Review Of Judith Lorber's 'Night To His Day'

In our society today, there are many ways identity plays a role in how people live their lives, as well as how people are viewed or treated by others. A big part of a person’s identity comes from their gender. Men and women are raised differently, whether it be their beliefs and ways of thinking, how they view their future, or the actions they choose to take throughout their lifetime. In both Katha Pollitt and Silko’s essays, they discuss the differences in the lives of men and women and how these differences result from society’s expectations by using metaphors and life examples to explain their message to the reader, as well as allow the reader to connect to this message.

The hierarchical aspect of America’s contemporary gender system is reinforced through the use of language. We frequently associate biology and the sciences with objectivity, but in “The egg and the Sperm,” Emily Martin argues that it is not outside the socially constructed idea of gender (485). The association of gender norms at the cellular level suggests that the process of gendering is natural beyond alteration; yet, this is merely a result of the implantations of social imagery on representations of nature. Literary works can subtly emphasize the stereotypical differences between males and females in a way that goes unnoticed, consequently ingraining these concepts into our brain and thought processes. In many biological texts, the egg is described as “drift(ing)” and being “swept” throughout the process (Martin 489). This denotes passiveness—a clearly feminine characteristic that society would deem to be appropriate for women. On the other hand, the sperm “streamlines” and

The two publications that best contextualize gender are the Lowell Offering and the Godey’s Lady Book periodicals as the articles found in both magazines depict traditional gender roles for males and females. For the Lowell Offering, this is best seen in the article entitled, “Woman’s Proper Sphere”, which focuses on the thoughts associated with oppression like, “Is it ambitious wish to shine as man’s equal, in the same scenes in which he mingles” or “Does she wish for a more extensive influence, than that which emanates from a woman’s home?” Yet these progressive questions are met with answers like “How necessary, then, that she should understand these pursuits (of men), that she may truly sympathize with and encourage those, with whom she may be associated. In this way…her influence must and

Gender is actually a set of rules, customs and traditions assigned to people of a particular sex. Gender is not biological but sex is. Rather, according to Lorber, it is influenced by our society and our culture. By proving this claim, Judith Lorber has put forth the example of the man and this example is efficient in distinguishing “gender” as a practice than as an innate attribute.

What does it mean to be a woman or man? Whether we a man or a woman, in today’s society it is not determined just by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How do you act, talk, and behave like a woman or man? Are you feminine or masculine, both, or neither? These are questions that help us get to the core of our gender and gender identity. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles: clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It is a feeling that we have as early as age two or three. In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to persuade his readers that gender shapes how we behave because of the expectation from us and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. He gets readers to reflect on how “Children’s developing concepts of themselves as individuals are necessarily bound up …to understand the expectations of the society which they are a part of” (389). Growing up, from being a child to an adult is where most of us try to find ourselves. We tend to struggle during this transition period, people around us tell us what to be and not to be, Jamaica Kincaidt in her short story, “Girl” tells just that, the setting is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly. The mother soberly

A Night Divided delves deep into one of my favorite historical events through very unexpected eyes. This book takes us readers to the eastern side of the Berlin wall, showing us life through the eyes of a twelve year old girl named Gerta. Gerta is twelve years old, and on the night that the Berlin Wall goes up, her father and eldest brother and trapped on the other side while Gerta, her mother, and her other brother remain on the eastern side.

In “The Birth Mark” Aylmer and his wife Georgiana allegorize mankind and nature. In one aspect, the dichotomy of man and woman appropriately symbolizes the dichotomy of mankind and nature. In contemporary society, “the distinction between male and female and masculinity and femininity continues to polarize relations between the sexes…” (Knights 430). This is similar to the way in which the human race

The article starts off with explaining someone is not born a specific gender but is taught the roles of their gender. A human is born and classified to be either a male or a female, living their life representing that gender. According to the gender, it determines the way people behave, dress, and speak is different. For babies and kids, it typically doesn’t matter how they dress or act because society does not push it on however as we get older social norms begin to associate more with gender roles. When people start to astray from the way their gender is suppose to act others start to judge and stereotype. People base life off of structured systems and classification of gender and race. People are being typically judged

