Nicholas D. Kristof's 'Girls Will Be Girls'

Gender roles have been a hotly debated topic in the most recent years, especially the role of women in society. Women have had set expectations that they are believed to conform to, which is shown in many pieces of film and literature. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald describes the life of a man in the upper class in the 1920’s, as well as women in the 1920’s. The movie The Princess Bride, written by William Goldman, visually explains the treatment and expectations of women, and especially focuses on the “damsel in distress” stereotype.. Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist” explains the stereotypes against women and ways women can come together and fight these constraints. Based on these sources, societal expectations take away from each individual’s identity, forcing women to conform to society's standards. In order to fight against these expectations, women have banded together and formed movements against these standards.

Throughout history, women have been regarded as of lesser value than men particularly in the public sphere. This is the result of gender stratification. Gender stratification refers to the issue of sexism, “or the belief that one sex is superior to the other” (Carl et al., 2012, p. 78). The theory that men are superior to women is essential to sexism. Sexism has always had negative consequences for women. It has caused some women to avoid pursuing successful careers typically described as “masculine”—perhaps to avoid the social impression that they are less desirable as spouses or mothers, or even less “feminine.”

Language: In On the Equality of the Sexes, there are a few phrases that seem to show some importance. “There is something new under the sun” is italicized in the text. She is saying that there is going to be some change coming soon with women’s education. She also uses the word superior, or superiority, quite a bit in the text. She questions whether or not mental superiority between sexes actually exists. She also talks about imagination a lot. She makes the point that society constricts how women use their imaginations. The way she uses domestication in the text is in a negative way. She uses the phrase “fertile brain of a female” and by doing this she is trying to show that females’ brains are productive and capable of becoming so much

In many cultures throughout the world women are patronized and viewed as the weaker sex. Women are commonly perceived as being unfit for any forms of higher education and because of societal pressure and expectations retreat to a life of raising children and cooking meals for their husbands. Our society’s stereotypical views about women’s suffrage, educational expectations and athletic abilities have all advanced over the years. In many aspects of our society, women are now expected to compete with their male counterparts. Currently, it is not uncommon to hear of a women CEO or Vice President in businesses or even a women politician. Women have now emerged from laundry rooms and kitchens across the country and changed the demographics

There is something subtle about attitudes toward women, something that many people act in accordance to but are only subconsciously aware of. It is the constant judgment that women face, and it is also something Deborah Tannen noticed while sitting in an ordinary meeting one day. During that meeting, she found herself noticing only the females of the room, not the men. Tannen then realized that it was because “The men’s styles were unmarked” (Tannen 389). While there are standard hairstyles and clothing for men, there are none for women. Everything that a woman wears is a reflection of who she is. In her piece titled There Is No Unmarked Woman, she writes about her experience and concludes that women cannot escape judgment no matter what they do.

Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her

Prime examples of characters who refuse to conform to society’s gender roles are Tita from Like Water for Chocolate, Julia in her poem “To Julia de Burgos”, and Oscar from The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. These characters have to face gender roles

(Cabrera et al.,127). Because women were thought about in this manner it was difficult for them to become more than what society had stereotyped them to

Negative stereotypes of women are usually held by both men and women in a society, owing to the lack of self-respect and self-confidence imparted to females by societies' prejudices,” which reinforces the fact that women have always been depicted as subordinate to men in the past (124). This received idea that women are lesser than men is extremely important because it has affected females in negative ways for thousands of years in societies, and caused crucial past and present events to happen which will determine women’s fate in the future. In this case, these important past and present events are seen in the fight for women’s equality shown in numerous different ways, occurring mostly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In the database, “Gender Bias,” by Bonnie Strickland, it proclaims, “Awareness of the existence of these biases will help to overcome their negative effects,” which conveys the message that once all the people in America are aware of women’s inferior place in society and culture, the situation will start improving in various ways (273). The fight for women’s equality is vital because it will improve the United States in many

Her book states these issues clearly and, as women’s appearances are often a core aspect of their portrayals in popular culture, such discussions are incredibly relevant to both real women and fictional characters. In many situations, women are perceived based on their worth in motherhood, domesticity, and passivity. Although the women’s movement have made much progress, Wolf states that “after the success of the women’s movement’s second wave, the beauty myth was perfected to checkmate power at every level in individual women’s lives” (125). The beauty myth, or the idea that women should conform to typical ideas of beauty to achieve their own self-worth, turned women into “…a dark vein of self-hatred, physical obsessions, terror of aging, and dread of lost control” (Wolf 120). With all of these pressures to conform and the associated issues that are placed on women to identify with these standards, even with all the other benefits of the women’s movement, women still had to “…remain vulnerable to outside approval…” (122). The problem has grown so widespread that it did not just hold up the powers

Over the last thirty decades, women have come secondary to the male population. American women have since sought to challenge and change this standard. We are tired of the oppression and mistreatment! Slowly but surely, women have strived to take a stand against prejudice and embrace the values of American freedom and equality. Even though women’s rights have progressed, we have yet to be treated as equal to the American male, especially in literature.

In some cases of feministic criticism, the creator of the text in question didn’t intend to present women in such a way. This is particularly troubling and supports

Throughout the years and years that society has lived out today, men have undoubtedly been glorified and held in high esteem for their accomplishments, character, and influence. Man has become a symbol of power, with masculinity becing associated with positive attributes such as strength, intelligence, and control. Femininity however, has been regarded as weak, superficial, and vacuous. Such an outlook on gender roles has resulted in an unequal power dynamic and an increasing deprecating view of the woman and her capabilities. Under represented in not only the media but also many governing bodies, women have continually been oppressed and subject to constant misogynstic transgreesions, the results of whcih have not only affected their lives and possible opportunies, but also their self worth and the way they see the worth of others.

Regardless of authors trying to discredit the socially constructed characteristics assigned to each gender, the typical stereotypes and generalizations that differentiate a male from a female seem to linger. Female writers have begun to enlighten others on the significance of the struggle through having to be a re-played stereotype. In pieces such as Barbara Welter’s “The Cult of True Womanhood”, Gertrude Steins “The Gentle Lena”, and a love letter titled “Master” by Emily Dickinson, the labels placed upon these female characters seem to all correlate by having a deeper and more reflective essence.

Women have made great advancements in improving their rights and roles within society and are now less likely to be viewed as inferior by males. Nevertheless, they are still facing many challenges including being perceived as objects and being expected to dress and behave a certain way. In his essay “Looking at Women,” Scott Russell Sanders analyzes how men often perceive women as objects because of their indecent wardrobe and their willingness to put their bodies on display. In her essay “Why Women Smile,” Amy Cunningham explains the value of a smile and how it does not always reflect how a woman is truly feeling on the inside. Both essays spend much time looking at women and how they are under the constant scrutiny from those around