Gender Stereotyping

Although Romeo and Juliet is a timeless classic, we still have to consider the fact that it was written ages ago, in a time when women were viewed in a very different way than men. Nowadays, women are mainly seen as equals but back then they were seen as the weaker sex. The play perpetuates the stereotype that women are weaker than men. We see it in the comments certain male characters make and in the way they treat the women in the play.  In Act 1, Scene 1, Sampson and Gregory, two servants of the house of Capulet, are bantering back and forth about conquering the Montague men and women, and the way they are speaking about the women is very degrading. They stereotype all the women as being weak. Sampson says to Gregory, " Women, being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall: therefore I will push Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall." 

He is saying that the women are lesser beings than the men and although it is wrong, that's the way women were seen as. Back then, women and men were supposed to act completely different. Men were supposed to be masculine and powerful; this is something we see in the first scene when the men from the two houses decide to have a sword fight for no apparent reason other than them wanting to show who was tougher. Women, on the other hand, are expected to be there as sexual objects for the men and completely under the men's control; this is something we see when Benvolio is trying to convince Romeo that he should just get over Rosaline by using any of the other girls that are around. 

Women aren't seen as individuals. They are just objects to be passed around by the men; hence why Sampson says they are "weaker vessels". In my opinion, this is significant to the remainder of the text because I believe that this is the way women will be seen as and treated all throughout the rest of the play. They will be treated as objects and seen as weak because this is how women were looked upon during these times.We will see the men continue to act like they are more powerful while the women are there for and to do whatever the men want.

In a way, this stereotype is still very much present in society today. Women are still seen as the inferior sex and men are still seen as more powerful. Although it may not be a stereotype that is perpetuated as often as it was in the past, it still exists in society today. Women are still treated differently than men are. They are stereotyped based on gender although it isn't and shouldn't be true.