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The role of the family gender
Domestic violence and its effects on children
Domestic violence and its effects on children
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On macro sociological level, we must first acknowledge the existence of patriarchy. Patriarchy is, according to Dictionary.com, a social system in which power is held by men, through cultural norms and customs that favor men and withhold opportunity from women. This the type of society we have lived in for thousands of years and this is the society that Aileen Wuornos grew up in. Kate Millett states in her book Sexual Politics, “patriarchy’s chief institution is the family.” The family’s role in a patriarchal society is to “encourage its members to adjust and conform” (33) Aileen Wuornos’s family life was not typical however. Wuornos was frequently sexually abused as a child by male figures in her life. Her grandfather Lauri and her brother
hirley kept active in politics following her retirement by co-founding the National Political Congress of Black Women and serving as its founding in 1984 until1992.
You’d be hard pressed to find one in a crowd. The average serial killer generally blends in with everyone else (Directory Journal, 2010). In fact, most are soft-spoken and even polite. Their monstrous nature only comes through when you dig deeper into their personalities, actions, and habits. Most seem to have come from dysfunctional family settings and were emotionally, sexually, or even verbally abused as children (Directory Journal, 2010). It is almost as if this background activates some psychological trigger that increases their feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness that led them to seek out their own heinous form of release.
This ideology that women be accounted for the private lives, separate from men in the public lives is an overall result of what Patemen describes to be patriarchal- liberalism. This is where social construction theory take place. This idea of a patriarchy is a result of history. Rooted in the mid 19th century, the role of a woman happened to be limited to simply a dependent individual who has her own limitations that were imposed upon her by society, history and culture. It was viewed that the man work for his family so he could provide food while the mother ‘performed unpaid tasks’ like taking care of the children and cleaning. As we move towards our current generations, we see a shift between gender roles. There are stay at home fathers who take care of the children while the women work. Nature plus biology gives us this being(women), who physically differentiates from another being (man). Had she been given the chance she holds the same capacity, strength and intellect from that of a male she would be viewed as an equal rather than insignificant. However, through the influence of social initiation, relations and culture she was identified as dependent. This is proven by female figures such as Rhonda Rousey, Oprah Winfred and Molalla
Not many people can add the position of National Security Advisor to their list of achievements, especially if those people are women. Condoleezza Rice, however, can place the accomplishment right up there with being a previous member of President Bush’s foreign-policy team, and tenured professor and provost in the political science department of the prestigious Stanford University.
...(Bloom, 486). As a class, men exploit them for personal use, both economically and sexually. They do everything they can to keep women in an inferior position. This repression is so pervasive that it is even found in the language of the women themselves. Correcting this problem is not a matter of changing individual relationships within the society. As the manifesto says, "the conflicts between individual men and women are political conflicts that can only be solved collectively"(486). In order for things to improve, there must be some change in society at a base level.
Marilyn Monroe, Norma Jeane Mortenson. A devious soul but a pure heart, a black past, but a bright future; she became one of the most idolized figures in society. Norma was definitely not born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and she never sugar coated her life to the media. She was straight forward which made her heavily known for her quotes such as “I learned to walk as a baby and I haven’t had a lesson since.” (Marilyn Monroe). This was the beginning to her life story as a hero. This may not seem inspiring or heroic to many by the lack of knowledge a person may have on Norma. In the depths of her quotes lay a deep, heartfelt life though. For this quote may seem sensational and comical to the ear, but Marilyn was transferred to many foster homes not really having a parent that would show her the way. What a good role model would do though, and what Norma courageously has shown society, is that when life knocks you down, get up and hit life back twice as hard. Norma Jeane Mortenson, married Jim Dougherty, and started working. Soon she created the character Marilyn Monroe, she dyed her hair blonde, wore short dresses, and she became the momentous and inspirational character that everyone saw through television, newspapers, and photos. She was one of the greatest actors, singers, and models of the nineteen forties and fifties. But like every hero they suffer and create their own demise. Jeane, Marilyn Monroe, is a shakespearean tragic hero, because like every hero she must fall.
To start off this essay, it is important to note what is meant when using oppression in the terms and context of a sociologist. Oppression causes certain groups of people to be or advantaged in a political system whereas other groups of people are considered to be subordinate (Glasberg, pg. 1) One of the major groups that has been oppressed Universally are women (there are exceptions, but not many). Women have typically had not had the rights, privileges, or participation as it relates to political
When you refer to date rape, domestic violence, and high school massacres, people will think these crimes are commits by males, in fact, we have 85% of murders are by men; 95% domestic violence is by men; 99% of rapes in prison are by men (Documentary of Everton, 2014). Besides, the boys try to be cool, courage, tough, fag, queer because many girls have a tend to love a bad boy. They want to show up, but they threaten traditional assumptions of male supremacy. Moreover, depending on community such as race, gender, people will pick the character for them. For example, Black play this character, but Latino will play other character. The fact is that some of the most serious problems in contemporary American society, especially those connected with violence, can be looked at as essentially problems within contemporary American masculinity. If we look at almost any category of violence we see that the perpetrators are overwhelmingly male. Men are believed to be the dominant group, but what men lack knowledge of is that it hardly gets them anywhere in life. In short, community is one of the places where the boys can get stereotype
Modern society has made a sub-culture that lives in a reality that is not real. It is so far from the truth that the inhabitants of this sub-culture so often cannot live in both realities and have become a spectacle for others to marvel at. This sub-culture is made up of entertainers, millionaires, and athletes. The people in this group can range from newborns to death and some live on well after. The specimens that I find an interest in are the young ones that enter into this society not knowing well that their lives will never be the same. Britney Spears was just another victim of the society that brings into their prison.