In recent years there has been one topic that has been pulled to the forefront of the literary world. That topic is the debate over whether or not a persons gender can be determined by their writing. There have been several studies done to determine whether or not this can be done. These studies have led to a number of tests and websites that are said to be able to determine whether or not there is a noticeable gap or difference in the styles that have been presented by authors of different genders. With the rise of these types of things there has also inevitably been a number of problems that go hand in hand with them. The question of whether or not these

Firstly, the nature argument needs to be established. Biologists and scientists commonly know heavily on this side. Specifically a man by the Dr. John Money and his study proved that there are certain aspects of yourself that you cannot change due to them being set in stone by nature. One of these aspects would be your sex. The study began after a botched circumcision left a male infant penisless. Dr. Money’s theory was that during a human’s

Had Lorber not noticed that the baby had floral print on her sneakers and had earrings I never would have guessed it to be a female and would have continued on to think the baby was male based solely on the cap, or the bit of information I had. Everything we perceive is either male or female. And this goes back to Wade and Ferree about “who stereotypically does sports?”, and through the relationship sports has with the male gender we expected that baby to be a boy. Thus, it all comes back to the relationships we have applied to certain items with gender. Now simply having constructed certain relationships does not make it a social construct. A social construct is based on the society as well. A great way to exemplify this is through earrings. One might not think of earrings as a big thing considering we see both genders wearing them today. However earrings were first a male dominant thing, specifically in sailors. Sailors used golden earrings in hopes that if they ever died at sea and washed ashore it would pay for their funeral, but then it became fashionable for women and sailors needed them less and less. Thus there have been times in which one gender has been more dominant. However it is not until recently that a man could be a straight male even if he is wearing earrings. Thus, the society we live in and the relationships we give certain things to

For many years now gender has been certain. To many people, gender is something that should not be changed, and if you do attempt to change your gender by a surgical procedure, it is believed to be wrong. According to the Oxford Dictionary, gender means “the state of being male or female.” Being a male is defined as “the sex that produces small, typically motile gametes, especially spermatoea, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring,” and female is defined as “the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) that can be fertilized by male gametes.” These definitions are accepted by and believed to be correct by a large amount of people. Some of these people believe in such so whole-heartedly, they do not like when their idea of gender identity is questioned. Strict gender roles have work for centuries, so there is no reason why these people are wrong. However, there are many other people who do not agree with this opinion, but that does not mean that their opinion is invalid either.

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.

Why does the word ‘gender’ exist? There should be no such thing; everyone should be able to be themselves. Growing up I had a sister two years younger than me, we were pretty much the same person. We would play with barbies and dress up like princesses. I was your typical ‘girly girl’. I used to ballet when I was younger and I loved it. I loved playing with makeup and doing my hair. Once new neighbors moved next door I changed my opinion about ballet and everything that made me a typical girl. The neighbors had sons, I would play with them and get dirty. This changed me into a ‘tom boy’. Growing up with a sister and all girl cousins, I just knew about how I should be. The boys always had the coolest toys from play trucks to action figures. I loved playing football and baseball with them. My mom wanted me to be a ‘girly girl’ and my dad really did not care. When mothers have daughters they always want them to be so girly. They dress them up in pink and buy them barbies. When fathers have a son they want them to be ‘manly’. Gender is just a word to me, it means nothing.

American writer, Ursula K. Le Guin, in her science fiction book, The Left Hand of Darkness, touches on the subject of genders, specifically on their differences. By doing so, Le Guin tries to answer the question of what is a woman? Or what makes a woman. The main character in her book, Genly Ai, is a male human that visits another planet called Winter, where genders are constantly being changed through a process called Kemmer. Ai finds it difficult to adapt to their society, being so different from ours. However, to solve this confusion, Genly beings to describe the differences between women and men. Le Guin uses this strategy of describing both genders to try to get the reader to understand the differences between them, in other words, it is another way to try to answer the question of what is a woman. Although she able to describe the differences between a male and female, Le Guin fails to completely answer the question of what is a woman by focusing instead on the differences and inequalities between the two sexes, male and female.