So what are some ways we define girl/boy male/female man/woman in this culture. Things that have nothing to do with biology (like playing with Barbies, as Matt said. Or opening doors for women as Mike said).
Think particularly about lines that you can't cross without getting made fun of . . .
I'll have paper guidelines for you all on Friday so that my workshop people don't have to wander in the dark . . .
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17 comments:
i do not like this blogger thing, everytime i try to use it, it screws up some how or another. its kind of a hassle to use. I somewhat enjoyed talking about oprah today, i feel like i am having some trouble grasping the main ideas mainly because, things are not always specified that well.
There are many ways we define the difference between gender. I know that it may not include everyone but dress is something that is looked at as defining. Also roles even on this campus for example there are many parties on campus that place girls in a submissive state . An example of a party like this would be "golf pros and tennis hoes"
I think our conversation on gender roles was an interesting discussion. Before class I had never thought that gender could be looked at as a human invention. By the end of class I would agree that gender is a human invention in most senses. Why are little boys given cars to play with ? Why do girls wear dresses and not guys? I started questioning a lot of aspects of our society after I started thinking about the statement, and find it amazing how humans have shaped gender.
The discussion on gender roles in our society was something I had never thought of before. It made me think about how when I was growing up I wanted to be just like my two older brothers and play with toy guns, but felt I had to play with dolls because all of the other girls did. It’s amazing to see how most toys are unisex and it is accepted to cross over the lines that separate the genders now.
I think that people's upbringings and what toys they were introduced to and played with as a child effect the gender role they develop as an adult. For example if children are given dolls to play with as a child and attend tea parties they are more likely to grow up acting feminine. On the other hand I think children that play sports and play with guns as a child grow up with more masculine qualities.
Our culture has developed many interesting ways of defining male and female traits. For one the color of every baby's room for quite some time was either pink or blue depending on their gender. However I agree with kelly in that we are slowly changing some of the stereotypes and making toys that are unisex and baby's nursery's are not all the standard pink and blue anymore. In some ways having such specific gender roles for young girls and boys can potentially be very difficult for some young kids who are not completely sure of themselves or their sexuality.
I found that this discussion was very interesting and made me really think about society and the ways it shapes us. It’s crazy how certain things like what we wear and the people around us influence the things we do. For example my friend growing up was a tomboy and I never understood at the time why she would not wear dresses like me, or how should would want to just play sports instead of go to dance class and play house like the rest of the girls our age. It depends on your surroundings and since she grew up with older and younger brothers, they influenced her interests, while I grew up with no older siblings. What influenced me was whatever my mom bought or exposed me to, which helped shape my interests. It has to do with the stereotypes and the surroundings that influence what we get involved with.
I defiantly think there are very specific ways our culture defines gender. Guys are thought of as always having to be tough and aggressive or they could run the risk of being thought as being a wimp. Girls are put in the position of being a bitch if they aren't submissive or fit into some stereotype of being some ‘damsel in distress’.
This blog has given me alot of difficulties. I have tried to do this post 3 times and hopefully this one works. The conversation about oprah seemed very interesting to me. In my opinion oprah was really important, but still drew in trash TV veiwers. It was interesting to see that not many people shared my opinion. It was a good discusion
I also believe our culture brings some differences between female and male. For exmaple, if a girl went in to the boy's bathroom by accident, the girl would be fine by just saying "sorry". However, on the other hand, if guy went in to the bathroom by accident, the guy will be treated as a pervert and can be criticized by other females. poor guys. (just kidding)
I have two girls and I have been shocked at how much we force gender roles on them. And even though it's to varying degrees, depending on the individuals, depending on the sub-culture (New England was quite different from Central Florida, for example), I think almost everybody participates.
I remember being in a group of mothers with toddlers and the other mothers would insist that their toddler was "all boy" because he wanted to play with cars. Since cars are a human invention, this certainly is NOT a biologically programmed instinct.
And the culture--right down to Disney--promotes certain kinds of femininity.
So I agree with Kelly, who said that she wanted to play with toy guns like her brothers were doing but ended up doing what"all the other girls did" instead. And with Molly's statement "What influenced me was whatever my mom bought or exposed me to, which helped shape my interests."
And I think there's a whole paper to be written on "golf pros and tennis hoes." Hmmmmmmmm.
I think we are taught from a very young age that there are differences in the way a boy and a girl should act, play, and behave. Most parents usually give their sons more manly toys like cars and trucks and also teach them to like more boyish figures like spider-man, batman, spongebob square pants. In the contrary, to their daughters, parents usually teach them to dress with dresses and skirts and wear ribbons on their hair, and feminine figures like cinderella, little mermaid,and sleeping beauty.
Parents are constantly creating and stating the differences that clearly exist between a boy and a girl. Most parents protect their daughters more than their sons.
Little kids also get influenced by being taught the little things like, pink is a "girlie" color and blue is a "boyish" color.
So, in reality, parents have a big part in a child's life in stating the differences that exist between a boy and a girl.
It's Maria Altamirano...
I think in today's society gender roles don't have such a face as it used to. There are certain aspects that I believe can define a guy and a girl: i.e. Girls wear dresses, and typically guys shouldn't. But then you can look on the flipside, how is it that guys wear baggy clothes and girls can get away with it also?
The other thing is, I think gender roles in the sense of mannerisms have changed tremendously as well from previous generations. As much as girls (at least me anyway...) would love to have guys be the dominant one always holding doors and being the first to call etc. It really doesn't happen as often anymore.Sure, it does happen, but to what extent? Guys don't pull the chair out for girls anymore at tables. It's just seen as kind of, unnecessary, for lack of a better term. I think girls have become more independent in a way of mannerisms that used to maybe define a guy/girl in society.
I'd have to agree with Mayra who said "Parents are constantly creating and stating the differences that clearly exist between a boy and a girl. Most parents protect their daughters more than their sons."
That is incredibly true! How often have you seen a movie when a girl comes to the door and the dad of the boyfriend has a shotgun in his hand? Yeah, never...
This discussion really made me think about how our society has such a major impact on gender roles. It made me realize how many stereotypes and "rules" our society makes for us. Of course there are the normal rules such as girls should be playing with barbies and boys should be playing with monster trucks. But what if the boy wants to paint his nails or play dress up? This kind of behavior shocks people because it is not considered the norm.
I am in another class called Educational Psychology and I found our discussion in class to relate quite nicely to this question of gender roles. My teacher informed the entire class that every human being is actually born a girl. She went on to explain that sometimes the boys have a harder time because while their body develops their brain may not develop at the same pace. Therefore some boys do want to play dressup and put heels on. Eventually they will grow out of it, but the point is that it is very wrong how our society has such a harsh outlook on what is right and wrong.
Everyone comes from different backgrounds which has a large influence on how they act. This could affect whether a young girl wants to play with monster trucks or barbies. Either way I find it kind of shocking how our society portrays gender roles.
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