Batting Clean-Up And Striking Out Analysis

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.

There is a huge debate going on today about gender. Society believes you’re a boy if you like blue, and like to play sports and go hunting; and you’re a girl if you like pink and have long hair and pig tails and play with Barbie dolls. Society has forced us to choose between the two. I believe that both women and men can both have it all. As Dorment says, ‘competing work life balance and home as much as women’. (Dorment 697) I believe in this article Richard Dorment, has argued his opinion very well, I think both men and woman equally need to be involved in housework as well as taking care of the children. In today’s world were judging who were going to be even before were born. Throughout this article Dorment effectively convinces his audience that men and women should be equal by using statistics and emotional stories, Dorment uses personal stories and extensive research to make readers believe in his credibility, and lastly Dorment employs the rhetorical appeals of pathos and ethos effectively.

In her essay “ Size 6: The Western Women’s Harem,” Mernissi strongly argues that the female body is viewed differently in America than in the middle east. Mernissi explains to us that her experience in a New York City store makes her feel very unpleasant about her body size due to the fact she was unable to fit into the size six skirt she was trying on. Mernissi states that “ The elegant saleslady in the American store looked at me without moving her desk and said she had no skirts in my size”(pg 233). Mernissi also argues that when she lived in the Middle East, there was no such thing as size. Everything was tailored to a woman's body size, so there was no need for numbers or letters to determine what one should wear. However, in America, that is the number one way many retailers carry their clothing. For Mernissi, it was very hard to understand that. America people like to love, hate, and judge our bodies and bodies of others, and Mernissi’s essay proves that.

In both essays, two common themes revealed are the dominance of man and to find the perfect female spouse to satisfy their male spouses need. Ideas that are being presented are girls need to stay girly and attractive and males cannot sustain friendship with females. Each author elaborates on what the ideal male or female is. The author Paul Theroux talks more about how society sees as a man in his essay “Being a Man” and uses metaphors and hyperboles to get through readers. While the author Judy Brady explains what the ideal female is viewed as in her essay “I Want a Wife” and uses satire and domestic ideology.

A short essay “ Guys vs. “Men” written by Dave Barry, presents Dave’s perception on the difference between “Guys” and “Men”. Dave presents his essay in a comical way that generalizes the “men” vs. “guys” and also gender biased generalization. Dave argues that men hold too much of responsibilities and many expectations in which guys do not and they live happier life. One of the methods he uses to support his argument is a comparison. Other method he uses is the description of how he views “men” vs. “guys” and gives his perspective. And the last method he uses to further his argument is the use of hyperbole, exaggeration through out the essay.

For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”, says Aaron Devor. Women and men have always been seen as totally different people, but is it right to say that women are different from men. Many research findings support these gender differences. The range of critical response to the topic of the gender is clearly discussed in the reviews written by Aaron Devor “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,” Deborah Blum “The Gender Blur,” and Mariah Burton Nelson in “I Won. I’m Sorry”. Marian Burton Nelson, a former Stanford University and professional basketball player and author of sit book on gender identity. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize Winning professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Aaron Derov, a sociology professor at University of Victoria. All three articles have similar and different opinions, but they are all about gender differences. While Devor and Blum talk about the origin of gender differences in men and women, Nelson focuses more on strong women; all three articles focus their discussions on aggressiveness, gender behaviors, and male domination.

My literature review is on the Gender Matters set of essays. The first essay is The Startling Plight of China’s Leftover Women by Christina Larsen.This essay is about the unmarried, educated women in China and why they are still unmarried.. The second essay is The Invisible Migrant Man: Questioning Gender Privileges by Chloe Lewis. This piece is about the struggles and issues that married male migrants face and have faced.The last is Body-Building In Afghanistan by Oliver Broudy.It is about the men who are unemployed in Afghanistan whospend their time working out. My literature review is written in the following order: Larsen’s essay, Broudy’s essay, and lastly Lewis’.

