Susan Faludi The Naked Citadel

The Citadel symbolizes the enduring nature of traditional gender roles. It has fought long and hard to maintain an air of strictness, military refinement and manliness. However the traditional views enforced by the Citadel and its interaction within the context of the outside world has created what Susan Faludi, author of “The Naked Citadel”, refers to as an “atmosphere of cruelty”. Throughout her essay Faludi uses primary witnesses and factual evidence to expose the violent injustices done to “knobs”, freshman cadets, by their senior counterparts at The Citadel. In his essay, “The Power of Context”, Malcolm Gladwell, argues that violence results as a response to social context and thus can be completely avoided or treated. Based on Gladwell 's theory of The Power of Context, the senior cadets are not directly culpable for their violent behavior; their actions do not create the “atmosphere of cruelty” rather the atmosphere defines them. The “atmosphere of cruelty” itself, is defined by social cues derived from historical context which prompt the cadets to dominate. The walls surrounding, The Citadel also perpetuate violence by separating the cadets from normal social conventions and boundaries. However because the “atmosphere of cruelty”, is not a problem caused by some innate or psychological instability on the part of the cadets, it can easily be treated by adjusting little things in the environment such as eliminating the use of derogatory language and presenting the

Teenage rebellion is typically portrayed in stories, films, and other genres as a testosterone-based phenomenon. There is an overplayed need for one to acknowledge a boy’s rebellion against his father, his life direction, the “system,” in an effort to become a man, or rather an adult. However, rarely is the female addressed in such a scenario. What happens when little girls grow up? Do they rebel? Do they, in a sudden overpowering rush of estrogen, deny what has been taught to them from birth and shed their former youthful façades? Do they turn on their mothers? In Sharon Olds’ poem, “The Possessive,” the reader is finally introduced to the female version of the popular coming-of-age theme as a simple

Men and women face many social obstacles when faced within a community that has demanding masculine and feminine roles. Men are projected to be extremely masculine and not allow fear, anxiety, or vulnerability to show through. Women, on the other hand, are encouraged to be strong, pursue their careers, and experiment with their sexuality. Although women are gaining power, they are still left with a feeling of confusion about themselves. Leslie Bell author of, “Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom”, reveals the idea of women experimenting sexually, but at the same time experiencing a sense of confusion and pressure to settle down and marry in their twenties. The societal view is confusing for twenty-something women which causes women to demonstrate either/ or thinking within themselves. Bell’s patient, Jayantha is splitting her desires by deciding to be bad and rejecting relationship and not showing signs of vulnerability. Due to her confusion, Jayanthi chose an identity that she could fully control; the bad girl. As mentioned previously, men are also exposed to certain morals within society which are explored in Susan Faludi’s “The Naked Citadel”. All of the cadets live as “humans” behind the walls of The Citadel, where they can express their inner humanity, escape from difficulties of being a man in the real world, while still following the standards of manliness. The Citadel is a place that allows men to detach from the societal

In Zhou, Li’s article “The Sexism of School Dress Codes,” she explains how the dress codes are diminishing children's self-esteem and, is mostly sexist towards girls as well as the LGBT community. To reach a wide audience including students, parents, and high school administrators, she relies on a wide variety of sources from high school students to highly credited professors. Zhou creates a strong argument against strict dress codes and encourages audience to take a stand against out of date dress codes that schools implement, using the rhetorical tools ethos, pathos, and logos to advance her argument.

In this novel, one could say that the main character, Carrie, is ‘not like other girls’— she’s overweight, with greasy hair and uncontrolled acne. In fact, the novel notes that her excess weight resulted in part from the bullying when her description states that “she felt so miserable…the only way to fill that…hole was to eat” (King 39). She doesn’t have many friends and is the complete opposite of a ‘Cosmo Girl’. In the words of the school coach, “She [had always been] the group scapegoat” (King 21). From her description in the novel, a reader can see that in terms of gender and gender roles, she was not very “feminine”. In 1981, the Journal of Sex Research came out with a study that categorized the results of certain combinations of “low-feminine” preferences in a household could affect it. In the case of Carrie’s household, according to the study, one could characterize Carrie’s bible-thumping mother as having “low-feminine identification”, as she often took the masculine role of disciplining her child. Carrie also had “low-feminine identification”, seen by her carelessness of her appearance. The study falls parallel to the argument that women propelled their own anguish as it says that “A frustrating and rejecting mother, one who keeps her distance between herself and her daughter, may cause such weak

