Femininity And Masculinity Essay
analytical Essay
1535 words
When presented with the terms “femininity” and “masculinity”, people often associate them with a woman and a man which in turn, leads to gender stereotypes in society. Individuals usually claim that a man must be masculine, a woman must be feminine and that that is the clear-cut end of it. This idea is backed up by Oxford, and Merriam Webster’s dictionary which defines “masculinity” as qualities in relation to characteristics of men (Oxford Dictionaries; Merriam-Webster's) and “femininity” as qualities in relation to characteristics of women(Oxford Dictionaries; Merriam-Webster's). There is a certain list that is affixed with the terms “femininity” and “masculinity”.The list for masculinity includes words such as dominance, superiority, power, …show more content…
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the terms "femininity" and "masculinitiy" are associated with a woman and man, which leads to gender stereotypes in society.
- Argues that femininity and femininity are vital in the development of gender stereotypes and sexism.
- Argues that "femininity" and "masculinization" have led to sexism because more masculine characteristics are valued in society, making men more likely to receive more social encouragement.
- States hofstede's definition of a masculine and feminine culture, where men are assertive, tough, and focused on material success, while women are modest, tender and concerned with quality of life.
- Argues that the "lists" in relation to "feminine" and "masculinity" should not be eliminated; it is the way people perceive them that needs to change.
- Analyzes il'inykh s.a.'s "masculinity and femininity: interpretation in terms of the gender theory".
- Introduces schiebinger, klinge, paik, sánchez de madariaga, schraudner, and stefanick.
- Cites hofstede, geert, and sage publications' culture's consequence:comparing values, behavior, institutions and organizations across nations.
- Describes hoffman, rose marie, and dianne l. borders' "twenty-five years after the bem sex-role inventory: a reassessment and new issues regarding classification variability."
However, what many people are unaware of is that the concepts of “femininity” and “masculinity” are not just utilized to describe genders but also play a key role regards to whether an area has a feminine or masculine …show more content…
One doctor of sociological sciences defines masculinity and femininity as a “set of attitudes, roles, norms of behavior, [and] hierarchy of values typical of the male and female sex in each specific society.”(Il’inykh,S.A.(2012)) This suggests that “masculinity” and “femininity” are equivalent to gender identities but are influenced by each individual society. From a young age, even before being born, individuals are already upheld to expectations by society based on what their biological sex is. For example, when parents are informed that they are having a male, they usually decorate everything in blue with a theme of cars, dinosaurs, superheroes, or anything that is considered to be tough, and are gifted with toys that include trucks, dinosaurs, action figures, video games etc.(Brewer) Conversely, when parents find out they are having a female, they go for a more girly theme when decorating which includes the color pink, soft decor, flowers, butterflies or ballerinas, and most toys girls receive are tea sets, dolls, items to play house with, etc.(Brewer). With these early exposures, boys and girls are already presented with their masculine or feminine expectations formed by society which convey the idea that men must be strong and dominant while the
Related
- analytical
- explanatory
- Gender Femininity And Masculinityanalytical essayAll around the world society has created an ideological perspective for the basis of gender roles. Gender and sex are often times misused and believed to be interchangeable. This is not the case. There are two broad generalization of sexes; female and male, yet there is a vast number of gender roles that each sex should more or less abide by. The routinely cycle of socially acceptable behaviors and practices is what forms the framework of femininity and masculinity. The assigned sex categories given at birth have little to do with the roles that a person takes on. Biological differences within females and males should not be used to construe stereotypes or discriminate within different groups. Social variables such as playing with dolls or
In this essay, the author
- Argues that society has created an ideological perspective for the basis of gender roles. the routinely cycle of socially acceptable behaviors and practices forms the framework of femininity and masculinity.
- Analyzes how gender inequalities are implanted in the very center of every society. pink is a delicate color that symbolizes romance, femininity, and tenderness.
- Argues that gender inequalities are an effective way to produce a division of labor. women are victimized by "historical and systematic denial of rights and privileges."
- Analyzes the socially constructed gender profile of men and women to see how society creates a dominant and powerful facade.
- Explains that sexism affects both males and females under patriarchal norms that operate within society.
1477 wordsRead More - Gender Roles in Little House on the Prairieanalytical essayBrannon, Linda. "Chapter 7 Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity." Gender: Psychological Perspectives. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2005. 159-83. Print.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that nineteenth-century elementary texts highlighted the issues of "sex-stereotyped portrayals." these stereotypical characteristics are evident in many male-oriented novels, but are prevalent in female-based texts.
