"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 gender bias and stereotypes developed. Stereotypes have led society to believe that a male or female should look, act, or, in more philosophical terms, be a certain way. What these gender stereotypes are and whether or not they actually exist will be discussed further so that they can be examined in 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 as a result of 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. Both of these works reverse, modify, and even glorify gender stereotypes. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In society, both women and men are assigned to roles that have basic characteristics opposite to each other. Although the situation has begun to change in the last thirty years, men were generally considered superior to women. This superior image is the one that is slowly being reduced today to that of complete equality between the two sexes. Before the feminist revolution began, women were traditionally responsible for caring for children and the home. Her image in life was that of a wife, mother and carer. Some of the traits that were thought to be uniquely feminine were; "emotional, sensitive, kind, quiet, thoughtful, interested in personal appearance and beauty, focused on home and family." Generally the image of the woman was calm, submissive and dedicated to the well-being of her family. “The stereotypical role of women is to focus their lives on marriage, home and children. They rely on men for sustenance and status. The expectation is that women will engage in care-giving and life-preserving activities. life through pregnancy and care behaviors. In addition, there is also emphasis on personal appearance and the prohibition of direct expression of aggression, assertion and power struggle. "The stereotypical male image was the complete one. opposite to the female one. Men were seen as the leaders of the family, the money earners, and the rational thinkers. Their characteristics were seen as; "aggressive, impassive, objective, dominant, competitive, logical/rational, decisive, assertive, analytical, strong, sexual, physical, successful..." . Men were the protectors of their families and were responsible for providing the strength the family would need to survive. They didn't like having their judgment questioned or being told how to behave. 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 stay away. As mentioned above, the comedies Mother Courage and Her Children and M. Butterfly reverse or glorify these stereotypes that have been attributed to both genders. The character of Mother Courage in Mother Courage and Her Children has personality traits that are far from those stereotypically defined as feminine. In fact, if you closely examine her characteristics and actions , she seems to have taken on those of a male. She tries to help her children survive the Thirty Years' War. Although caring for them is a quality and a responsibilitytypically feminine, doing so while running a small business and embracing a war rather than running away from it, is much more masculine. He received the name Courage after driving his bread cart into the midst of a military bombardment because he was broke and his bread was moldy. This is certainly not the action of someone who should not be assertive or strive for power. Women should not be responsible for generating money on which the family survives, but Courage did so ruthlessly. At one point she was so concerned with trying to save money that one of her sons, Swiss Cheese, ends up executed because he tried to bargain with his kidnappers. Even then, his death does not bring out any feminine emotions in her; he keeps pushing, trying to survive. At the end of the show, when the last of his children dies, Courage continues to move forward. She takes the cart without thinking twice and goes on alone. While, on the contrary, the typical woman would be overwhelmed by emotions, Mother Courage's reaction is that of a stereotypical male. Mother Courage is a character who makes a statement in a very matter-of-fact way. Women are capable of accomplishing exactly what men do. Women and war are images not traditionally related. Perhaps if a relationship can be traced during a war, it is that women wait for their men to return home after defending their honor. Mother Courage shows us that if a woman is placed in such a situation of conflict and inequality she too can survive; even if in doing so he takes on those ideal masculine qualities. These qualities are displayed throughout the entire play, and the only time we see true female motherhood in Courage is when a recruiter tries to convince his boys to enlist. He immediately tries to convince him that he should ignore them. His kids aren't ready for the trade. This maternal protection is presumably typical of women. As quoted by Cook, "...women will engage in life-giving and life-preserving activities...". . However, we quickly see Mother Courage return to her masculine characteristics as the recruiter decides to continue pressing the issue of her son's enlistment. Suddenly he points a knife at the man and says, "Come on, kidnap him, just go for it. I'll cut you open, you trash." Protectiveness is one thing, but pure aggression is classified as a masculine trait. Mother Courage is a physical force to be reckoned with and that strength is not a quality indicative of a stereotypical woman.M. Butterfly depicts a man, Gallimard, as possessing ideal and entirely typical masculine qualities. He is the male stereotype. In this play the female stereotype is what destroys it. The girl Gallimard meets and falls in love with, Song, portrays the ideal woman so perfectly that Gallimard cannot conceive the idea, or at least denies that she could be a spy; let alone a male actor. The male actor knows exactly how to convince Gallimard to pursue Song. He creates a girl so fragile that Gallimard immediately finds the desire to protect her in his arms. The song begins to appeal to Gallimard when she calls him at 5:30 in the morning and tells him "I waited until I saw the sun. It was the most discipline I could handle for one night. Will you forgive me?" (Hwang 1.9.76-77) Appeals to Gallimard's sexual and dominant characteristics because the stereotypical man likes the idea of ​​a woman desperately seeking his attention. The song plays on Gallimard's need for dominance and puts him on a pedestal. He acts silent and scared. She even tells him that she has never invited a man to her apartment before, which rebuffs his interest, 1993.