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Gender in modern society
Gender in modern society
What is gender? sociological essay
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Throughout our society gender essentialism has manifested itself in many ways, one of which is through music. Risman (1988:2) writes, “Essentialism is the assumption that basic differences in orientation and personality between men and women are rooted in biology and nature.” Gender essentialism has four key parts: 1) sex differences are based in biology and nature, 2) sex differences are fixed/innate, 3) men have deep unseen properties in common because they look alike, and vice versa with women, and 4) categorization is exclusive (Taylor 2017: Week 1 Day 2). Beyonce’s “If I Were A Boy” reflects gender essentialist beliefs due to the language used throughout the song.
To begin, “If I Were A Boy” suggests that men and women are naturally different
Risman (1988:14) notes that “early childhood socialization is an influential determinant of later behavior, and research has focused on how societies create feminine women and masculine men.” Rather than focusing on gender as natural and fixed, Risman (1998) suggests instead that gender can be viewed at three levels: individual, interactional, and institutional. Instead of viewing the differences between men and women outlined in “If I Were A Boy” as natural and fixed, sociologists would instead look to socialization and societal norms to explain why men and women appear dissimilar. Additionally, many sociologists view gender as being continuously created; Risman (1988:10) notes “the pervasive differences between male[s] and female[s]…are continuously created by the gendered structures in which we all live.” Sociologists, who would instead view these perceived differences as a product of our society, would heavily dispute the gender essentialist perspective taken in “If I Were A Boy”.
Though some academics may not agree with gender essentialism, essentialist beliefs are frequently perpetuated throughout popular culture. Gender essentialism’s four main points were displayed in Beyonce’s hit song “If I Were A Boy,” reinforcing the idea that men and women are nothing alike due to biology and nature (Risman
On the night of December 13, 2013 Beyoncé, released her fifth self-titled album on ITunes. The album caught many people by surprise because Beyoncé did not set a date for the album, nor did she use any promotion; she did release a video on her Instagram asking her followers if they “were ready”. The buzz spread through social media like a wild fire. With no promotion or no warning, Beyoncé album took the world by storm and made it for her audience and critics to take in the album and it contents. Many people loved the album for not only its catchy songs, but also the growth and “looser” conservative Beyoncé. On the other hand many people did not feel that her album was growth, but a way to catch up to the overly sexual generation. Beyoncé has always been aware of her sexual side, pop side, and feminist side; this has been documented through her four previous albums. Yet, a lot of people have questioned if Beyoncé a feminist because of the content of her newest album. In order to answer that a person must ask him or her self; what is a feminist, why some people believe she is feminist, why others do not believe she feminist, and whether or not Beyoncé think she is a feminist.
In a future class, the question “what is a woman?” should be addressed with a study of the musical film Hedwig and the Angry Inch because Hedwig reveals how a façade can lead to authenticity. Many women today are under the impression that they must fit a certain gender binary mold in order to live up to the definition of their gender. Women plaster on makeup and create personas centered around societal beliefs and not personal beliefs. Hedwig and the Angry Inch highlights how the gender binary mold lead individuals to choose a gender and within that set gender mold, express themselves to a limited extent. In other words, makeup and playing into the gender binary isn’t terrible. However, it leads to a constricted form of self-expression that
In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls,” our narrator is a young farm girl on the verge of puberty who is learning what it means to be a “girl.” The story shows the differing gender roles of boys and girls – specifically that women are the weaker, more emotional sex – by showing how the adults of the story expect the children to grow into their respective roles as a girl and a boy, and how the children grow up and ultimately begin to fulfill these roles, making the transition from being “children” to being “young adults.”
Last November at the Country Music Association Awards in Nashville TN, a bold statement was made on stage by male country music artist Keith Urban (Yahr, 2017). Rising in the charts since then while going through a series of positive and negative reactions, Keith Urbans song “Female” has become a top hits song in the past year. A ballad about respecting women through lyrics that not only acknowledge but praise so many of the things that women are, this bold country song actively responds to the social activism movement of feminism that is going on so heavily in this current time. Written as in an initial response to the Harvey Weinstein allegations, “Female” is a direct response to the recent flooding of sexual allegations women are coming
The two main approaches to this type of criticism are very different, but help make distinctions in the text. Essentialists focus on the biologically determined sex of a character in literature, while others focus on constructivism or the qualities determined by society as strictly male or female. Constructivists argue that patriarchal gender roles harm women’s confidence and assertiveness, promoting stereotypes and false binaries. Gender constructivism favors the idea that gender and sexual categories are a societal construct that prefers men and restricts women. The application of this literary criticism to a text looks into the character and their relevance to the plot. Focusing on how the character promotes or rejects the imposed gender roles is a significant part in the use of this lens (Hildreth January
Gender is such a controversial subject. There are some people who see it as what you are born as whereas other people see it as a choice to be whatever you want. There are people who judge whatever gender you are, no matter the choices you make. Paul Theroux wrote about how restrictive masculinity is in his article “Being a Man.” There are so many more restrictions on being feminine. Theroux’s idea of masculinity being restrictive is being challenged on the account that being feminine is seen as bad, and weak.
