Analysis Of Sharon Olds 'The One Girl At The Boys' Party

In Jacoby’s essay, one of her main points is that girls and parents stereotype masculine and feminine knowledge. High school girls may believe that science and math is for boys, while English and the arts is for females. Math is seen as “too hard” and a “waste of time” to young girls, ultimately resulting in them announcing to their parents that they will not be taking math or science for their last years of high school. Jacoby argues that if girls were to say they will not be taking English anymore, parents would be horrified and that parents would be less sanguine about the decision if the girls were boys. She also believes adolescent girls fear unattractiveness and avoid being typed as “brains.”

The second point that will be discussed to establish the way Sharon Old uses the literary device of the metaphor to exhibit the confusion felt while going through puberty, is through the line “they'll plunge in the deep end, she'll subtract her height from ten feet, divide it into hundreds of gallons of water, the numbers bouncing in her mind like molecules of chlorine in the bright blue

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

In Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls,” our narrator is a young farm girl on the verge of puberty who is learning what it means to be a “girl.” The story shows the differing gender roles of boys and girls – specifically that women are the weaker, more emotional sex – by showing how the adults of the story expect the children to grow into their respective roles as a girl and a boy, and how the children grow up and ultimately begin to fulfill these roles, making the transition from being “children” to being “young adults.”

An ever changing, yet common issue, in today's generation revolves around how society views gender. The general consensus dictates that gender, as a whole, is a spectrum, rather than a standard set for each individual male and female to follow throughout everyday life. However, there are those individuals who wish to remain reluctant in changing their view of society. Some believe it is better to allow the education system to be segregated by gender, in order to provide more resources to both girls and boys. One person in favor of this public education reform is David Brooks, a neuroscientist who published the article titled “The Gender Gap at School.” A thorough analysis of the effects of literature on men and women, biological factors

Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.

Young women are becoming increasingly aware of how they are being perceived by others and today it is ultra common for young women to hear about the negative sides of their gender. As young women grow older and start to consider possible career choices they also start to hear certain opinions on their choices and some even experience actual discrimination. “High-school girls who pursue an advanced interest in science and math (unless they are students at special institutions like the Bronx Highs School of Science where everyone is a brain) usually find that they are greatly outnumbered by boys in their classes. They are, therefore, intruding on male turf at a time when their sexual confidence, as well as that of the boys, is most fragile” (). In situations like these some young women may develop a fear of their male counterparts due to the ratio involved and others may also consider the stereotype that women are bad and math and that threat ultimately becomes a self fulfilling

In "When Bright Girls Decide That Math is "a Waste of Time", the main claims that are argued, are that adolescent girls are more susceptible to be pressured into an old stereotype that conveys women should not indulge themselves into mathematics and the sciences. This is a stereotype that has gradually weakened over the years. In paragraph 9 she constitutes an assessment ran in 1981 on female achievements. By doing this it created a sense of logos. Tests were run on girls between 9th and 12th grade to determine the difference in studies. Girls were as equal to or better that boys in problem solving and spatial abilities, this changed four years later and the boys were on top in these areas. The author provides counterevidence when she describes

The poem is told from the mother’s perspective, and uses math as a metaphor throughout her narration. The mother is both spectating her daughter and trying to understand what her daughter is thinking, but it doesn’t delve into the same issues as the other writings. Furthermore Olds makes it odd by making the girl seem to be quite young, but then also sexualizing story. Had the story been written from the perspective of the daughter this may have come off differently, but seeing as it is the mother who is narrating the poem, it is just very odd and off putting. Overall the poem lacks a sense of true heartfelt struggle of beauty norms or women’s issues, instead it is just a mother looking upon her daughter and sexualizing the situation

“Alexis you are not allowed to this or that just because you are a girl” many family members told me as I was growing up! I never questioned why I was seen as incapable of doing half the things boys did, when in reality I believed I could perform the same actions. The preconceived idea that women should not perform the same activities as men came about long before I was born. In “The Allegory of the Cave,” Plato is able to use an analogy to teach readers that we are trained to think a certain way because of beliefs and perceptions. Likewise, Sojourner Truth’s speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” challenges society’s perception of what it means to be a woman.

Renowned op-ed writer Claire Cain Miller in one of her articles, "Boys and Girls, Constrained by Toys and Costumes" brings our attention to the distinction between boys and girls for choices, this difference leads to the long-term notion of gender roles in the minds of the children. Claire's article is trying to sensitize the general public against gender difference. She tries to be sentimental by pointing out that the gender war started long before we were born, thus having the presence of a gaunt definition of what is for girls and what is for boys.

As for Olds, the interpretation of the theme with her use of imagery is demonstrated through the perspective of a small boy. “They gather in the living room— /short men, men in first grade /with smooth jaws and chins”. (2-4) Olds gives an image to the readers that a even as children they begin to have the structure of older people in their faces. Olds also in the poem uses imagery to paint a picture in how the children already carry adult chatteris in the way they talk perhaps in an sophisticated manner but it gives a sense on the language and posture in the future when they are much older.

At our inception we are simply biotic matter without any sense of gender. However as we age, our sense of gender beyond the objective view of our biology reminds us that men are different from women. Are we truly different entirely from one another, or are the differences in gender brought about by our social interactions? Drawing on the works of authors of Anna Quindlen, Virginia Woolf, and Cathy Song, it is apparent that these divides are not rooted in our genetics. Although, on the surface, they agree that socialization is a cause of gender difference, they convey different meanings for our expectations concerning gender. Woolf’s claim is without an outlet by which women can escape the gender expectations society expects of them, which reinforces

I believe that around the world there is a common misconception that young adults experiencing the transition of puberty are overly dramatic. Making the transformation from an undeveloped child to a developed young adult can be an extremely confusing and complex time and this sentiment is expressed throughout this poem. A metaphor is described by Sharon Hamilton as when “a word or phrase that in literal use designates one kind of thing is applied to a conspicuously different object, concept, or experience, without asserting an explicit comparison” (35). Sharon Old utilizes this literary device, effectively in her metaphor of mathematics in comparison to a young child discovering adulthood in “The Only Girl at the Boys Party”. The mathematics metaphor is used to convey the feeling of complexity brought upon by accepting a new developing body and the different changes within a person during these transformative years. This will be proven in this essay, through the demonstration of two points of evidence. The first point of evidence revolves around the description of the girl’s recently transformed body and the way it’s described as indivisible. The second point of evidence will discuss the metaphor of the pool in comparison to adulthood, and the feelings the poet attributes to this analogy. It will be clear after reading this essay that the application of metaphor can be an impactful way to further someone’s understanding of a topic and to convey an opinion or take-home