Gender and Cultural Expectations Misogyny is not the result of the physical state of womanhood; it is the product of the conventions that a society has established for how a woman should compose herself (Rey). These societal rules were created with the intent of perpetuating a patriarchal system in which women cannot express themselves freely. Misogyny is an attempt at enforcing these rules, and misogynistic behaviors can be performed by anyone. While The Gender Knot discusses how the limitation of female sexual expression and the enforcement of gender roles are forms of misogyny, “Girl” and “Mona Lisa Smile” indicate how these practices affect women. One of the most common methods that misogynists use to suppress female freedom is inhibition …show more content…
She tells the girl to “walk like a lady” (320), “hem a dress when you see the hem coming down”, and “behave in front of boys you don’t know very well” (321), so as not to “become the slut you are so bent on becoming” (320). The repetition of the word “slut” and the multitude of rules that must be obeyed so as not to be perceived as such, indicates that the suppression of sexual desire is a particularly important aspect of being a proper woman in a patriarchal society. The young girl in this poem must deny her sexual desires, a quality intrinsic to human nature, or she will be reprimanded for being a loose woman. These restrictions do not allow her to experience the freedom that her male counterparts …show more content…
This is clearly evident in Betty Warren’s condemnation of Professor Katherine Watson’s progressive, feminist ideals. Warren writes, “It is our duty- nay, obligation to reclaim our place in the home . . . Her [Watson] subversive and political teachings encourage our Wellesley girls to reject the roles they were born to fill” (01:08:01-01:08:28). By writing this, she clearly indicates that Watson’s denial of a traditional lifestyle is deplorable. Warren also implies that Watson is not a respectable woman, being as she lives a lifestyle that is not in accordance with what a woman is meant to do. The entire publication is a direct attack on Watson’s gender identity, being that it suggests that she is not feminine enough. Warren hopes that with this publication, Watson will quiet her voice. This is her way of maintaining the patriarchal elements of their society. Ultimately, The Gender Knot provides explanations regarding misogynistic practices, and the protagonists of “Girl” and “Mona Lisa Smile” demonstrate how damaging these practices are. The caustic effects of the limitation of female sexuality are observed in the multitude of rules for women in “Girl,” and in the prohibition of birth control in “Mona Lisa Smile.” These two works also provide insights into the ways that gender roles constrict the lives of women. Through Johnson’s theories, one can come to a better
From the beginning, Lynn Peril illustrates situations in which women have to deal with a bunch of admonitions to become more feminine and good-natured. And these tips are not just some other normal tips; they become famous and being rulers to evaluate the dignity of women. Then, the author goes on to relate her real “Pink Think” experience throughout her life and express her strong feelings, “I formed an early aversion to all things pink and girly” (Peril, 280). She also fleer some girls who feign innocence and pretend to look as if butter would not melt in their mouth.
In 1997, Allan G. Johnson published his book “The Gender Knot” which focuses on gender roles and stereotypes. Johnson covers many points in this article on how society and culture affect gender, such as: the difference in male and female biology, the way women look at themselves (societies’ beauty standards), the history of cultural abuse of woman and children, and the male dominated world. Although Johnson makes some valid and compelling points, I disagree with him partially based on today’s culture and my religion.
While societies change and old forms of patriarchy corrode, new ones concentrate and develop (Bartky 94). A woman’s feminity is no longer restricted to certain forms of disciplinary practices such as her dressing and her smile. However, the center of attention in today’s modern society is a female’s body and its appearance. Bartky argues that when this anonymous power controls a woman about how she should feel about her body, oversees everything she does and directs her to change what is not good enough, she immediately becomes objectified (Bartky, 94). While today‘s world is advancing, a female’s body, such as her breasts will always be the center of attraction and always be seen as sexual.
The Social Expectations of Race and Gender “.Race, gender, and social class play a key role in why stereotypes and inequality are so challenging to erase (Gender & Society). ” How a person sees others should not be determined by what he or she assumes to know about them based on stereotypes. Even the way we impose a racial interpretation on someone draws on traditional customs that reflect both gender and race. Overall, it is astonishing how consistent the design of ethnic fluency is within societal expectations about what other people do, and even what we anticipate from women compared to that of men. Ultimately, race and gender can put individuals at odds with social expectations.
Jamaica Kincaid in her short literature work “Girl” utilizes strong repetition to convey certain themes seen in gender issues, more specifically those of the power of domesticity and female sexuality. This narrative is structured with two characters, a mother and daughter, and is presented by the mother as a list of instructions for the daughter to live and follow by in life. The repetition of the phrase “this is how you [do this]” and the word “slut” shows the oscillation of the mother going from repeating domestic instructions for the girl to follow to accusing the daughter of being promiscuous and questioning the daughter’s innocence.
Coming from living in a poor inner city neighborhood in Chicago as a child was distinctive from other places, in terms of gender socialization. There wasn’t nothing major for me to be socialized with my gender that I do plus, I grew up interacting with most of my cousins who are female, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not a male that I am today. When I came to Iowa from Chicago, it increased my awareness on racism and when I’m somewhere with no or less Black people, I tend to use stereotypes black people are victimized towards, to increase my self-esteem.