In the novel “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” by Juniot Diaz you start to notice a cultural gender role and how there is certain expectations of them. The novel is based on a young boy named Oscar Wao and the hardships that one event has caused to an entire family. Even though the novel is focused on Oscar the author always went back to his sister and his mother. The author described the women as “real, strong women, even though they were being filtered through a somewhat distorted male point of view” (Stevenson 1). These two women play an important roll in this novel, they ultimately don't show the cultural gender role and what is expected from them. All the important female rolls in Oscars life are independent and strong women but they all have one thing in common, being mistreated by men.

This mentality is ingrained in the minds of young men from a very early age. It is, “men’s and boy’s practical relationships to collective images or models of masculinity, rather than simply reflections of them, that is central to understanding gendered consequences in violence, health, and education” (Connell). For instance, characters like James Bond and Barney Stinson, as well as public figures including Derek Jeter, encapsulate the ideal womanizing characteristics idolized by many men. In fact, even those men who don’t actively exercise, “hegemonic masculinities, are complicit” (Connell), in practice. As a result of these dominating and oppressive ideals, “women become a kind of currency that men use to improve their ranking” (Kimmel). Essentially, as a defense mechanism to feeling powerless, homosocial enactments, sexual conquests, and even domestic abuse allow for men to regain their sense of power. In the process, however they damage the people around

Judith Lorber is able to convey many of her ideals about our contemporary conceptions of gender in her essay, ?The Social Construction of Gender.? Not only does she clearly express her opinions on the roles of physiological differences of the male and female bodies, but she also elaborates on the roles of the mass media and professional sports among other things. It rapidly becomes clear that there are many legitimate arguments that support this movement for near or complete equality in genders and the roles that they perform.

Women aren't all a size six, what would you do if you where told you had to be a size six, by men or your government? Well most people don't do it everyday, in society. The fashion world is ran by men who make the rules in fashion for women to follow according to Fatema Mernissi. Now women can do just about anything by there choice. If women allow(ed) men or government to legislate or mandate what kind of a woman are they?This essay will explain how women are not dictated by men or government, on how they should look and what they should wear.

When it comes to delegating responsibility, allocating power, and demanding equality, there always seems to be an underlying bias towards the masculine sector of society, which allows an imbalance regarding gender equality. Understanding where this way of thinking comes from is an essential part of trying to shift and completely erase the bias. Throughout history, a patriarchal pattern and way of thinking has been passed down from generation to generation; what we fail to see is the reason for this pattern and the ways in which we can remedy the situation. A great example of this issue is displayed in the novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz. The female characters of Junot Diaz’s novel The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”, says Aaron Devor. Women and men have always been seen as totally different people, but is it right to say that women are different from men. Many research findings support these gender differences. The range of critical response to the topic of the gender is clearly discussed in the reviews written by Aaron Devor “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,” Deborah Blum “The Gender Blur,” and Mariah Burton Nelson in “I Won. I’m Sorry”. Marian Burton Nelson, a former Stanford University and professional basketball player and author of sit book on gender identity. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Aaron Derov, a sociology professor at University of Victoria. All three articles have similar and different opinions, but they are all about gender differences. While Devor and Blum talk about the origin of gender differences in men and women, Nelson focuses more on strong women; all three articles focus their discussions on aggressiveness, gender behaviors, and male domination.

8). The traditional views of gender roles are indeed quite different from the modern views. The men in society are the bread-winners where as the women take care of the children and home. There are basic and common work roles, however in terms of behaviour and involvement there are gender role distinctions. The sex roles generally play out in modern society as well, some sex roles and stereotypes for girls are that they are “nonaggressive, nonathletic, emotionally expressive, tender, domestic, and nurturing. Boys on the other hand are “aggressive, value achievement, attain goals through conflict, and work towards monetary success” (Whicker and Kronenfeld, 1986; pp. 8). The males in the society are “emotionally anesthetised, aggressive, physically tough and daring, unwilling or unable to give nurturance to a child” (Lewis and Sussman, 1986; pp. 1). These traits are carried out by this particular gender mostly outside the society to demonstrate their strength. Those individuals who ignore to carry out these personality traits are seen as weak and unmanly. The women on the other hand are given the responsibility of looking after the family and are supposed to have the opposite personality traits. For instance a woman can show emotions but not outside of the family because of the shame that would bring to the