Sexism in The Highest Duty and Bessie Coleman Literary Analysis Essay

Bessie Coleman was one of the two pilots who were in the short stories of “The Highest Duty” and “Bessie Coleman”. As the stories progressed, you would be able to come to the conclusion that they can be viewed in many different lenses. These lenses consist of racism, hope, desire, and childhood. Out of all of the many different lenses presented, the lens of sexism stood out to me more than the rest. The forms of sexism presented in both stories allowed for the reader to notice how Bessie Coleman was being mistreated in comparison to Chesley Sullyman in terms of job and learning opportunities and control.

Sexism was present in both stories as they are part of society. With being part of society, job and learning opportunities were unfair to Bessie, also known as Queen Bess. In the U.S, flight schools were rejecting Queen Bess based on her gender opposed to how Chesley Sullyman, or Sully, was accepted immediately. Sully has also faced sexism along with Queen Bess. How is this so? This is because he is a male in the world’s society and he benefited from women being mistreated. Sully was never rejected from any job or school.

Sexism is a very important concept in the field of aviation. The different ways that sexism is presented in this story contains job and learning opportunities as well as control. Society was very troubled in the times when these two aviators were pilots. Sully never had any problems trying to find a fight school or even a job. But, Queen Bess has encountered trouble with finding opportunities in the US. However, Queen Bess’s deep desire and admiration to become a pilot, she went to Europe, where she wasn’t being mistreated, to obtain her pilot license and pursue her career in aviation.

The role that sexism presents in both stories is very controlling. This is a strong word to use in this case, but it emphasizes how deeply sexism is. The control that sexism has over both aviators’ lives is very significant and hard to bypass. Sexism controls the events that are presented in both pilots' lives. Queen Bess has had opportunities taken away from her, which is a clear example of how sexism has control of her life. Sully did not encounter hardships from sexism because his gender was the gender that was controlling sexism. Sully wasn’t given a hard time attempting to find a flight school to accept him; he was on the positive side of sexism’s control.

In conclusion, the role that sexism plays in both stories is very relevant. Sexism has proved that it almost defines the lifestyles of Bessie Coleman and Chesley Sulleyman through the job and learning opportunities given or taken from them, as well as, the control that it has over their lives. Although sexism is almost the main antagonist in the stories; sexism is a force brought upon through society. In the present day, sexism is still a problem because society has yet to change with time. The framework of aviation has changed though. In present day times, female aviators are faced with fewer problems and aren't neglected as they were in the past. Overall, sexism is a major lens that both stories can be viewed in and is a problem in all of society, but as time passes by our problems begin to lessen.