For the past few weeks in class we have been focusing on the topic of gender and sexism. Gender is what traits an individual identifies with. Sexism is prejudice, stereotyping or discrimination that is typically against women. Through the films Boys Don’t Cry and Courage under Fire we explored how gender and sexism can be a reality and struggle for some every day. The films did a respectable job of showing different versions of sexism. In Boys Don’t Cry we saw sexism against an individual who is transgender and in Courage under Fire we saw a female officer in the military that experienced sexism.
In the film Boys Don’t Cry Brandon was a born female who was trying to adopt a male identity. During this time Brandon was not fully accepted by
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any family members. The person who did accept Brandon was Lana. Lana was Brandon’s lover and she did not care what gender or sex Brandon was, she just accepted Brandon. For this reason I would consider Lana an ally of the LGBT community. This movie also showed how members of the LGBT community are at a higher risk for sexual mistreatment and rape. In the article “Violence against women is a men’s issue” Katz states: “We talk about men not only as perpetrators but as victims. We try to show them that violence by men against each other- from simple assaults to gay- bashing- is linked to the same structures of gender and power that produce so much men’s violence against women” (p. 345). I related this quote to the scene where the two males are raping Brandon.
The rape of Brandon seemed to be more about the two men having power over Brandon and finding out If Brandon was male or female. The two men could not stand, not knowing Brandon’s sex. Because of this they raped Brandon to find out the truth and elevate themselves. After the rape Lana convinced Brandon to go to the police and report it. When Brandon was reporting the rape, the police officer did not respect Brandon. The police officers' primary concern was of Brandon’s sex. “Victims of violence and abuse –whether they’re women or men- should be heard and respected. Their needs come first.” (Katz, p.343) this quote relates to the part in the clip where the police officer is not taking in consideration that Brandon has just been raped. The officer remains concerned about what Brandon did to be raped. The officer also seemed to be awfully concerned with Brandon’s sex and did not want to ask further questions about the rape until he found out if Brandon was male or female. To me this shows that rape is not just a male female issue. Rape is about the victim and their needs. I think that gender and rape can be incredibly confusing for law enforcement ““The rape” of Mr. Smith states” …show more content…
“the law discriminates against rape victims in a manner which would not be tolerated by victims of any crime (p. 247). This relates to how the police officer who reporting case was sexist against Brandon. The officer was discriminating against Brandon because of his sex. Rather than treating Brandon as an individual the officer focused on his gender over the fact that a rape had occurred and someone was at fault. During the interview with the officer I was able to relate to why Brandon did not want to initially report the rape. Brandon was afraid of being discriminated against due to his sex and gender. ““The rape” of Mr. Smith” states: “Society’s posture on rape, and the manifestation of that posture in the courts, helps account for the fact so few rapes are reported” (p.247). The officer asked Brandon questions in a manner that made him feel as if he was the one who did wrong because of the people that he surrounded himself with. In the second film Courage under Fire officer Walden is an officer in the military and is killed during a war due to injury. During the clip we observed how several of the males were sexist toward officer Walden. The men stated that officer Walden had acted much like a male during her time of service. “Before the arrival of Christian missionaries, a man could dress as a woman and work with the women and even marry a man without any fanfare. Likewise, a woman was free to dress like a man, to hunt and go to war with the men, and to marry women” (Silko, 67). This quote relates directly to our class discussions about how some men look down on women who are in power. Specific individuals, male or female sometimes feels uncomfortable with women being in power because they feel that the males are the dominate sex in society. This idea comes from how certain individuals were brought up. The quote by Silko states the women going to war or being in power is a norm, therefore it is not down cast in that society. I think that our society today is moving towards the ideas that Silko was discussing. As we observed in the clip females are able to achieve high rankings in the military as well as men if they are able to pass the qualifications. However as we saw in the clip, even when women achieve these higher rankings they still experience Sexism. Walden had to defend herself through the film to demonstrate that she was capable of survival and remain in power. “The traditional clothing of Pueblo women emphasized a woman’s sturdiness. Buckskin leggings wrapped around the legs protected her from scratches and injuries while she worked” (Silko, p.68). When Silko explains about how the woman in the Pueblo were considered to be strong and sturdy reminded me of the clip where Walden is explaining that she gave birth to a nine pound baby therefore she can survive a battle wound. This scene where Walden is trying to prove that she is strong based on the birth of her child was very upsetting to me. I thought that Walden should not have had to explain or prove that she was a strong woman. I think that it was obvious that she was as strong women because of where she was, in a position of power in the military. After all of the training and test Walden went through I believe that she had already showed she was capable of doing an excellent job in power. As we continue to discuss gender and sexism in class I have a better understanding of how sexism affects my life.
In today’s society anyone no matter their sex should feel safe going to the police to report incidents that have occurred and be taken seriously. Women should be able to hold high rankings of power and be respected by all individuals. They should not have to constantly defend themselves and their
power.
As I grew out of the the Veggie Tales phase, the idea of standing up for what I believed in became more relevant. Throughout primary school, I unquestioningly did what most girls did, and followed the status quo. However, upon entering middle school, I started to notice a stark juxtaposition between the behaviors of the boys and the girls in my class. Now, after years of observing overt stereotypes and prejudice, I have learned not only to question the patriarchy, but to stand up to it, as I believe that sexism is a crucial problem we face in today’s world.
illustrates the discrimination against women and the issues that arise from a gender double standard society.
