Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Genders: Roles and Culture
Gender roles are prominent in present-day society. Boys are expected to act like boys and girls like girls. There are things that are expected of boys and things expected of girls; boys aren't supposed to be emotional people because it "shows weakness". Some people find it repulsive when women curse or use profanity because it's "dirty". Men are expected to be the ones bringing in money for their household while the women are supposed to stay home, tend to the house and watch the children. Women are being welcomed into the work force more now than before but there still is an expected gender role in the household in that sense because that is the way the world and our society is; it is a male dominant world. In our society men will always be thought of superior no matter how much feminism is present. Today in class we talked about Deborah Tannen's article His Politeness is Her Powerlessness. Tanner says,"Whether women or men are direct or indirect differs; what remains constant is that the women's style is negatively evaluated - seen as lower in status than the men's."(9) This quote made me realize that women will always be seen as "lower" or "lesser" than males because that is the way our culture is. Women are seen as sweet and delicate creatures and I feel like that makes it seem like we can't do anything or that men think that women aren't capable of certain things, like financing a household which is why they are supposed to be "housekeepers" of sorts. No matter how much women make a difference or impact, men will always be seen as superior because that is how its always been. I agree with the comment Nick wrote in my notebook, "women [won't] ever be able to get rid of this 'aura' cast upon them. Society is too male dominated..." Sadly, women won't even be seen as equal to men; women will be inferior to men due to our culture and society.
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Yes, men are viewed higher in society's eyes; while, women are viewed as lesser than man. Like you stated in your post women are "house keepers" while men are the "providers" which is not true. However that is how society just views the two genders differently. One is more dominate over the other.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you Cailyn. Even now when women are more accepted in the work force and society, they still are expected to do certain tasks because its a "woman's job." Women now have jobs but are still expected to take care of the house and children. They basically have 2 jobs.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you're saying. While it's definitely true that women have become more equal, for example they can vote and hold powerful positions in office, I still feel like they are not treated with the same respect as men are. We do live in a male dominant world, and women are degraded by men way more often than they should be. Men just don't appreciate women enough for everything that they do, and while this is something that desperately needs to be changed, I don't know if it ever will.
ReplyDeleteAlthough men are more dominate in our society, this doesn't take away from the fact that women are slowly progressing also. There are areas of weakness for men as there are for women. Men are weaker in the element of education where women excel as explained in David Brooks' article.
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