- Analyzes how the ingalls couple in the novel differs from victorian standards in that they tend to work together as a ‘team’ throughout the story.
- Analyzes how pa's character reflects good leadership, bravery, loyalty, trustworthiness, and an ability to adapt to the environment.
- Analyzes how ma's role in little house on the prairie shows her desperation to hold on to the english reputations. she is the arbiter of moral and family values by teaching the girls how to cook, clean, sew and raise babies.
- Analyzes the gender-reinforcing aspects of little house, such as how things go wrong when ma expands from her expected role or sphere.
- Analyzes how ma's intended teachings are absorbed by the eldest daughter mary who conforms much better to the gender roles than the curious and analytical laura.
- Explains that although the roles of males and females in little house on the prairie were slightly shifted away from ideal victorian middle-class situations, the underlying characteristics and morals of ma and pa were still aligned with a positive message towards the young audience.
- Explains that children's literature of the nineteenth century was known for its projection of expected victorian gender roles upon its young readers.
- Analyzes how ma and pa's roles in little house on the prairie are more equal than in the idealized middle-class situations.
- Explains brannon, linda, and labrie, janet m. "the depiction of women's field work in rural fiction."
2315 wordsRead More - Differences Between Masculinity And Femininityexplanatory essayMasculinity and femininity are concepts that are difficult to define. One problem is trying to keep them separate from the concepts of male and female, which is not easy. The lines between these concepts is blurred for many of us, because we are raised associating femininity with females and masculinity with males. Femininity and masculinity are in many ways societal constructs and many of us will find that we define them the way that society would. When I think of the concept of masculinity some of the properties that come to mind are strength, aggressive, assertive, athletic, and nonverbal. Some of the properties of femininity are emotional, soft, caring, empathetic, and verbal. These are properties that came to mind automatically, without much consideration or thought. They are the properties that I was taught to use when defining femininity and masculinity.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that masculinity and femininity are difficult concepts to define, as they are societal constructs and many of us will find that we define them the way that society would.
- Opines that they are blurring the lines between masculinity and femininity. masculinity would include facial hair, large muscles, and broad shoulders.
- Explains that many of us have a difficult time separating the biological concepts of male and female from the non-biological notions of masculine and feminine.
- Explains that the way they were raised has a big effect on how they view concepts and their struggle to define them and classify them.
- Explains that they cannot tell you what the requirements of masculinity and femininity are, but they can for male and female. while certain traits may be more feminine or more masculine, they are not actual requirements.
- Narrates how their cause and effect situation happened almost a year ago, just before thanksgiving. they were extremely proud of themselves because they had saved enough money to pay cash for all the christmas presents and stocking stuffers.
- Narrates how their desk chair broke in a way that couldn't be repaired with glue or duct tape. the microwave stopped working the following week, and the vacuum cleaner suddenly died in the middle of the living room.
- Explains that contributing causes worked together to create the effect of their credit cards being run up. the events were not connected to each other, even though we joke about things breaking in threes.
- Analyzes how they found it difficult to think of a cause and effect situation in their life. when something really good and happy happens we rarely look for and explanation, which is unfortunate.
1091 wordsRead More - Sex And Gender Essayanalytical essayThe relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. All of which complicated lights. Each individual beholds a sexual identity and a gender identity, with the argument of perceiving these identities however way they wish to perceive them. However, the impact of gender on our identities and on our bodies and how they play out is often taken for granted in various ways. Gender issues continue to be a hugely important topic within contemporary modern society. I intend to help the reader understand that femininities and masculinities is a social constructed concept and whether the binary categories of “male” and “female” are adequate concepts for understanding and organising contemporary social life with discussing the experiences of individuals and groups who have resisted these labels and forged new identities.
In this essay, the author
- Argues that the relationship between sex and gender can be argued in many different lights. however, the impact of gender on our identities and bodies is often taken for granted in various ways.
- Argues that the relationship between sex and gender is purely biological or is more than definitely socially constructed.
- Argues that the relationship between sex and gender is weak or arguably unimportant because it is socially constructed.
- Describes nancy chodorow's theory of gender as part of a broad feminist project of theoretical articulation.
- Explains that freud argues that infants construct personalities by themselves, and that mothers tend to form a larger bond with their daughters rather than their sons, which coincides with contemporary gender norms.
