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Recommended: Gender stereotypes in pop culture
Taking a Gender Studies course opened my eyes to the ways that gender impacts my everyday life, especially where gender rules are being broken. Instances of gender can be found in unexpected places, whether it be a gender-neutral New Baby card, mention of homosexual behavior in a country song, a book dedication from a father to a son, or a college offering of a course in Men’s Studies. Other gender stereotypes hold fast, like using attractive women as eye candy at car shows, but never attractive men. Lastly, we assume that each generation is more progressive than the last, but are proven wrong when we look back to an older culture and discover that gender fluidity was accepted as part of nature’s plan. One of these unexpected departures is a gender-neutral greeting card congratulating the parents of a new baby. Most baby cards are gender-specific welcoming the “baby boy” in shades of blue, or greeting the “baby girl” in pink. Gender socialization is a lifelong process of learning what society’s expectations are for you in terms of dress, attitudes …show more content…
Offering a Wildcard option on our final has allowed me to use it as an example of gender for this paper. The entire edition focuses on relationships between men and women. The Separation of Males & Females article tells the Navajo story of a man and a woman having a fight, resulting in all of the women moving to the other side of a river. After a long time of living apart, they admitted that they needed and longed for one another and the women crossed back over, returning to the men. Interestingly, the nadleeh helped each side with this transition. The nadleeh, referred to as nadle in the our text (Kimmel, 2013, pg. 75), are “people with both sex organs” (Badonie, 2016) It is fascinating how some cultures accept gender diversity as a natural part of life, while others cultures like ours struggle with it so
Gender role conflicts constantly place a role in our everyday life. For many years we have been living in a society where depending on our sexuality, we are judged and expected to behave and act certain way to fulfill the society’s gender stereotypes. The day we are born we are labeled as either a girl or boy and society identifies kids by what color they wear, pink is for girls and blue is for boys. Frequently, we heard the nurses in the Maternity facility saying things like, “Oh is a strong boy or is beautiful fragile princess.” Yet, not only in hospitals we heard this types of comments but we also see it on the media…
Gender Matters is a collection of various essays on feminist linguistic texts analysis, by Sara Mills. Mills develops methods of analyzing literary and non-literary texts, in addition to conversational analysis based on a feminist approach. The author draws on data from her collection of essays gathered over the last two decades on feminism during the 1990s. The essays focus on gender issues, the representation of gender in reading, writing, and in public speaking. Furthermore, it highlights the importance of feminists’ analysis of sexism in literature and the relation between gender and politeness. The article is informative for my research paper, as my topic is going to cover language analysis of the text and who women reading and writing differs according to the discourse analysis within linguistic, psychology, case studies audiences and surveys. The book would be helpful, particularly the last three essays that discusses gender, public speaking, the question of politeness and impoliteness in public speaking. Mills’ analysis is not complete without including the idea of global notions of both women and men, to see whether women and men write and read in the same way globally. Therefore, an update would enrich the book’s discussion section. Although, Mills addresses the class and race theme in language and public speaking, I will only look into the role of language that plays a part in doing or reducing gender in literary, non-literary texts and in conversation.
In “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Deborah Blum states that “gender roles of our culture reflect an underlying biology” (Blum 679). Maasik and Solomon argue that gender codes and behavior “are not the result of some sort of natural or biological destiny, but are instead politically motivated cultural constructions,” (620) raising the question whether gender behavior begins in culture or genetics. Although one may argue that gender roles begin in either nature or nurture, many believe that both culture and biology have an influence on the behavior.
Wood, J. T. (2011). Gendered lives: Communication, gender, and culture. (9th ed ed., pp. 1-227). Boston,MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
This article was written to bring attention to the way men and women act because of how they were thought to think of themselves. Shaw and Lee explain how biology determines what sex a person is but a persons cultures determines how that person should act according to their gender(Shaw, Lee 124). The article brings up the point that, “a persons gender is something that a person performs daily, it is what we do rather than what we have” (Shaw, Lee 126). They ...
