It is a broadly known fact that throughout history women have been subjected to oppression and sexism. Before researching into the unfair treatment of women in U.S. history, I was one of many who believed sexism, although not yet demolished all together, had been downscaled since the early 1900’s when “the position of women in our society was, in many respects, comparable to that of blacks under the pre-Civil War slave codes.” (Kang, 8, Quoted by Bradley in Bradwell, 62). My findings and realizations from personal experience made me aware that women are still subjected to many unfair expectations. We still, in our society place a lot of emphasis on gender and what is appropriate, or expected of each; though it is now subtle. We often unknowingly tell ourselves “its just how it is” without opening our eyes to what we are really doing and contributing to as a male or female; with this “it Is how it is” mindset we stick ourselves into our roles based on our biological sex, depending on whether we are male or female we either dominate or submit to the other sex because much of society is accustomed to this, when one does not comply to their expected gender role, friction between the two can arise.
Sex and Temperament by Margaret Mead provides an explanation as to why many of us genuinely believe things regarding our sex should be a certain way based off of whether we are male or female; it is inflicted on us since birth by society. She describes the purpose of sex difference to be used as a “one theme in the plot of social life” our society in particular makes “great use” of this plot “It assigns different roles between the two sexes, surrounds them from birth with an expectation of different behavior, plays out the whole drama o...
... middle of paper ...
...spective..webarchive>.
Greer, Germaine. "Masculinity." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. By Lee A. Jacobus. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2010. 899-902. Print.
Kang, John M. "The Burdens Of Manliness." Harvard Journal of Law & Gender 33.2 (2010): 477-508. EBSCO Host. Web. 13 Mar. 2012. .
Mead, Margaret. "Sex and Temperament." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. By Lee A. Jacobus. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St.Martin's, 2010. 855-71. Print.
Walkenbach, John. "The Good Wife's Guide." Editorial. Good Housekeeping 13 May 1955. J-Walk & Associates Home Page. Web. 13 Mar. 2012.
.
Hairspray, a John Waters’ musical, demonstrates progressive messages about the expansion of race-based civil rights in the 1960s . Although this is typically the lens through which Hairspray is viewed, this is not the only significant societal shift portrayed in the film. The stories of Edna Turnblad and Velma Von Tussle illustrate the progressive shift of women from “old” gender roles such as being excluded from the workplace to “new” gender roles where women begin taking managerial positions.
In Gail Bederman’s Manliness and Civilization, she aims to describe the concepts of manliness and masculinity at the turn of the century. Bederman explains that the concept of what it means to be a man is ever changing as a result of the ideology of the time as well as the material actions of the men. During the Progressive Era, many forces were at work that put pressure on the supremacy of white, middle class men. Some of these forces included the growing move toward empowered women, the unionization of the working class, and the move from self-employment to big, corporate business. She delves into the way that both racism and sexism were used to build up the concept of masculinity and the turn of the century discourse on civilization.
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wallpaper." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007. 1684-1695.
Devor, Aaron. “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes.” Signs of Life in the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. 6th Edition. Sonia Maasik and
Yellow Wallpaper’.” Gender in Reading: Essays on Readers, Texts, and Contexts. (1986): 147-64. Rpt. in Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale. 163-166.
In order to further understand my experiences one must acknowledge the cultural background, which constructs my opinions towards sex, sexuality, and gender role. My opinions about sexuality shifted quickly as I moved from Israel, a middle-eastern society, to the United States. The sudden change of environment and culture occurred around when I began puberty, and as a result, my sexual identity shifted tremendously. Instead believing that a certain Jewish woman, whom I will marry, will satisfy all of my sexual needs, I began relating with my American peers and their sexual beliefs.
Greer, Germaine. "Masculinity." A World of Ideas: Essential Readings for College Writers. Ed. Lee A. Jacobus. 8th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 889-902. Print.
“The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman explores the oppression of women in the nineteenth century and the constant limitation of their freedom, which many times led to their confinement. The short story illustrates male superiority and the restriction of a woman’s choice regarding her own life. The author’s diction created a horrific and creepy tone to illustrate the supernatural elements that serve as metaphors to disguise the true meaning of the story. Through the use of imagery, the reader can see that the narrator is living within a social class, so even though the author is trying to create a universal voice for all women that have been similar situations, it is not possible. This is not possible because there are many
Masculinity is a subject that has been debated in our society for quite some time. Many wonder what it means to be masculine, as it is difficult to define this one –sided term. Pairing this already controversial term with “feminist studies” can bring about some thought - provoking conversation. Feminist studies of men have been around for many years with regards to the feminist movement. It seeks to create gradual improvements to society through its main principle of modifying the ways in which everyone views what it means to be a man. Feminist studies of men bring forth the discussion of hegemonic masculinity; how this contributes to the gender hierarchy, the radicalized glass escalator and ultimately the faults of this theory.
Over the years, humans have come up with a tradition that each sex has a certain role to follow. Centuries later gender roles still seem to exist, even though this century is supposed to be known as accepting new ideas and people’s beliefs. In Katha Pollitt’s article “HERS; Why Boys Don 't Play With Dolls”, she argues that the reason gender roles still exist is because parents are afraid to raise a homophobic child. As well as, Noel Perrin agrees that gender roles have nothing to do with your sexual orientation. Therefore, if one was to look at a certain gender role, they will understand that this do not define a person. In addition to Pollitt’s article, the existence of gender roles in today’s society is
It has long been debated whether there is a difference between sex and gender, and if so, what that difference is. In recent years it has been suggested that sex is a purely biological term, and gender is socially constructed, or defined and enforced by society. Sex is assigned at birth based on the genitalia, and usually, gender is determined by the sex. If parents are told their baby is a girl, they will reinforce traditional female stereotypes for her whole life. Society and peers will also help to reinforce her gender as she begins to spend more time outside of her immediate family. In this way, gender is a process, whereas sex is simply a static characteristic based on one’s physical appearance. The more dynamic process of gendering, however, defines “man” and “woman,” teaches one to see and internalize what is expected from one’s gender, and to act according to those expectations (Lorber 2006).
Blum, Deborah. “The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over?” Signs of Life In the USA: Readings on Popular Culture for Writers. Ed. Sonia Maasik. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000.
For many years society has embraced the idea that the differences between men and women are biologically determined and certain roles, behaviors and attitudes constructed by society assign and control how men and women behave and are perceived. Sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Some theories interpret that a women is tender and a loving mother while on the other hand men are aggressive hunters and are the dominant one of the family. Gender roles prescribe norms, which instruct people to pursue specific careers and lifestyles.
Since the beginning of time, women have always been seen as things purely for the pleasure and benefit of men. Women have always been objectified. Objectification is seeing and treating a person as if they did not have thoughts and feelings, as if they had the status of an object.{1} Only in recent years have they begun to be seen as individuals of equal intelligence and ability. You may think, ”Women have had equal rights for a while. I do not see how this is a problem.” It may not seem like women were given their rights recently, but in our history, women have been treated objectively for thousands of years, even dating back to biblical times. Still, even when women have the same rights, opportunities, and responsibility as men, women can be found almost everywhere being treated as though they were incompetent and lesser human beings.{4}
Although some of the worst employment discrimination was eliminated by the Civil Rights Act in 1964, many women continue to undergo unfair and unlawful discrimination in the workplace. Even though women have come a long way, they are still being discriminated against in certain fields of work. High-end jobs, most commonly large companies and medical fields, continue to discriminate against women even though they have the same job qualifications as men.