- Analyzes how butler argues that women are not to be identified as a category at all and discusses that it is actually all fictional.
- Argues that butler's theory is the most important theory when looking at gender being socially constructed.
- Explains that the concept of hegemonic masculinity has considerably influenced recent thinking about men. it is a social process first coined by r.w connell.
- Argues that the masculinities analysis is put in place to welcome gender inequality but it has a negative effect on the portrayal of manhood.
- Opines that dowd's "the man question" implied seven important teachings of masculinity: "men are not universal or undifferentiated. men pay a price for privilege."
2354 wordsRead More - What Is Hegemonic Masculinity And Femininity?analytical essayWhile we tend to look at the world in a gendered fashion, there are differences in what’s considered masculine and feminine. In addition to varying from person to person, the concepts of masculinity and femininity also vary across time periods, across different cultures, and even across the span of an individual’s life. Kimmel pluralizes these terms to “acknowledge that masculinity and femininity mean different things to different groups of people at different times” (Kimmel; 10). He goes on further to reference sociologist R. W. Connell’s explanation of hegemonic masculinity, which states that it is “constructed in relation to various subordinated masculinities as well as in relation to women” (Kimmel; 10). In an article by Connell, he describes
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how kimmel pluralizes masculinity and femininity to acknowledge that they mean different things to different groups of people at different times.
- Explains how hegemonic masculinity perpetuates gender inequality and homophobia.
- Explains that when a man possesses traits that are considered more feminine than masculine, they can be called derogatory terms.
- Opines that hegemonic masculinity and the definitions of it will change within our life-time.
- Explains that while hegemonic masculinity is considered the norm, it is highly unstable and mostly unattainable. however, the concept can still have prominent effects on any individual.
1148 wordsRead More - Gender Roles in Societyanalytical essayThe clusters of social definitions used to identify persons by gender are collectively known as “femininity” and “masculinity.” Masculine characteristics are used to identify persons as males, while feminine ones are used as signifiers for femaleness. People use femininity or masculinity to claim and communicate their membership in their assigned, or chosen, sex or gender. Others recognize our sex or gender more on the basis of these characteristics than on the basis of sex characteristics, which are usually largely covered by clothing in daily life.
In this essay, the author
- Explains that speech characterized by inflections, intonations, and phrases that convey nonaggression and subordinate status make a speaker appear more feminine. feminine styles of dress display subordination status through greater restriction of the body movement.
- Analyzes how aaron devor's exploration of the gender signals that traditionally tell what a "boy" or "girl" is supposed to look and act like is cultural constructs.
- Explains the patriarchal gender schema in mainstream north american society reserves highly valued attributes for males and actively supports the high evaluation of any characteristics which might inadvertently become associated with maleness.
- Argues that masculinity is expressed in north american society through the attainment of some level of proficiency at some, or all, of the following attitudes.
2016 wordsRead More - Femininity against Masculinity in A White Heronanalytical essayDifferent from female and male which can describe animals, femininity and masculinity are personal and human. That is femininity refers to qualities and behaviors associated with women and girls and masculinity is manly character, it specifically describes men. Femininity has traditionally included features such as gentleness, patience and kindness. On the contrary, men?s chief qualities are strength, courage and violence.
In this essay, the author
- Compares sylvia and the hunter in a white heron.
- Analyzes how sylvia and the hunter's behavior towards the nature are very different and contrasting.
- Compares sylvia and the hunter's behavior toward the nature, which reflect two attitudes in the world.
- Analyzes how the hunter in 'the white heron' is the incarnation of urban culture and modernity, while sylvia symbolizes nature and rural lifestyle.
- Analyzes how s.o. jewett indirectly shows sylvia's discontent with modernization and civilization as threats to natural world.
- Concludes that sylvia and the hunter represent femininity and masculinity in sarah orne jewett's "the white heron".
- Analyzes how sarah orne jewett's a white heron was inspired by the people and landscapes of rural new england.
