Role Of Femininity In American Culture

811 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Compares of masculinity to femininity

Masculinity has its cultural differences and influences globally. The male gender has a privilege that goes unnoticed because the norm of being “manly”. In some cultures there are rites of passage that a boy has to go through in order to transition into manhood. Historically men have been held on the apex of need for life. In hunting -gathering era these roles would be seen as appropriate, carrying these customs for centuries to build cultures. Entrance to manhood is more than the biological factor; completion of puberty. In african culture rites of passage play a role in socialization, different stages in an individual's development as well as their role in the community

Masculinity has a privilege over femininity, which has lead to changes in masculinity. These changes adapted the title of misogyny. Misogyny providing incorrect guidelines on how to be in society. Promotion of rape culture and exhaling femininity being one of the main effects of misogyny. Solutions to these problems start with being open minded towards both genders, giving room for improvement. Being the breakthrough in ending misogyny and having full gender equity globally. Without changing cultural customs globally.

Men are taught how to be men from …show more content…

Ignoring the gender roles placed on them at birth, over time women learned to provide for themselves. Society being more open to gender fluidity over the years but , men are threatened. No longer accepting the outdated matra “ boys will be boys and men will be men”. Gender fluidity paralyzes the binary definition of masculinity. Hypermasculinity pushed through media, family and school ,in attempts of perverting the definition of masculinity.Advocating for the binary gender roles , men are blind to the damage of these roles. "..men are society's official scapegoats and [should be] held responsible for all evil, including that done by the women they have deluded or

Show More
Related

  • Victoria Bromley Feminist Analysis

    1040 Words  | 3 Pages

    Realistically, when someone is more powerful, they have the ability to set the rules. Men have historically held power in society, which means that women did not have as much stance or freedoms as men have had in the past. For example, Canadian women did not have the right to vote until the year 1916. This factor has continued to trail into the present day, creating the ‘weak’ image towards women, overall forcing and pushing men to become the opposite of this factor. Thus, cultural ideals of masculinity rely on the ideas of femininity through patriarchy and gender binaries. The emphasis on characteristics of men are being exaggerated, as society is pressuring men with unattainable standards of masculinity such as being tough, muscular and buff. Men continue to conform to these characteristics, in the fear of being oppressed through exclusion, which only strengthens society’s standards even more. This leads to more societal pressures on men, thus leading men to experience more societal pressures in the fear of feeling excluded. These “systems of inclusion and exclusion are divisions or barriers that prevent people from joining and belonging.” (50). For example, if a man wears nail polish, they may be oppressed and excluded through facing ridicule and bullying, because wearing nail polish is considered “girly”, therefore this boy is rebelling against society’s socially

    Read More

  • The High Cost Of Manliness Analysis

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    Men are allegedly competitive, aggressive, dominant, and strong and if these attributes are not acquired a man is not a man. When other men recognize a man failing in those four areas of “manliness” they compare him to a female with negative connotation as expressed in the following quote, “The worst insult one man can hurl at another-whether its boys on the playground or CEOs in the boardroom-is the accusation that a man is like a woman.” These actions create perceptions that women are unworthy and pitiful. Jensen mentions that because of masculinity men are thought to seek control over women resulting in an increase of physical violence towards women. However, masculinity has harsh effects on men as well. Men are constantly trying to prove their dominance to each other, while competing against one another for ultimate dominance. This creates a never ending cycle of competition and unease for

    Read More

  • Cultural Expectations for Women within America

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    Every year about a million immigrants come to America in hope to start a better life for their family. They leave with virtually nothing, just the clothes on their backs and a few, hard earned coins. As they start a new life here in the United States, most immigrants tend to notice the drastic differences that are present between their culture and Western society, particularly in the way women are supposed to talk and behave. In the excerpt from “Memoirs of a Girlhood among Ghosts,” Maxine Hong Kingston addresses these hardships as a Chinese girl who is searching for her voice in America. During the excerpt, Kingston portrays fitting into these “cultural expectations” as absolutely necessary, as shown in the last paragraph in Page 10. She says things like “If you don’t talk… then you can’t be a house wife.” Or “Don’t you ever want to be a cheerleader?” (Kingston 10) At the time of this scene, the narrator was so sure that the American way was the right way, that she bullies a younger student into changing. Alas the student never changes and the narrator falls sick for a year and a half because of her ill actions. However, plenty has changed since that time of the Korean War (1950’s.) Nowadays, these expectations of what is an American woman are changing. Compared to the 1950’s, women currently are holding much more power, and are viewed as a superior sex symbol.