Thanks to the literature written by women as well as men, women have gone through phenomenal changes in how they were seen, represented, and depicted in modern-day society. Women have undergone the same transformations as they were represented in literature. Jonathan Swift’s “The Lady's Dressing Room” followed the story of Strephon as he entered the dressing room of his lover Celia with high hopes of being romanced by the fancy clothes and the lovely smelling perfumes. However, as he entered, his high hopes were shot down when he saw oily smocks, a dirty smell, and the infamous chamber pot. It is in this moment where he realized that Celia is not a goddess held to high standards. She was, he realized human after all and was about as disgusting as he was. This harsh depiction - dictated by a man - of the realities of being a woman struck Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a contemporary of Jonathan Swift to write a poetic response which she called “The Reasons that Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called 'The Lady's Dressing Room.’” In the poem, she attacked Swift’s and satirized the events that he outlined for his readers. Montague held that the only reason Swift wrote the poem was because of his sexual frustration, his impotence, and his lack of romance from women. In order for readers to fully understand their social and their literary present, they must be able to understand their past. It is through the literature of past authors - specifically Montagu and Swift - that readers learn of the harsh realities and ridicule that women faced as a minority group during the time period in which their two poems were written. Women today - though not as much as in earlier history - were required to defend themselves against men and sometimes ev...
The expectation of gender role in society causes insecurities and depression because sometimes we are not able to do or to be what others expect from us. This is something men and women have to battle everyday and as much as we can agree that time has changed, gender roles expectation is something we still see today and we are still subjected to obey whichever gender role we were born with. Women need to follow the demands of beauty and to become housewives while men needs to grow muscle and make money. Today we may not live like the ancestral ways but the oppression of gender roles is still a big issue. It is like there is this set of rules for each gender since they are born even though they are not written they linger
In today’s society we have many people who are victims of gender and social discrimination, and Jamaica Kincaid has depicted a vivid example of inequality and imbalance in terms of gender in her short story named Girl. In addition, the author displays how females have to be equipped for household tasks, if they are not it will damage her social appearance. The author is showing the position of women, specifically that women are still carrying inferior titles in society and to get a good title they have to earn it. While, for men this does not exist, the author is displaying the double standard between men and women. Specifically, if a man has sex with the opposite gender it is not considered a big deal, however if a women does they become slut
Sexual Objectification has taken over life in areas we do not even realise. Even from a young age children are conditioned to believe that males are more important than females. The majority of characters featured in children’s books are male while only a third of lead characters in children’s programmes are final. This portrayal of male and female roles is continued throughout the media with only 12-15% of the highest grossing films being female centric. Objectification is weaved throughout all of our lives, even something that is gender neutral will usually be referred to as male apart from objects such as boats and cars. Throughout history females have always been portrayed as weak figures who need to be controlled by men whose main role is to look after the family. Although women are now more accepted in the workplace they are still expected to look after the family as well as coping with the p...
Within the poem Barbie Doll, Piercy states that a “girlchild was born as usual” and was “presented dolls that did pee-pee/and miniature GE stoves and irons” (2-3), effectively denying women the right to maintain any sense of individualism and personality. These are symbols of feminism that the family wants the child to grow up into. To this day, society successfully manages to implant gender stereotypes as to where a woman “belongs”, and her “proper” place in society. Piercy uses imagery to help paint a picture of how girls are taught that they need to cook and iron because it is the role of a woman and that men cannot do these things. To turn a blind eye to such a fundamental key clearly supports the notion that ignorance is truly a
Society’s social standards usually had a great impression on how people portray themselves. They do what is expected of them. Most people do not want to break social norms in any time period because they want to appear normal. Being a cultural poet, the short story “A Sorrowful Woman” proved that every writer does not write according to his or her own time period. “A Sorrowful Woman” used a timeless theme to convey how gender roles can be manipulated under different circumstances. Using new historicism, “A Sorrowful Woman” by Gail Godwin subverted the episteme of the year 1971, in which it was written.
Growing up is tough; hormones start kick in, your body experiences changes, and you may develop acne, get braces, and more. It can be a difficult transition with internal influencers like friends and family but even harder with external influencers like the media; TV, the Internet, and magazines. With 92% of teens reporting that they are online daily, it’s hard not to be influenced at such young and impressionable age (Lenhart, A. 2015). The gender issue that is of critical importance to American society is the effect of gender stereotypes and expectations on today’s youth. The reason why this is important is because these influencers can have harsh and lasting effects on young adults. It is vital to
The representation of violence exacted upon women in cinema is inextricable from being projected upon all women. To provide a scene that objectifies the female is to reduce the feminine form to its non-dual state, e.g., a sexual object providing a vessel for male gratification (hubris and sexual) rather then being defined by its duality of sentient and physical forms. Those who construct scenes of violence against women are bound to a moral responsibility to subjectify the woman’s perspective, thus reestablishing the female as a victim rather then an object and rendering the act of violence intelligible (deplorable, open to interpretation).
A gender role attitude is an individual’s interpretation and expectation on how a woman or man should behave. These assumptions create a socially accepted “norm” about each gender. In various lectures, we examined three common gender role ideologies; traditional, egalitarian, and transitional. A traditional gender role would fit into society’s fundamental outlook on a household. An individual holding this view would believe that men should work and earn money for the family, while women stay at home to do house work and take care of the kids. An egalitarian position believes that both women and men should equally distribute responsibility throughout every situation they are faced with. This would include dividing duties up evenly despite what type it is (more strenuous chores vs. easy chores). A transitional approach combines the traditional and egalitarian approaches together. A couple who practices this attitude would split up the tasks equally but in a way that still views men as holding the majority of the “household” power. For example, women would do the dishes and clean the house while men would cut the lawn and fix the car because those jobs are “more difficult”.