In the Naked Citadel, the boy’s identity is essentially being performed. They are distinguished as superior non-feminine men, while behind the scenes they are typically performing feminine acts. Violently harassing the young knobs, showering together, and making their beds together was where they could show their true selves. Faludi mentions how “the result is ruthless intimacy, in which physical abuse stands in for physical affection, and every display of affection must be counterbalanced by a display of sadism”(Faludi, 100). The boys become so infatuated with showing their feminine side that when they snap back to reality they realize it is a sign of weakness and use anger to feel relief. The Cadets act like they are on a stage playing a role in a play much like the Treehouse where men dress up as Drag Queens. Both identities are being performed, which means while playing a role you are still truly yourself. This is also seen in Biographies of Hegemony, while Princeton and Harvard students are getting recruited, they put on this elite, smart act of attraction to be a part of this high institution of Wall Street. It is claimed that “the most distinguishing features of investment banking are their smartness and exclusivity” (Ho, 166). This shows how by putting themselves in a different

talking about universities around America and the violence occurring in them. In Lawrence “a large group of men raged inside three girl dorms and five sorority houses but only a “single pink brassiere” had said to be taken.” May 26 1952, Cpl. William Cranston, United States Marine Corps wrote a letter to the dean of Kansas University that “if the men want a raid, to draft them and send them to raid on the Chinese Communist lines.” The dean immediately blamed the national press for blowing the panty raid out of proportion and he insured to Cpl. Cranston that the male college students were responsible and the leaders of the panty raid will be expelled, in other words drafted. Chapter 3 Responsible Sex, women and men had different interest when

After reading the essays “The Naked Citadel” and selections from “Hard To Get” by Susan Faludi and Leslie Bell, readers are presented with the various hardships young adults of both sexes face. While Faludi’s essay focuses on men and their hardships in a controlled environment like the Citadel to simulate how a “real man” should live in the real world, Bell’s essay focuses on women out in said real world and the different hardships they have to endure due to society’s standards of conduct. Both texts speak about sexuality, gender identity and expression and how they affect how one’s life will unfold depending on how different any of the three terms mentioned are from society’s traditionally accepted standards. By attempting to be a more original individual with strong characteristics and a unique personality, one should be aware that there will be challenges ahead for them, for people fear what they do not know. Society tends to ostracize and at times retaliate against those who choose to disregard gender roles. In addition, society prevents men and women from actualizing their potentials and achieving self-fulfillment by enforcing a strict set of gender norms. These gender norms leave individuals devoid of their humanity by demanding that they meet the extremes of many behavioral and sexual spectrums. Men are expected to act masculine, stoic, insensitive, etc. while women are expected to be conservative, feminine, charming, etc. without exception. With no in-between,

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex” (US Constitution 19th Amendment). These were the few words that thousands of women fought for. From the beginning of mankind women have been treated unequally from men. Women have had to fight to win the same rights as the men who were born with them. As women progressed gaining equal rights as men, society also became more advanced changing its guidelines of how women should act. Leslie Bell in her story, “Selections from Hard to Get: Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” discusses how women nowadays have to adhere and alter their personalities to meet society’s new norms. Often women who try to change themselves experience “splitting”. Bell gives examples of women, her patients, who have dealt with “splitting” and talks about how they changed themselves to fit into society. Some ideas from Bell’s story can be related to Susan Faludi’s story, “The Naked Citadel.” The Citadel is an all boys military school, but this all changes when Shannon Faulkner, a girl, is allowed to attend it. Since no other girl has attended The Citadel, Shannon does not know how to adjust and act in the new atmosphere. Women, like Bell’s patients and Shannon, have tried to changed themselves to fit into the new society. These women did not want to be outcasts, so they had to adjust to the new world. Men have had it easier