    Read More

  • The Corsten Report On Women In The Criminal Justice System

    2371 Words  | 5 Pages

    ‘Women and men are different. Equal treatment of men and women does not result in equal outcomes.’ (Corsten Report, 16: 2007) According to Covington and Bloom (2003) numerous feminist writers have demonstrated and documented the patriarchal nature of our society and the variety of ways in which the patriarchal values serve masculine needs. ‘Despite claims to the contrary, masculinist epistemologies are built upon values that promote masculine needs and desires, making all others invisible’ (Kaschak, 11: 1992).

    Read More

  • Gender Roles In Contemporary American Culture

    2622 Words  | 6 Pages

    In today’s contemporary American culture, gender roles are despised by the younger generation because of the distinctions placed on them. This is the era of open-mindedness and self-expression and because of this individuals feel they should not be told what they can and cannot do based on their sex. There are now material things such as, clothes, shoes and perfumes that are considered unisex, males and females can now fight in wars and men are no longer fully needed to be the providers of their families. Though the American culture has attempted to make a leap forward when it comes to breaking down the barriers of gender roles, it is still being held back. Being a culture that was first influenced by the Christian religion, there are still traces of these gender roles present. From areas of

    Read More

  • What Are Gender Roles In Butler's Dawn?

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender roles are often used in our own society to tie people to a certain representation for what is socially acceptable. These roles perpetuate gender inequalities because they often make the female end of the spectrum worth less than the male. One example is equating masculinity with strength and femininity with weakness. Because of this sayings such as “You run like a girl” become negative. Gender roles create a system where people are set to a different standard based off gender alone. In trying to follow what is socially acceptable based on gender people are forced into roles. There is a lower percentage of women in science than men because girls are taught at a young age that being smart isn’t feminine. These roles harm boys too, teaching them that they have to be hyper-masculine to be considered

    Read More

  • Argumentatice Essay Gender Roles

    1266 Words  | 3 Pages

    ‘Boys will be boys’, a phrase coined to exonerate the entire male sex of loathsome acts past, present, and potential. But what about the female sex, if females act out of turn they are deemed ‘unladylike’ or something of the sort and scolded. This double standard for men and women dates back as far as the first civilizations and exists only because it is allowed to, because it is taught. Gender roles and cues are instilled in children far prior to any knowledge of the anatomy of the sexes. This knowledge is learned socially, culturally, it is not innate. And these characteristics can vary when the environment one is raised in differs from the norm. Child rearing and cultural factors play a large role in how individuals act and see themselves.

    Read More

  • Gender Double Standards

    1699 Words  | 4 Pages

    As one looks through society, one starts to see many cracks and loopholes where one set of standards does not apply the same way for men as it does to women, and vice versa.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Femininity In The North American Society

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    What is considered femininity in today’s such diverse and cultural society? There are various depictions throughout the world of what being feminine is. Contemporary femininity in the North American society is described by Shaw in the textbook, “...includes soft, passive, domestic, nurturing…dependent, sensitive, as well as delicate, intuitive…needy, fearful and so forth,” and these adjectives describe what femininity is considered to be (Shaw 116). This shows that women are expected by society to act in a certain way that is considered to be society’s version of femininity. In addition to that, women have started conforming to society’s versions of femininity because as stated in the text by Shaw, “…You’re damned if you do and potentially

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in American Society

    1488 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women and men are nestled into predetermined cultural molds when it comes to gender in American society. Women play the roles of mothers, housekeepers, and servants to their husbands and children, and men act as providers, protectors, and heads of the household. These gender roles stem from the many culture myths that exist pertaining to America, including those of the model family, education, liberty, and of gender. The majority of these myths are misconceptions, but linger because we, as Americans, do not analyze or question them. The misconception of gender suggests that biological truths no longer dictate our gender roles as men and women; they derive from cultural myths. We, as a nation, need to do severe critical thinking about this delusion of gender, how has limited us in the home, media, and education, how it currently limits us, and what the results of the current and future changes in gender roles will be.

