Srijana Bhandari_Institutional Artifact Project

A social institution is a set of norms that are distinct and independent of individuals. In the Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy, according to Seumas Miller, “the term institution and social institution are used to refer to a miscellany of social forms, including conventions, rules, rituals, organizations, and system of organizations.” Institutions are patterns of social orders focused on meeting social needs such as government, education, family, religions. Among various institutions found in all human beings, a family is one of the most important, created by blood, marriage, or adoption. Family is deeply rooted in human nature and exists everywhere. It is essential for the development and maintenance of order. Order here can connote the way things work in society, different rules which are followed, or should follow. Family plays a vital role as they shape our first step into the world. 

I recently watched the movie “Little Women,” directed by Greta Gerwig. It was a big screen adoption of the novel by Louisa May Alcott with the same name, “Little Women.” This movie is a story about march sisters- four young women based in the 19th century Massachusetts. When their father is away serving in the civil war, the mother and four daughters Jo, Meg, Amy, and Beth are left alone faced with poverty. In this movie, Jo March, played by Saoirse Ronan, is the protagonist, who reflects on her life, telling the story of her family and also shows the present scenario of all four sisters. In the movie, Jo struggles to make a name for herself as a writer in a male-dominant New York city. The movie starts with Jo going into a publication office full of men. She introduces her writing as someone else’s to Mr. Dashwood, who sits with his leg up on the desk and smoking. He takes her story after she agrees to alter things; he later suggests that “if the main character is a girl, make sure she is married by the end. Or dead, either way.” Jo is an ambitious tomboy whose primary goal is to support her family until her sister Amy marries, someone wealthy. Amy, one of the youngest, is learning to be a lady to please herself and others around her. She is opposite to Jo, who doesn’t like to fall under the ladyhood. Amy, accompanied by her aunt, is expected to marry someone wealthy to support her family. The oldest March sister Meg shows the character of a stereotypical woman, someone who gives up her liking for the family. She is a traditional wife who is struggling to adjust her life under her husband and children. The youngest daughter Beth, who was severely ill, dies later in the movie. The story shows the struggle of the March sister in converting from a girl to woman while Meg then finds her love and marries a professor. Amy finds her love in Laurie, Jo’s best friend. And Jo herself, who rejected Laurie being a tomboy and ambiguous, married a German professor. 

The movie not only shows the character falling under gender stereotypes, but it also shows each of them directly or indirectly coming over it. The stereotype is an over-generalized belief about a particular category of people. They generally conform to a fixed or general pattern. A gender stereotype is an over-generalized belief of male(masculine) and female (feminine). The protagonist, Jo, is shown as a rebellion to the norms of what women should do. Her name or even the way she dresses challenges the stereotypes. Her full name is Josephine March, which gives a feminine side to her, but she prefers the name Jo which gives a masculine touch. Throughout the movie, Jo wears more of male clothes like vests, button-down shirts, blazers, and neck-scarves — a typical dress for boys in the 19th century.  Which goes against the usual dress up girls in the 19th century would do ( represented through her sisters). Some of the scenes in the movie show Meg accompanying her sister Jo and asking her to behave in a certain way, don’t shake a hand, don’t stare, and more.  Meg was pretty and enjoyed dancing; her only dream was to get married and have a family that was different from what Jo wanted. Jo explains her felling of regretting being a woman as she couldn’t accompany her father in the civil war. Throughout the movie, she is someone who does not fall under the stereotype of what women had to do, job, working alone away from the family, and staying away from love and marriage. On the other hand, Theodore Laurence, Jo’s best friend and later Meg’s lover, is more into music, mostly linked with the female profession. He hangs out with all four March sisters and joins their drama club, hanging with females more than his male friends. 

In the 19th century, women’s life was limited at home. The only goal in their life would be to get married and form a family, which is taught in the family. The March sister had seen their mom living at home taking care of them while their dad was away in the war. They are said to look pretty and attend many parties where they will be able to meet boys from upper-class families and marry them. That’s how I relate Little Women with gender stereotypes and with my life. Directly or indirectly, there were a lot of limitations in my life as well. I learned a lot of things through my family. Seeing my mother giving up her needs for the family’s needs has shown me the limitation I have to face being a wife and a mother. I will be expected to marry before 25 or convince my family until 27, which is the limitation I have to face being a woman. These are the things which I expect to happen as I have seen it happening in my family. 

I can also relate to Jo, as coming from a family having five sisters, I have always been someone who reacts with impatience to the many limitations placed on women. I am someone who is ambitious and has a great sense of helping my family. I can easily compare myself to Jo as someone who is always told by my sisters to behave in a certain way. 

The movie Little Women shows the struggle of gender stereotypes that remained in the 19th century but still in today’s 21st century. Through different characters, the movie shows the struggle women face due to the stereotype of various institutions and families, which not only me but also every woman relates to. The way of how a woman is seen and what women should do always comes from the family. I was told not to wear shorts or show skin, speak softly, and help my mother in the kitchen while my brother will help my father with his work and laugh with his friend. Although I have seen most of my sister and other women falling under this institution and following the so-called rules of being women, I have always tried to challenge myself. I have helped my mother in the kitchen but also my dad with his work, looking after finance. I am outspoken and confident about myself but also have my values within me. It’s up to us whether we want to follow the stereotype and forget our actual dream-like Meg or Amy or to do what you wish to and devote your time to yourself like Jo.