Gender discrimination and gender roles play a significant role in modern day society. Many envision feminism as making sandwiches in the kitchen, but feminism is found in the work force, religion, and even politics. Why is it men are generally the leaders, Gods, and Presidents? Why is it rare to see a woman as the boss, a God, or President? When the public sees an authoritative man, they often respect him and find him to be persuasive, and dedicated. However, when a woman is seen as an authoritative figure, she is often considered pushy, bossy, conceited and emotional. This paper will analyze how these labels against women create inequalities among gender roles. It will do this using the story of Whale Rider, to convey how leadership roles and identity politics were shaped by feminism, tradition, and culture in a society. Although gender roles seem trivial, it is in fact still crucial in terms of today’s concern over gender inequality.
It follows, then that women were and still are underestimated in terms of leadership. According to Webster’s dictionary, “feminism” is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. As the strong and independent character Nanny Flowers puts it, “you may be the boss out there, but I’m the boss in this kitchen” (Whale Rider, 2002). In making this comment, Nanny Flowers confronts Koro, the Chief of the community as well as her stubborn and traditional husband. She does so by asserting her role as an authoritative and independent woman, despite his sexist demand to clean up his spilt coffee. Just like her grandmother, Paikea, shows she doesn’t belong to any sweeping generalizations regarding women. Women know they are discriminated against and are inferior to men, but Paik...
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...cal alliances while moving away from traditional broad-based party politics. In Whale Rider, the Maori tribe skewed away from the democratic and republic label, and instead kept their social background, beliefs, and ancestry alive. However in doing so, the tribe caused a fuss in terms of feminism and gender roles. These findings have important consequences for broad societies if there isn’t some type of budge in today’s system. In fact, the resolution of gender discrimination and uptight social groups is to embrace old tradition in new ways.
Works Cited
Ihimaera, Witi. The Whale Rider. Auckland: Reed, 1987. Print.
Whale Rider. Niki Caro. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. 2002. Film.
"Identity Politics" Oxford English Dictionary Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 25 April 2014.
"Feminism" Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011. Web. 25 April 2014.
Deborah Tannen brings up the issue of how women are often labeled bossy when is positions of authority in her article. ““Bossy” Is More Than a Word to Women”. She explains the everyday struggle that these women go through and the on going patriarchy in the work force. From their diction down to minute ways that women present themselves it seems that they are scrutinized in every way possible. Deborah faces these issues head on with a woman’s perspective allowing those unaware and men a small glimpse into the difficult life of women everywhere. She falls a little short on some of her theories for why this may be because of the lack of research. Besides that it is a very passionate and informative article because these issues continue to happen, whether or not she is correct about the source of these issues. Deborah makes sure to have her points come across clearly by using buzz words, writing with a passionate tone, and falls short with some of her theories by having insignificant research.
Gender dictates various components of American life: political quarrels, typical company employee hierarchies, social norms, the list continues. This year’s presidential election proves this statement to be true; as Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump bump heads against notions of foreign policy and tax reform, American voters have divided themselves into a category of either for or against women’s equality. Trump’s recent rape allegations has portrayed him as sexist, allowing Clinton to make arguments against him and advocate for women’s rights. Besides politics, gender guides child development, teaching children what “roles” both men and women must play in order to be deemed acceptable. This is why the term “CEO”
Rampton, M. (2008, September 1). The Three Waves of Feminism. - Fall 2008. Retrieved May 28, 2014, http://www.pacificu.edu/magazine_archives/2008/fall/echoes/feminism.cfm
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
Wilson, Marie C. Closing the Leadership Gap Why Women Can and Must Help Run the World. New York: Viking Adult, 2004. Print
The world is becoming more aware of the gender hierarchy occurring in our society. Men are consistently leaders and placed in positions of power while women are seen as inferior. Jean Kilbourne, author of “Two ways a Woman Can Get Hurt”, investigates this ideology as she looks throughout media and advertisements and highlights their sexually explicit commercials that degrade woman. In comparison, Allan G. Johnson, writer of Why Do We Make So Much of Gender?, discusses how the world’s view of gender has changed over time and how it has affected the world. Kilbourne and Johnson outline the presence of a gender hierarchy but do not accurately interpret why it happens. The underlying presence driving patriarchy is hidden deep in men’s resistance
Overall, the value of the American Identity is found in literature such as The Awakening, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Great Gatsby. Different historical events such as the Women’s Suffrage Movements define America as a male driven nation. These few evidences of many provide an explanation of how men came to control a lot of the activity in the nation and its impact. Currently, women are treated with more respect, have equal rights, and can do many of the things that men can do. However, there is still a great amount of gender inequality in many various aspects and it will remain that way because this nation has been male dominated since it’s independence. History and literature are two aspects of our nation’s cultures that have demonstrated the gender inequality and contributed to the strengthening of this male dominated society in the course of time.
“Whale Rider” was heartfelt and full of girl power. The movie has a cute, inspiring, lead, unique setting, and relatable story that can only be fully experienced if you “sea” it for yourself.
Over time, a women’s identity has been seen as powerless and incompetent to achieve anything. This image of women is being created at a young age at young age. For instance, little
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
When you think of a CEO of a company or of world political leaders, do you think of a man or of a woman? Many, if not most of us, see these positions as being held by men. In this essay, I will explain why women are still not equal to men. In the first paragraph I will discuss inequalities that happen in the workplace. The second section will show the differences that occur within the athletic world. Thirdly, I will explain the differences in education and home life. Even though we are approaching the twenty-first century, women in our society are still not equal to men.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.
Since the 19th century, the women's movement has made fantastic strides toward obtaining civil rights for women in America. Woman suffrage has been abolished, and they are no longer viewed as second-class citizens. Unfortunately, the issue of gender inequality still echoes in today's society. The fight to change a society shaped predominately by men continues, and will likely pursue for decades to come. Whether it be social, political, or economic rights, the main idea is equality for all genders, man or woman. In modern society, it seems that such a simple concept should be accepted globally by everyone – so why do women still face the daily toils of demanding the privileges that should available to all? No matter the class of woman, it is likely they will suffer from inequality and stereotypes at some point in their life. We see this in the workplace, where women have been shown to earn less then men. Some women also face the dangers of sexual violence, and are left victimized for such crimes.
Women have always been essential to society. Fifty to seventy years ago, a woman was no more than a house wife, caregiver, and at their husbands beck and call. Women had no personal opinion, no voice, and no freedom. They were suppressed by the sociable beliefs of man. A woman’s respectable place was always behind the masculine frame of a man. In the past a woman’s inferiority was not voluntary but instilled by elder women, and/or force. Many, would like to know why? Why was a woman such a threat to a man? Was it just about man’s ability to control, and overpower a woman, or was there a serious threat? Well, everyone has there own opinion about the cause of the past oppression of woman, it is currently still a popular argument today.