There is a basic code of behavior that governs female interaction, referred to in the vernacular as “girl code.” These unspoken rules are largely based on an assumption of trust and respect among the women in a particular social circle and only apply to women who are considered friends or colleagues. “Girl code” is also firmly rooted in the idea of female competition, particularly in regards to viewing males as potential suitors. A careful analysis of a few of these rules through the three main sociological perspectives will illuminate the underlying themes and meanings in the interactions of women.
THE BODY BASHING RULE
One of the fundamental rules of “girl code” concerns body bashing—the act of making negative comments about your own body in a semipublic setting. This rule states that if body bashing is initiated by one of the women in a social circle, all the women must participate by offering critical commentary about their own bodies.
Symbolic Interactionism
From the perspective of symbolic interactionism, which is the sociological theory that focuses on the subjective meaning of human behavior on a micro-scale, body bashing allows the women involved to achieve a consensus regarding the definition of the situation. In other words, body bashing creates a bond between women that creates a shared understanding of the meaning of the situation. By sharing their insecurities, women show each other their vulnerability and are thus united in the trust they develop as a group. This gives the social circle a cohesiveness on which the individual women can start to build more complex relationships with one another.
Functionalism
On a larger scale, body bashing upholds the popular American value of femininity by reinforcing a self-ima...
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... in supporting feminine values. The buddy system ensures that a woman who may have a diverse perspective is checked and re-socialized to harmonize with other women, creating a widespread viewpoint across a society.
Conflict Theory
The persistence and encouragement of group mobility deters women from acting individually; instead, they act as a group, or an amorphous representation of all women, perpetuating the idea that women are not singular autonomous beings, but rather vulnerable creatures of the “weaker sex.”
OVERVIEW OF GIRL CODE
These four rules do not account for the wide variety of social laws governing “girl code,” but they give us a broad idea of how female interaction gives meaning to individual relationships among females and how it partakes in a larger social environment, both objectively and as interpreted through the conception of justice and equality.
...ults in body shame, and because these women view themselves as less, they are treated as such. Sexually objectified women are “dehumanized and seen as less competent and less worthy by men and women”. This causes men to be “more tolerant of sexual harassment and rape myths”. This is evident in the Pilot episode of Gossip Girl. Serena is known as the “it” girl and because of this image her male peers believe her to be sexually available to anyone at anytime. Chuck attempts to coerce her into having sex because he knows that Serena has had sex with her bestfriend’s boyfriend. Boys quickly adopt the hypersexualized images of females and apply them to girls. As a result they lack respect for girls, and when they make sexual advances on them they are deemed as harmless. Rape and sexual violence becomes normalized, and sexual predators go unpunished in mainstream media.
“Battle of the Sexists” begins with the boys reading a Playboy magazine and forming judgements of the women based on their bodies. They focus on the breasts in particular, and claim they can tell how annoying a woman is based on her body. Although this is a brief scene, it clearly depicts the objectification of
Within this film the sociological concept based around sex & gender is hit quite a few times. Missy, a new comer to her current school, tries out for the cheering team. She is put under lots of scrutiny from some of the members of the cheer squad. She is underestimated due to her appearance and she proves herself to the team. They already had a candidate in mind, but the captain lets the other two team members know that Missy will be on the team. Hearing this noise infuriated them and they called Missy an “uber dyke” which is a sex and gender stereotype. Missy was treated this way all based on the way she prefered to
...at because of the social connection between peers the difference between men and women was not as great as that found in a hierarchal environment. Sexually stereotyped jokes and repeated requests of relationships were also among this same study. On the other hand, men and women were in agreement that “sexual coercion” and sexual propositions both fell under sexual harassment. (Rotundo, Nguyen, & Sackett, 2001)
However, they are targeted in ways which underscore the significance of their gendered (feminine) bodies which can be seen as attempts by harassers to undermine their opinions by focusing on their bodies instead of taking their thoughts seriously. This is seen in Hess and Sarkeesian’s cases with respect to the multiple rape threats each received as well as the characterizations of Hess and Ford as “ugly” women. The female body is both insulted and physically threatened in the rhetoric used by male online harassers. As Megarry notes, “These comments convey the message that the internet is a male space to which women have limited access, and communicate to women that their presence online is tolerated only on the basis of their sexual value and appeal to men” (50). Harassment that characterizes women like Hess and Ford as “ugly” implies that they have failed as women to uphold typical notions of feminine beauty. Rape threats, moreover, as Jane points out, are a standard feature
Migliaccio (2009) addresses that it is commonly believed men are less trusting and honest in a friendship, but the relationships usually examined are male and female. In male friends, the other feels that it is not just the fact they are men that need to be taken into account, but the impact of gender roles that also play a role. In the study, Migliaccio (2009) examines friendships between men in occupations typical of their gender such as military and nontraditional such as a hairdresser. Being masculine is described as “being stoic, both physically and emotionally” (Migliaccio, 2009, p.228) which impacts friendships. In male friendships, it is also explored that men avoid being perceived as feminine. Another factor, Migliaccio (2009) considers is either a man works with more females rather than males. “In short, women and men experience and define intimate friendships in different ways, and neither should be judged by the standard of the other” (Migliaccio, 2009, p.229). It is determined that gender is not as much of a factor as gender roles are in male friendships. This article will provide evidence for the impact of the male gender versus gender roles within the theme of masculinity. It examines many factors that go beyond gender as well as the lens these relationships are viewed through
Sexism serves as the constant reminder that, although in our history there have been many changes, we still have much to work on. The equality of all people has yet to be achieved and while the progress made should be noted, there are facts of our culture that demonstrate we still haven’t reached where we need to be. As for how The Bro Code comes into play, Director Thomas Keith explores the aspect that society still harbors and in most ways promotes the inequality between men and women. Director Thomas Keith clearly states in the beginning of the documentary that even he grew up believing that “women were here for our sexual enjoyment” (Keith). His documentary serves to focus that our society has allowed for men to objectify women and to believe that they are better. These thoughts that he presents are not foreign or stretches of the imagination but simply observations of the society in which we live.
Over time, a women’s identity has been seen as powerless and incompetent to achieve anything. This image of women is being created at a young age at young age. For instance, little
A great place to begin is by investigating when and where or even how did our society, the United States, become socialized to the point where roles and expectations are defined by gender. How have theorists or researchers expla...
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.
The long-running stereotype that men and women cannot be “just friends” is demonstrated from casual friends all the way to friendships at work. And with 61 percentage of women in the workplace in 1990 (The First Measured Century), it’s a stereotype that is getting harder to break. For years, development of men and women’s friendships has been a trope in TV and movies. Boy and girl become friends, guy develops feelings, girl gets boyfriend, guy becomes jealous and confesses feelings, and girl realizes she’s been in love with guy all along (Borreli, L. 2016). These expectations of men and women in friendships are bad for business though. Cross-sex friendships are crucial in the workplace. Friends in the workplace provide information, networking, and support that are invaluable for both job performance and satisfaction (Kimmel & Aronson 2014, 542). Bonds between cross-sex friendships are charging according to a study. Men and women often see each other as friends or confidants rather than romantic interests. There are other types of bonds than romantic connections that can occur and does occur between males and
middle of paper ... ... women know and think that if they don’t act or behave to their expectations they will. looked down upon and possibly neglected by their family and society. To avoid losing friends and family, most male and female, construct their own role in their life.
a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person 's sex. For example,
Rhode, D. (2000). Culture Establishes Gender Roles.Male/female roles: opposing viewpoints (pp. 22-24). San Diego, Calif.: Greenhaven Press