In a world that often seems to revolve around patriarchy, we are all taught about gender roles and pressured to adhere to them, whether they are enforced or not. For example, the female gender role involves women having children, cooking and cleaning, and being overall submissive. The male gender role focuses on men being the “bread-winners” and “protectors” of their household, by working, being tough, and having a dominant nature. In both Purple Hibiscus and Sin is a Puppy that Follows You Home (commonly referred to as Sin is a Puppy), two West-African based novels written by female, feminist authors, the characters seemed to fit into their stereotypical gender roles perfectly, especially Beatrice and Rabi, the two matriarchs of the novels, respectfully. However, when it came to tolerating their husbands’ abuse, the two matriarchs handled this situation differently, in the end. The text itself also has a lot to do with these differing reactions. Both texts focus on different societies, are intended for different audiences, and have different overall purposes. Even though both matriarchs stem from similar backgrounds and were both forced into strict, specified gender roles, Beatrice and Rabi had polar opposite responses to the abuse from their husbands due to how the different facets of their gender roles and specific textual aspects impacted them as characters.
The women are always held to a higher standard than the men. “For there is no reality in the sentimental assertion that the sexual sins of the lad are as degrading as those of the girl. The instinct of the female is more toward the preservation of purity, and therefore her fall is deeper—an instinct grounded on the desire of preserving a stock, or even the necessity of perpetuating our race.” (qtd. in Brace 66). Brace provides the audience with a perfect example of a double standard. If a female acts on these sexual sins, they are more likely to be judged for the acts rather than the male. It seems as if it is almost okay for men to act upon these sexual sins while women cannot because society as a whole holds females to a higher standard than they should be. Society expects too much from the women while they already contribute so much to the society, such as bearing life. “Jimmie had an idea it wasn’t common courtesy for a friend to come to one’s home and ruin one’s sister. But he was not sure how much Pete knew about the rules of politeness…He was trying to formulate a theory that he had always unconsciously held, that all sisters, excepting his own, could advisedly be ruined.” (Crane 31 & 33). Maggie’s brother, Jimmie, knew it was not okay for his sister to be “ruined” due to Pete’s seduction. Jimmie had an idea that any other females could be ruined, but one of those females should not have been his
This is particularly palpable in the phenomenon of gender roles. “Oversimplified conceptions pertaining to our behavior as females or males,” gender roles boil down our gender and anatomical performance into categories of “boy” or “girl” (Basow 3). Patriarchy then builds systemic inequality off this simplistic binary foundation, attaching “male” to spheres of power and “female” to spheres of powerlessness. Gender roles are one of many patriarchal infrastructures that thrive off a concrete definition of gender and/or sex, and so modern feminism has found power in dismantling both constructions.
That is why for years to come women will still be seen as motherly, passive and innocent, sexual objects, or they are overlooked or seen as unimportant entities. Whether it’s motherly birds on kids TV shows or scantily clad dancers on Monday Night Football, the portrayal of women has yet to catch up with what real life women are like. There are single women, obese women, and smart women. Women who are single mom’s, lesbians, or don’t have any children at all. Women are able to do the same type of work as men without being manly.
The differences between women and men are not solely biological. Our society’s culture has established a set of unwritten cultural laws of how each gender should act, or in other words society has ascribed a stereotype. Men’s gender identity has been one of masculinity, and masculinity is defined as referring to a man or things described as manly. What does manly mean though? Is a male manly if he is “Mr. Fix-it”, or the jock, or if he sits on the couch on Sunday watching football? This latter statement is a stereotype of men, that has been around for decades, and is current as well, but starting with the 1960’s a man’s role started to change, despite the stereotype not changing to accommodate it. For the past 40 years one can see how men have taken on roles stereotypically ascribed to women, such roles including being the “stay-at-home mom”, which we can find an excellent example of in the 1980’s film “Mr.
Patriarchy is a social system in which families and societies are dominated by males as primary authority figures. Due to patriarchy, females have been disadvantaged in many aspects of life including employment, family life, crime, health, education and media. This has led sociologists to try and find out what causes gender inequality. Feminists would agree that patriarchy is the main cause of gender inequality, however, there are different strands of feminism and these different strands have different views. There are also other theorists, such as functionalists, Weberians and postmodernists who offer different views as to the causes of gender inequality.