The Red Badge of Courage is not a war novel. It is a novel about life. This novel illustrates the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Stephen Crane uses the war as a comparison to everyday life. He is semi-saying that life is like a war. It is a struggle of warriors—the every day people—against the odds. In these battles of everyday life, people can change. In The Red Badge of Courage, the main character, Henry Fleming, undergoes a character change that shows how people must overcome their fears and the invisible barriers that hold them back from being the best people—warriors, in the sense that life is war—they can be. Henry has a character change that represents how all humans have general sense of fear of the unknown that must be overcome.
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
Sexism can have many negative impacts on the way women view themselves, research was conducted and it showed that when exposed to modern sexism, women expressed negative self-directed emotions. Modern sexism exposure also resulted in stereotypical self-presentation, where in contrast, women who were exposed to old-fashioned sexism displayed less self-defeating behavior. This research concluded that women were more likely to stand up and defend themselves against the old-fashioned gender stereotypes, but let the modern day expectations defeat them (Ellemers & Barreto, 2009).
The belief that one sex, male or female, is treated better than the other is a controversial topic. In most cases it is believed that boys have the upper hand in this war against the sexes. “The War Against Boys”, an article by Christina Sommers takes a closer look into the origin of this belief. In the article, Sommers argues against those who believe that boys are dealt with at better hand than girls and explains why in several ways. Christian Sommers effectively uses ethos, pathos, and logos to build the credibility of the article, win the audience over, and to build her argument.
When the criminal justice system was established, one of the goals was to create neutrality and fairness between the sexes. However, during those times, women were not known for behaving in such manners. If a woman did in fact take part in any criminal activities, those crimes would have been blames on an individual that could of not fought for themselves. Even though people might believe that there is no such thing as ‘stereotyping’ in the criminal justice system, it is quite obvious that women are constantly being looked down upon because of their sex. In general, women tend to be treated like fragile objects that could break at any moment; the truth is that women can behave like men. Society stereotypes women; and, the criminal justice system is no different. When it comes to the stereotyping of women in the criminal justice system, society presents women who are indeed capable of committing such crimes as victims because by doing do they can achieve a lesser sentence or if necessary a longer sentence that will protect them from any harm.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission chart shows a decrease in gender discrimination since 2012, and remaining at a constant 29% of cases filed at the end of 2015. A straightforward approach is used to propose gender stereotypes by naming, identifying, and understanding the context. An example on how gender stereotyping comes into place, nurses are usually females, and you don’t see as many men in the healthcare field working as a nurses because it is for women. Gender discrimination comes in play when harm is applied to an individual. A woman may want a job that portray the role of a man, and she is discriminated against, and The Equal Employment Opportunity states what laws are being
The the book introduces the topic by defining sex and gender. Sex refers to the biology of your body, there are two aspects within this concept: primary sex characteristics and secondary characteristics. Primary characteristic is the genitalia which you are born with. Secondary sex characteristics has to do with the hormones; distribution of male and female hormones. Gender on the other hand is a societal concept that comes along with gender roles; which is when society places roles on how each gender should act. This is where sexist stereotypes such as “girls like pink and boys like blue” come about. Gender roles become impacted by other factors such as: religion, class, race, culture to name only a few. Culture and other aspects alter what is perceived as the norm; some cultures recognize an androgynous gender, while the concept is still taboo in many cultures. This chapter, assesses how patriarchy prevails given the fact that gender roles create an environment meant to benefit males more than
As the term “rape culture” grows in popularity, it is imperative to break it down to understand what it actually means. According to a report by the Marshall University Women’s Center, “Rape Culture is an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture”. Rape culture is supplemented by the objectification of women’s bodies, glamorization of sexual violence, as well as many other saddening realities in society. A sad outcome of rape culture in todays society is that women are often seen as the one at fault in rape. Commonly excuses are immediately made for them men, such as blaming the girl for being too intoxicated, blaming the girl for the way she was dressed, or even blaming the girl for speaking out about it at all. A perfect example of rape culture in the media took place in Steubenville, Ohio. A 16-year-old girl, incapacitated by alcohol, was gang raped by two high school football players who then shared photos of the assault on their social networking sites and with their friends. Immediately, mainstream news and media began to blame the victim saying she should not have chosen to get so intoxicated in the first place. The two boys were given the minimum allowed sentence of 1 and 2 years. This court case caused an uproar and a
Transgender, a word that is commonly confused among people who do not fully understand it’s definition. It is defined by Julia Wood (2014) as, “Individuals who feel like his or her biological sex is not his or her true sexual identity” (pg. 289). This is how the main character Brandon Teena from the award winning movie Boys Don’t Cry feels. Many theories deal with how boys and girls must play the roles of their assigned sex. These theories connect to what is going on in Brandon 's head and how he is trying to defy the lessons that have been instilled in him since he was little. Through his verbal and nonverbal actions Brandon puts on the performance of a man and leads his life as he wishes it was. There is still the pull inside of him from
Author and feminist Alix Kates Shulman said once: “Sexism goes so deep that at first it’s hard to see, you think it’s just reality” (McEneany). That quote sums up perfectly the way our society runs. There is no class teaching children how to act according the their gender. Yet little boys and little girls learn at a very young age what is expected of them. They get ideas about their gender roles from their parents, their school teachers and subconsciously from the toys they play with and the television shows they watch.
The Red Badge Of Courage is one of the many books written by Stephen Crane, published in 1895. The Red Badge Of Courage was one of Cranes major successes that in his lifetime. He was born November first, eighteen seventy-one in Newark New Jersey. Crane was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. He attended Hudson River Institute, went on to Claverick military training then finally attended Syracuse University.
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.
Minas, A. (2000). Gender basics: Feminist perspective on women and men.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.