Often in Gwen Harwood's poems, women are portrayed as victims of the social circumstances of the 1950s. But Harwood sometimes chooses to take a different view and instead has the women either fight against the male dominant character, choosing to be more than just the mans possession or be an independent women who has ambitions and determination to be successful and not necessarily just be a mother. By placing the man as the dominant sex that provides for the family, and the women as the housewives and mothers, she gives the reader a view of how people were in the 1950s, and then adds a twist of the women dismissing this conformist behaviour to express her opinion of such issues. In the poem "Professor Eisenbart's Evening" Eisenbarts mistress is seen as a doting lover, who does nothing of importance all day, just the usual, mundane things. Eisenbart is portrayed as the intelligent provider, out all day and when he is ready expects every need to be satisfied. But when Eisenbart is deprived of his satisfaction, his mistress teases him and claims to not believe him; therefore Eisenbart loses his sense of control over the relationship. In "An Impromptu for Ann Jennings", women are portrayed as ambitions and although they are still are mothers; they still had the determination to do other things which went against all the female stereotypes of such times. Through both these poems Gwen Harwood challenges the construction of gender that the society of the 1950s made women and men conform to. .
Both these poems were written during a time where women did not have any control over there live and they depended upon men to be their guide through life. They were expected to stay at home and be housewives, while men furthered their careers and brought home the "bacon". Through her poetry and in particularly these two poems, Harwood gives women voice and control over their lives and men are not as highly regarded.