It is widely accepted that masculine is synonymous with male and feminine with female. While it is typical for males to enjoy typically masculine activities, it is seen negatively when males enjoy a typically feminine activity. Not only is it seen as a bad thing, but young boys are often bullied or even punished for liking something that is seen as feminine. Girls are also often shunned for liking anything associated with masculine hobbies, usually having to prove that they “are not like like other girls”, insinuating that even girls who happen to like feminine activities are not to be sought after in this particular social system. Doctor Vanessa Cullins from Planned Parenthood talks about how children learn from a young age how they are supposed to fit into our social system and how damaging that can be during adolescence while the children try to create their own identity. I chose this topic because I think that we, as a society, do not think into this issue too deeply and yet it persists in our everyday lives.
For example, “men often feel that they are supposed to be tough, aggressive, [and] competitive” [in the workplace…]. Women, on the other hand, are ‘unsexed by success’” (Kimmel 2013, 250). At the same time, we have seen these gender roles played a vital role in the family. According to Jhally, “the women of the dream world are fragmented and presented as a number of simple and disconnected body parts” (Jhally 2007). Therefore, “the media helps to maintain a status quo in which certain groups in our society routinely have access to power and privilege while others do not” (Mulvaney 2016). Therefore, “these images and stories have worked their way into the inner identities of young women who view their own sexuality through the eyes of the male authors of that culture” (Jhally
I chose to write about my opinions on how masculine stereotypes were created through adjectives, derogatory terms and comparisons in song lyrics in an opinion column format. In opinion columns, personal pronouns can be used which can convey more radical opinions of a chosen topic. I explained how derogatory terms are incorporated into song lyrics which negatively describe the LGBTQ+ community. As well, through the use of adjectives, many stereotypes of “being attractive” were created which caused many self-conscious males to feel they need to reach those societal standards. Since opinion columns utilize opinions of the writer, many different audiences can be targeted and educated about another opinion other than their own. During the 1970s, many song lyrics incorporated how the ideal male will look like and what “rules” they had to follow.
In our present world, people understand and view gender in different perspectives, or “lenses.” The idea of gender that we see specifically in our present society today is very extensive compared to what it was years ago. We see a variety of different kinds of gender, whereas only years ago it was two: male and female. Personally, I have seen this in our society because I have met people that identify as many different genders that aren’t specifically just male or female. The word “gender” holds an important place in our language, specifically in today’s society, because it has determined who we are, how we identify ourselves, and ultimately our roles in society.
More specifically, these two songs will be analyzed using masculine hegemony, the male gaze, third-wave feminism, and radical feminism elements of the feminist perspective. Masculine hegemony “describes gender and power inequalities that account for multiple masculinities and how hegemonic structures oppress all other forms other than heterosexual masculinity,” (Sellnow, 2015, p. 140). We see masculine hegemonic structures in music when a male artist flaunts an abundant amount of cash in their videos while claiming they are “the man” as well as using words like “bitch” and “Hoe” when speaking about women. Moreover, we also see male gaze which “describes the way in which viewers (both males and females) look at the people presented and represented in visual images by identifying with the male actors” in music videos, (Sellnow, 2015, p. 145). The male gaze is present when the viewers have a need to identify with or as the people they see in music videos for example girls would imitate the half-naked women dancing on the men in the video if they believe that is what males like.
When I think about living in the hypothetical world such as If I were a bird, rich, or president, I usually imagine about it with my wish, hope, and favorable expectation. In her music video, “If I Were A Boy”, Beyoncé acts like a man and behaves in the way she thinks what is like being a man. It reveals gender stereotype that we may have subconsciously, while also implying her hope for women to be strong and positive beyond the gender stereotype.
As a newborn a gender is assigned, this gender being what you will be brought up as until you decide you want to bend the rules and change the roles, once more children realize they do not need to conform to the roles they develop a sense of love, confidence, and understanding for themselves and others. In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” the theme of gender is an anchor that gives the story a deeper meaning and gives the reader insight on stereotyping and gender assignment among children. The genders are what develop the main character, her assumed gender or lack of show how she grows and acts throughout the story. Moreover, gender roles are very prominent and these stereotypes show the setting where the family lives. Lastly, the roles reveal
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.
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...