The gender binary of Western culture dichotomizes disgendered females and males, categorizing women and men as opposing beings and excluding all other people. Former professor of Gender Studies Walter Lee Williams argues that gender binarism “ignores the great diversity of human existence,” (191) and is “an artifact of our society’s rigid sex-roles” (197). This social structure has proved detrimental to a plethora of people who fall outside the Western gender dichotomy. And while this gender-exclusive system is an unyielding element of present day North American culture, it only came to be upon European arrival to the Americas. As explained by Judith Lorber in her essay “Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender”, “gender is so pervasive in our society we assume it is bred into our genes” (356). Lorber goes on to explain that gender, like culture, is a human production that requires constant participation (358).
As meaning making creatures, humans attempt to categorize and definitively understand anything they observe. Although this crusade for understanding is not inherently bad, it often produces unintended negative consequences. As humans sort, classify, and define everything, they simultaneously place everything into a box that constricts creativity and fluidity. Concerning gender, these boxes create harmful conceptions of each person on the planet. Although these conceptions of gender are constructed and not “real” by any means, they have real implications in the process of socialization that influence how each person lives his/her life. In the United States, the commonly socialized “boxes” of gender have done a great
Gender, in society today, is clarified as either being male which embodies traits of masculinity or on the other hand being female embodying traits of femininity. However the embodiment of these traits are just actions, decisions, or expressions rather than sexual anatomical features we are born and constrained by. Gender depictions are less a consequence of our "essential sexual natures" than interactional portrayals of what we would like to convey about sexual natures, using conventionalized gestures. (West, Zimmerman p.130) This excerpt reinforces the idea that society should view gender not as a absolute but rather a work in progress during your day to day routine. This capability to accept that gender is something you do rather than something that is leads opens up the tolerance to realize the implications that traditional gender views have impacted
Traditional gender roles challenge people’s goals and aspirations by having a preset notion of what each gender is allowed to look and act like. Although this problem is still very relevant in today’s society, it would be a lie to say that steps aren’t being taken to correct this societal issue. “Let’s keep showing how we can all move beyond traditional gender roles and a culture where dads get high fives for taking their kids to the park but shame for taking parental leave or flex hours to care for a parent. Where women are shamed and guilted if they don’t solely fulfill the traditional role of wife and mother at home, whether they have children or not. Let’s keep doing the research that shows businesses are actually more profitable and higher functioning when they promote diversity, and all workers have time for life. If we keep talking, then maybe I...may live to see the day when true gender parity has finally arrived”(Schulte
Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the “norm” that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question “am I a true man or woman?” After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s.
Wood, J. T. (2013). Gendered lives: communication, gender & and culture (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
American society needs to break from the mold of the myth of gender, which suggests that society and culture dictate our roles as men and women, as can only restrict us into unnecessary conformity. The opinion of society should no longer decide who we are, what we do, and what we’re capable of doing. We, as Americans, need to deeply analyze and question this fallacy of gender and the way it restricts us at home, in the media, and in the classroom. If we continue to follow the invisible guidelines of in invisible rulebook, we’re destined to hurt ourselves and our future generations by remaining nestled into our cultural cocoons and never shedding them.
Women and gender studies contribute greatly to our understanding of the social and cultural world we inhabit. Studying the complex issues of this field has instituted many key insights. Two major insights that positively affected our society are the awareness through learning and through this awareness activism that can ensue.
Social Construction of Gender is a process, stratification system and structure. The day to day interactions emphasize gender as opposites. Take for instance, conversations, formalities of daily life, sayings, and so on. The social construction of gender is created through social interaction – through the things we do and say with other people. This means that gender it is not a fixed or inherent fact, but instead it varies across time and place.
They creates a stigmatized definition of what it means to be male and female. These stereotypical roles given to us from birth, often create gender inequality causing both males and females to struggle from gender disproportion. Unfortunately this is difficult to eliminate as they have been socially constructed into our societies. Although over the years these roles have been changing due to the awareness, media and many laws and protests, there is still the need for a self-identity and equality among both males and females. Blasco (2010) suggests that in order for us to move towards improvement, we cannot view males and females as complete opposite.