Amory's Misconception Of Gender Identity

The biological sex of a person, in most cases, today can still be considered one of the main identifying characteristics of an individual. In the past the sex of a person was more than an identifying characteristic, it was who they were. They were either men or women, there was no in between or changing it. Society today has come a long way in terms of gender identity and gender roles, but the concept of patriarchy still has the upper hand when it all boils down. Allan G. Johnson’s, The Gender Knot, provides for a more diverse outlook on the women’s expected roles in life, how they are expected to handle difficult situations in marriage, and how they demonstrate courage, in Mona Lisa Smile.

Adolescence is one of the most turbulent times in life. Children make the transition to adulthood by assuming more responsibilities, such as getting good grades. Many assume these new duties and merge seamlessly into society while others struggle and are unable to fit into the grand scheme of things. Paul, the main character in Willa Cather’s “Paul’s Case,” is one individual who struggles to find his own identity. Paul does not seem to blend well in any level of society. Paul cannot fathom living a common life, yet when he tries to live lavishly, he pays the ultimate price. In the short story “Paul’s Case,” Willa Cather characterizes Paul as a hopeless romantic through her use of selection of detail, symbolism, and diction.

The Human Condition is a big part of our understanding of literature, it can mean death, acceptance, judgment, and several other diverse things. It is about the positive or negative aspects of humans that everyone all universally deals with at least one time in one’s life. In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the short stories Raymond Carver’s “Everything Stuck to Him”, and Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”, all have the most prominent human condition: love. Love is portrayed as society’s primary concern in literature, and is represented as a main concern in today’s society .

Basil Hallward and Henry Wotten are quite the opposite of each other—Basil is unwaveringly conventional in his values while Henry instead enjoys entertaining the idea of radical and inappropriate ways of thinking (on page 4, he claims that “the one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary,” to which Basil responds that he “hate[s] the way [Henry] talks about his married life). Because of their profoundly contrasting ideas, they are not so much foils for each other as they are for Dorian Gray. It is by these two men that one measures Dorian’s place on the scale of morality.

Gender is defined as being male or female as defined by roles, social status, and attitude. The perception of oneself and what characterizes gender identity. Included in gender identity is hormone and behavior interaction, along with the examination of psychological, biological, and environmental influences on sexual separation.

Relationships are crucial components of human social life and are a common topic in most literary works. Many argue that romantic relationships are the most interesting and popular because of their appeal to human emotions. However, not everyone sees these connections between characters as positive, which was quite evident in Fitzgerald 's timeless classic, The Great Gatsby. Daisy and Gatsby’s relationship is centered upon personal gain rather than pure love for one another.

At first glance, Nancy Garden’s Annie On My Mind appears to be an unconventional romance. The setting in New York City and the queer relationship between the two main characters Annie and Liza, indicate that this story bucks the traditional conventions of romantic literature. However, the book adheres to the tradition of courtly love—a trope of classic romantic literature. In chapter five Annie and Liza role-play a knight and damsel during a visit to the Cloisters. Initially the role playing appears to be simply a continuation of the game they played at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the first chapter, however a closer reading reveals that the passage is an homage to courtly love.

The Opposites in a mirror Fun Home isn’t merely a story of Allison Bechdel and her father, but a story of the change in her thoughts about how the two of them were related. Over the course of the novel, Her thoughts of her father change, from thinking each other as total opposites, from their habits, personality, and sexuality, to accepting that these differences are really what make them the same. On page 15, Bechdel explicitly states the numerous ways in which her and her father are different. She does this by giving examples of classic opposites in society, like “Spartan to my Father’s Athenian.

A significant point in Bems’ (1993) chapter in Lens of Gender on gender identity was the concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to the treatment and development of young boys and girls in society. The first point discussed is how the ‘maternal instinct’ is not so biological as much it is women being confined to the private sphere, in turn having the most interaction with children. This point stood out as I was reading because I have known from a young age I did not want children. Many told me that my opinion would change when I grew older, and when you have your own child being a mother comes naturally. As I reflected I was reminded of the point later made by Bem (1993) that “adults in the child’s community

The bildungsroman predominately depicts Amory by his egocentric and self-centered ways. He makes a few personal adjustments down the road, but his narcissism remains his defining characteristic. In many ways, Amory’s relationships within the plot only seem valuable as they affect and encourage his own development and aspirations.

Right as the character attains a realistic world view, Moretti proposes that the protagonist is forced to face a major decision: Should he abandon his values for conformity or continue to pursue his personal goals in the face of failure? Such a double bind implies Moretti’s belief that a bildungsroman presents two undesirable situations for a character and he or she must choose between the lesser of two evils: self-betrayal or failure. Moretti describes that bildungsroman characters grow “far less ambitious than synthesis” (Moretti 10). Likewise, Amory realizes the difficulty of remaining unique and grows “decidedly unheroic,” using inaction as a “tool for survival” (Moretti 10). Admittedly, Amory reaches an ingenuine but high social position on campus, thus embodying his active pursuit of conformity. Through his entrance into elite clubs, Amory capitulates to conformity and eventually solidifies his decision to become “one of the gods of his class”

In This Side of Paradise, a story of modern youth and disillusionment, there are several major female characters who are involved in Amory Blaine’s life. As Amory grows to adulthood and beyond, he goes through several serious relationships with girls. In a way, the personalities of these girls reflect the state of Amory’s life and mind. The differing personal qualities and defining characteristics of these young women lead to contrasting relationships. While none of these relationships are lasting, they each have a definite influence on Amory’s life. Three of the major female characters in This Side of Paradise - Isabelle, Rosalind, and Eleanor – have different personalities, relationships, and impacts on Amory Blaine.

In the quotations above, there is an interaction between Amory and Kerry using the activity of reading a literary magazine as they are peers which have the same common reading interest, a poem by Thomas D’Invilliers. With a different perceptions on what is a good literary work, they are exchanging thoughts on what should and what should not be put into that magazine. Unlike Kerry who is quite calm in accepting that the new writer in the magazine is a freshman, Amory is restless because he wanted to be popular and he thinks that he is much better than D’Invilliers. From the reading of D’Invilliers’ poem in Lit., the discussion is then changes to Amory’s ambition and Kerry’s opinion about Amory and what actually Amory needs to do in order to be popular.

In fact, Amory survives most of his adolescent life without feeling like an outcast due to his exceptional good looks. It is a fact that Amory is a socially awkward man, however society was willing to look past that because he was labeled “good looking” by society. As Amory grows older he comes to the realization that he has had much assistance from this shallow standard and he grows a strong dislike for the shallow ways and himself. Amory develops a strong resentment towards the world for being excessively shallow. This is because now that Amory is older, money is valued more than looks.

The construction of a self-identity can be a very complex process that every individual is identity is developed through the lenses of cultural influences and how it is expected to given at birth. Through this given identity we are expected to think, speak, and behave in a certain way that fits the mold of societal norms. This paper aims to explain how gender perform gender roles according these cultural values. I intend to analyze the process in which individuals learned and internalized their respective gender identities, through their cultural background. I will be conducting a set of interviews with the intention to compare my experience as a self-identified male of Mexican descent, to the experience of another male character of Japanese heritage in order to understand how we come to self-identify as masculine in diverged cultures. In this paper, I argue that the construction of gender identities is a direct consequence of societal influential factors such as family values; values that reflect the individual’s culture. This analysis will not only utilize evidence from these identity formations, but also in explaining why and how these self-identities were constructed using both theoretical sources and empirical studies as a framework.