1703 wordsRead More - Masculinity And Femininity Essayanalytical essayThe media is a very influential aspect of our daily lives. The media is everywhere we look, everything we listen to, and everything we talk about, we cannot escape it. It only makes sense that the media would have an affect of the construction of how we view masculinity and femininity. The media has the ideals or standards of what it means to masculine or feminine which with our changing times do not represent a majority of people. These standards are set so high that no one can reach them, which makes people feel defeated since they do not meet these expectations. With many people not fitting into these generalized norms we set for a “man” or “woman” it is time we get rid of these norms, or at least update them to the times. People are changing
In this essay, the author
- Opines that the media is a very influential aspect of our daily lives. the media has the ideals or standards of what it means to masculine or feminine which are set so high that no one can reach them.
- Analyzes how cosmopolitan enforces the ideals of the upper class but also teaches that class roles can easily be changed.
- Analyzes how the popular movie mean girls shows that stereotypes of being "female" are still in place and in our media.
- Analyzes how the show two and a half men portrays hegemonic sub ordinance masculinity as the only acceptable performance of manhood.
- Analyzes how alan's representation of masculinity is never successful in the show, but rather gets mocked and called gay.
- Argues that stereotyped male and female traits need to change. the media needs to stop bombarding people with views of what is right and wrong for people based on their gender.
1304 wordsRead More - Essay On Gender And Genderanalytical essayWhen separating men and women according to gender, most people would do it based on physical appearance. Would you have ever thought that you can tell whether someone is man or woman according to psyche? Psychological gender differences have had a long history dating back for more than a century. The use psychological research on women began in 1879 which also marks the beginning of formal psychology. Any research done during these years was mostly used to the notion that the white male was supreme over everyone else. This belief is a gender stereotype and children develop their gender based beliefs on such things. I believe children should develop their gender based beliefs from studies that are unbiased and doesn’t favor one gender over another.
In this essay, the author
- Opines that children should develop their gender based beliefs from studies that are unbiased and don't favor one gender over another.
- Argues that the brain size of a male and female was different as their physical appearance in selected areas during the early years of psychological research.
- Explains that the new phrase in research on gender differences was the use of mental testing and the creation of standardized ability tests.
- Describes thurstone's testing method called the primary mental abilities (pma) test in the 1930s and 1940s. the pma test assessed verbal comprehension, word fluency, number, space, memory, perceptual speed and reasoning.
- Explains that eleanor maccoby and carol nagy jacklin published the psychology of sex differences, which entailed evidence so that beliefs on gender differences could be assessed for experimental support.
- Explains that the first published meta-analysis of gender differences in abilities appeared in 1981. janet shibley hyde reanalyzed the data from the studies collected by maccoby and jacklin.
- Explains that gender differences in some situations can be used to explain the disproportionate gender ratios in various occupations.
- Explains that marcia linn and anne petersen performed a meta-analysis of gender differences in spatial ability using studies published since 1974.
- Explains how alice eagly and linda carli performed a meta-analysis of studies of fender differences in influenceability.
- Analyzes how alice eagly and maureen crowley meta-analyzed studies on gender differences in helping behaviors.
- Explains that meta-analysis helped linn and petersen discover that there were three distinctive spatial abilities: mental rotation, spatial perception, and spatial disembedding.
1263 wordsRead More - Gender Masculinityanalytical essayFrom the beginning of the human race the gender roles of man and woman appeared to be straightforward. Women, being able to procreate, were sought to as nurturers, while men were to protect and provide for their family. Throughout all cultures, practices and beliefs of individuals toward masculinity significantly vary. Masculinity or manliness associates with characteristics such as strength, bravery, handsomeness, and physique in a male. With the ongoing changes in human history, the term masculinity has greatly evolved. Our western views’ paint a clear image of how children should be raised according to their gender role, which leads to more and more of them falling victim to the stigma of societal pressures and stereotypes. For example,
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the gender roles of man and woman were straightforward from the beginning of the human race. masculinity or manliness associates with characteristics such as strength, bravery, handsomeness, and physique in a male.
- Explains that the term masculinity is determined by a reoccurring idea of nature vs. nurture.
- Explains that the ideal image of masculinity depicted by western views is said to be the 50's males.
- Opines that media is the most damaging influence on the view of men and women. american culture has put a great deal of stigma behind what we know as masculinity.
- Opines that the transition from boyhood to manhood is crucial for all boys to experience, though it is an unclear path.
- Argues that media portrays boys as men, yet they tend to result in a negative outcome. most crimes committed, such as homicide, domestic violence, and sexual abuses, are done by men.
- Argues that education cannot "re-socialize" boys and men, but it can open up a diversity of pathways, and allow them to use the broader spectrum of their capacities.
1195 wordsRead More