Just One of the Guys

If a person was asked what he or she thought males and females are like, what would he or she answer? There was such a survey done, and the list for females was as follows: “compassionate, loves children, dependent, interpersonally sensitive, nurturing,” while the list for males was “leader, aggressive, ambitious, analytical, competitive, dominant, independent, and individualistic” (Fine 3-4). By this standard, all women are interpersonally sensitive, and all men are aggressive. Is this true? In some cases these generalizations may be true, but in many others this is far from the truth, making these lists gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes can be found in many places including magazines, television shows, real life, and movies. Movies in general are overflowing with an innumerable amount of stereotypes. Just One of the Guys, in particular, is a movie that focuses on gender stereotypes. In the movie, the main character, Terry Griffith, reinforces “all [of] the clichés” surrounding both male and female genders while she is learning to be a boy, changing between the two genders, and demonstrating her actions and interactions as a boy (Denby 543).

Terry Griffith is well known at her high school for many reasons; one reason being that she is in journalism class and writes for the school newspaper. When her paper is not picked for a summer job contest at The Sun Tribune she confronts her journalism teacher about it. When he tells her “You should have something to fall back on. […] You’re a pretty girl you can be a model,” Terry is outraged and believes that her teacher did not pick her article because she is a woman. This is a male gender stereotype because Terry concludes that her teacher is being sexist. Many wom...

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... according to the thoughts of someone else. Therefore gender stereotypes may change from person to person, but in many ways people think alike. If individuals do think alike all woman may be nurturing, all men competitive, and all people can be put under a classification in some way. Many people believe that all cross-dressers are homosexuals and they act out in a manner that is completely opposite of their own gender. This is how many films and books portray cross-dressing characters, when in reality these people act as if they were naturally born the opposite gender of their own. Are stereotypes as true in reality as it is seen in books, television, and movies? For all any person knows they can be. For sure they are true in Just One of the Guys for Terry “Terrance” Griffith while she learns about boyhood, creates a double life, and acts as her new persona.