At the start of Barnard's fall open house, a female speaker immediately caught my attention by stating that the reason that Barnard had a reputation for challenging the students was "because of feminism." From that statement and the explanation following it, I knew that I wanted to be at a college that not only acknowledged the reality between males and females in the world but empowered women to defy it. I was in awe of the fact that Barnard set the bar high so that the students could work harder, as opposed to setting the bar low and not challenging them. Later in the day, a panel of women dispelled the notion that Barnard students are "cutthroat" and instead, reinforced the idea that they motivate each other to succeed rather than compete. Barnard

The autumn of 1969 brought with it nearly 700 female students to Yale College as first-years and as transfers when the College voted to go coeducational. With this admission, female students catalysed the reformation of the archaic cultural, intellectual, and political mechanisms of Yale College, helping push the school closer to the Yale we know today. Through activism and feminist movements, and intellectual and social presence, the new students affected the streets, the classrooms, and the social scenes. This social revision and political revolution changed the university, but how did it change its soundscape?

In this way, at its core, the problem at hand is one of power. Because she is different, she is a threat to their own identities and own position within the system of power. As a result, Jess’s peers must take her identity away from her. By creating a guessing game out of her gender gender [“a group of girls squealed as I passed, ‘Is it animal, mineral, or vegetable?” (24)], or letting her know Jess “[isn’t] a girl’s name” (25), her classmates deprive her of the option to define her own identity. As she and her peers “mature”, so does the caliber of harassment. When she’s young enough to describe the sky as “crayon blue” (17) the bullying manifests as tying her up and stripping her to “see how [she] tinkles” (18) and once she’s in high school, it progresses even further to the rape. The dissonance of needing to categorize her while at the same time being unable to do so is perhaps so conflicting they have nowhere to go but violence.

In presenting one of the novel’s main male figures, Luke, as one who is uncomprehending of the female concern, and Kevin Franklin as someone for whom female women in slavery is beyond true understanding, Atwood and Butler demonstrate the ease with which “enlightened” and “progressive” men, with their lack of understanding in their privilege as men and supposed understanding of the female condition, can become complacent, and perhaps to some degree, complicit, in the face of suffering. Atwood takes it a step further with Commander Waterford, who believes the establishment of Gilead to be a true realization of the defense of women respectively, by demonstrating just how much of a threat misguided men can be to the feminist movement. Atwood and Butler’s works are especially relevant in the current political landscape, as misogyny has returned to mainstream conversation and threatens to affect all policy decisions for the foreseeable future. Being the only man in a Women’s Literature class, my experience has made apparent to me that men’s respect, understanding, support and participation are imperative in fostering

By examining some of my personal stories about being reproved for dress code violations from elementary to high school, the purpose of this autoethnography is to examine how various commonplace public school dress code policies affect young women and their relationships with their bodies. Public dress code policies are often gender-normative and discriminatory to girls because their bodies are being sexualized and critically assessed. While it is often a challenge to evoke certain memories faultlessly, the stories that I did remember helped to better apprehend my experience while I was researching the gender politics of institutional dress codes.

Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States, was often criticised during her husband’s presidency in regards to her appearance. Some saw her as too masculine, too powerful, or too homely. These ideologies have underlying sexism, as they compare her physical traits to her intelligence or leadership ability. On the other hand, many saw Michelle Obama as a symbol of femininity in its rawest form: perseverance. She graciously persevered through the tumult of the presidency and the sexism she faced, all while promoting her own sense of womanhood. This notion of perseverance through femininity can be applied to an array of literature, particularly The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the novel, the main character, Hester Prynne, faces hardships from her straight-laced town that revolve around her sense of femininity, which the author implements in her. However, this focus on Hester’s femininity often backfires on Hawthorne, making the text even more sexist. Author Nathaniel Hawthorne intends to implement femininity in Hester, who becomes a symbol to promote the strength and perseverance of womankind, yet falters by enforcing gender roles and misogynistic stereotypes that perpetuate the perceived inferiority of women.