. Michael - just as his Dad! - is a male character with feminine traits. Whereas Mrs. Wilkinson, by her language and attitude, is an example of a female character with masculine traits. And what to think of Maggie Thatcher herself, who has been labeled both The Iron Lady and "the only man in the Cabinet"? She's not really a character in the musical but at the same time, what would the story be without her? She is the opposite of what a "woman should be" in the miners society of Durham and hated for forcing her policies of change on the community. Imagine being trapped in a community and then being forced out of the security it offers - even if it's a bleak kind of security.
The story of BETM is one about people dreaming to escape the life they were born into - and gender is an essential part in that. For most of them though, this change never comes. Billy is incredibly lucky and in fact a unqiue - and lonely - figure.
The town's existence depends on the mines and it's the men who go down into the mines. The women are destined to stay at home and be mothers. This is the framework that has been there for years. As Billy grows up though this status quo is challenged. The mines are in danger of closing which means the foundation of the society itself is in danger and with it all the rules and roles and codes that go with it.
Grandma grew up in the old situation. She was married because that's the way it went back then. "Seventeen, that was it, your life ended when you had a ring around your finger". If you were unlucky enough to become a victim of domestic violence you couldn't get out. Grandpa apparently was an alcoholic too and as we know from Debbie, alcholism is still around in Billy's days. Both men and women look for a way out of a situation they feel trapped in - men in booze, women in dancing, as in Grandma's case and also in the message from Mrs. Wilkinson: "outside, our lives are loony and sad but in here we sparkle". But you always end up sober again. No real change is made, it's all an illusion.
And in this environment, where boys do boxing and girls do ballet, Billy crosses the boundaries. This is ofcourse the heart of the story and not only a symbol of following your dreams through adversity but also an obvious example of challenging gender roles.
Throughout all this, the gender division is played out more subtly as well. Michael - just as his Dad! - is a male character with feminine traits. Whereas Mrs. Wilkinson, by her language and attitude, is an example of a female character with masculine traits. And what to think of Maggie Thatcher herself, who has been labeled both The Iron Lady and "the only man in the Cabinet"? She's not really a character in the musical but at the same time, what would the story be without her? She is the opposite of what a "woman should be" in the miners society of Durham and hated for forcing her policies of change on the community. Imagine being trapped in a community and then being forced out of the security it offers - even if it's a bleak kind of security.
The story of BETM is one about people dreaming to escape the life they were born into - and gender is an essential part in that. For most of them though, this change never comes. Billy is incredibly lucky and in fact a unqiue - and lonely - figure.