    Read More

  • Things Fall Apart Masculinity

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a child develops, their surroundings have a major influence on the rest of their lives; if boys are taught to “man up” or never to do something “like a girl”, they will become men in constant fear of not being masculine enough. Through elementary and middle school ages, boys are taught that a tough, violent, strong, in-control man is the ideal in society and they beat themselves up until they reach that ideal. They have to fit into the “man box” (Men and Masculinity) and if they do not fulfill the expectations, they could experience physical and verbal bullying from others. Not only are friends and family influencing the definition of masculine, but marketing and toys stretch the difference between a “boy’s toy” and a “girl’s toy”. Even as early as 2 years old, children learn to play and prefer their gender’s toys over the other gender’s (Putnam). When children grow up hearing gender stereotypes from everyone around them, especially those they love and trust like their parents, they begin to submit themselves and experience a loss of individuality trying to become society’s ideal. If everyone is becoming the same ideal, no one has a sense of self or uniqueness anymore and the culture suffers from

    Read More

  • The Long Road To Manhood

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Samburu tribe of Africa force their boys to engage in several rituals, on their voyage to becoming men. “Samburu males must pass through a complicated series of age-sets and age-grades by which their growing maturity and responsibility as men in the light of these tribal values are publicly acknowledged” (Gilmore, 133:1990). The first initiation into manhood is the circumcision ceremony, which is preformed at the age of fourteen to fifteen. The young boys of the Samburu tribe are taken away from their mothers after the circumcision ceremony, and sent out onto their voyage to manhood. There are a series of different ceremonies that the boys must engage in before they are allowed to move onto the next level of their voyage. Their voyage ends after about twelve years, in which the boys have proved themselves as men, by successfully completing all the different tasks asked of them, they are allowed to take on wives and start their own families. However, the tests of manhood are not limited to the rituals in which the young boys engage in. Even after completing the rituals, a man must always prove his manhood to the others in the tribe. The Sambia, which are similar to the Samburu tribe in their manhood rituals, engage in a majority of the same acts in regards to the transforming young boys into men. However, while circumcision is a major role for the initiation into manhood, the Sambia believe that in order for a boy to start maturing as a male, he must swallow semen. The Sambia “are firmly convinced that manhood is an artificially induced stat that must be forcibly foisted onto hesitant young boys by ritual means” (Gilmore, 147: 1990).

    Read More

  • Essay On Femininity And Masculinity

    1068 Words  | 3 Pages

    School molds masculinity and femininity by showing children society expectations. Namely, in high school most teachers encourage males play sports, while encouraging females to focus on schoolwork. More simply, schools allow males to show their competitive, aggressive, physical behavior, because it displays masculinity. However, schools do not agree when girls show aggression or be physical, because it is seen as unladylike and unfeminine. In addition, peers influence masculinity and femininity by pressuring other to prove their maleness and femaleness. Most males are pressured to prove they are not fearful or weak. Namely, they will have to illustrate strength or power by fighting with others. In other words, people will began to believe masculinity is men showing others they are not afraid to be challenged. However, peers do not encourage females to show violent behavior, because they will be viewed as animalistic. More simply, femininity is women being kind and softhearted, so doing anything that goes against will be viewed negatively. Overall, schools and peers can influence how people believe femininity and masculinity should be

    Read More

  • Essay On Masculinity And Femininity

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    For some folks this belief is completely untrue. This connection leaves no room for those who aren’t binary or simply don’t fit into traditional expression. However the concept of masculinity and femininity are very prevalent in today’s society and culture. Unfortunately, it is encourage to only belong to one expression, with masculinity being held over femininity. According to West and Zimmerman, expression is encouraged by being “ achieved through application of the sex criteria, but in everyday life categorization is established and sustained by the socially required identificatory displays that claim ones membership in one or the other category” (135). With the membership in either category comes the idea that “characteristics of femininity are are undesirable and subordinate to those of masculinity, the latter being more valued and the norm by which all humans are compared” (Tolman, Davis, & Bowman, 484). If one does not conform to the traditional expression of masculinity and femininity the following will occur. “Men who do not comply are marginalized and women who evidence them are punished”(Tolman, et. al, 484). By this occurrence we are encouraged to conform to society's ideals regardless of our true

    Read More

  • Gender and Society

    2171 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about Role Of Femininity In American Culture

Open Document