The Bechdel-Wallace Test: Social Stereotypes

As most know, Greek Mythology is a very complex concept that is free for interpretation and is shown in multiple ways. Many believe Greek Mythology is fiction, whereas some believe that it is nonfiction. As seen in Barry Strauss’s The Trojan War: A New History, the author argues that the Trojan War was significant and then shows evidence from as of late that supports the concept of the Trojan War actually occurring. Throughout his book he explains and gives insight into what happened during the Trojan War and how it developed based off of Homer’s writing. Strauss’s sole purpose is to inspect what was previously said about the Trojan War and evaluate it enough to the point where he is able to make logical reasoning to determine the

“While strongly condemning any attempt to abuse the person of Muhammad, or an insult to our holy places and prejudice against the faith we reject and strongly condemn the use of force to terrorize innocent people and the killing of innocent people” (Benghazi 11). A quote, said by Libyan Prime Minister, Mustafa Abushagar, as a result to the attack on a United States Embassy in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. This attack is considered an act of terror on the United States and as a result, four Americans were killed. Set in a post 9/11 setting, this event is one of the most controversial. Some people believe Hilary Clinton, former Secretary of State, did not do enough with security at international embassies, while others believe that she did everything she could and was supposed to. The bombing of the US

Back in 1987, Raewyn Connell coined the term hegemonic masculinity in a seminal text, Gender & Power. Hegemonic masculinity refers to the dominant form of masculinity that exists within a particular culture. Relative to this ever changing, idealized form of masculinity are different subordinated masculinities – those within a culture that do not live up to the so-called masculine gold standard. Put simply, there are “real men” and then there are all other men.

Implicit bias is an individual’s internal beliefs regarding others and influences how people conduct themselves in various settings and situations and may result in injustices such as stereotyping or racial profiling. The National Center for States Courts defines implicit bias as “judgement or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes.” This behavior is difficult to identify, because people typically respond and behave in ways that seem appropriate and protect their own interests. Furthermore, these beliefs are more often subconscious than overt. Some groups are working to deter implicit bias and promote diversity.

The Implicit Association Test or IAT is a valuable tool that those in the criminal justice system use; often times during the hiring process candidates will be required to complete the IAT so that hiring officials can see if they have any unconscious bias. The IAT is still relatively new in terms of psychological research only being created in the 1990’s by psychologist Anthony Greenwald (Kaufman, 2011). Individuals who take the race portion of the test are shown pictures of Caucasian and African-American males or females, then are given positive or negative words that they associate with each race as fast as possible. After taking the test it measures the unconscious bias that everyone has deep down (Kaufman, 2011).

Stereotyping is a normal part of every one’s life. Humans, by nature, classify things. We name animals and classify them by common characteristics but stereotyping can have negative repercussions, and everyone does it. In a recent study it was proven that everyone has an unconscious need to stereotype (Paul). In Junteenth and The Invisible man, Ralph Ellison argues that stereotyping can cause mayhem by making the people become something they are not.

The stereotypical labeling of genders can determine one person’s outlook on life. The judgment can make one feel like there is a set rubric to follow in order to remain in the lines regarding which gender they belong to. Such influences from peers or partners can alter

One such scenario is the candidate hiring process where candidates with white sounding names received up to 50% more callbacks than candidates with black sounding names. The paper goes on to explain how the Implicit Association Test, IAT, demonstrates the subtle racial biases that many people have. Since individuals are often unaware of their implicit biases, the paper suggests that self-awareness is necessary to correct for the hidden factors in one’s own environment. One way they suggest fixing this problem is by simply being aware that one has these racial biases, also known as self-awareness. They provide an example where a person had read a psychology paper reporting that people in their profession are subject to certain kinds of racially biased behavior. The person was then inserted in the same scenario a few days later, and adjusted their behavior or actions to compensate for the racial bias they read about. When the person corrects his or her actions to incorporate the racial bias, he or she is more likely to give a more accurate assessment of the situation. This is because they are now self-aware of hidden biases that could negatively influence their

Moule, J. (2009). Understanding Unconscious Bias and Unintentional Racism. The Phi Delta Kappan, Vol. 90, Issue 5, 320-326.

Disney released the classic film “Pocahontas” on June 23, 1995 about a young girl who is a member of the Algonquin tribe with her father being the Chief. The movie takes place near Jamestown in the early 1600’s. Pocahontas father, has arranged for her to marry a man,Kocoum, who is thought to be the greatest warrior in the village. Pocahontas, was not too thrilled about the idea and felt like there was something better awaiting her. Meanwhile, Captain John Smith along with Governor Ratcliffe and other English soldiers and sailors are aboard a ship in hopes of finding riches from the New World to bring to their home to England.

Masculinity is described as possession of attributes considered typical of a man. Hegemonic masculinity is a form of masculine character with cultural idealism and emphasis that connects masculinity to competitiveness, toughness, and women subordination. Masculinity hegemonic is the enforcement of male dominion over a society. Masculine ideology dates back to the time of agrarian and the industrial revolution in Europe when survival compelled men to leave their homesteads to work in industries to earn a living for their families while women remained at home to take care of family affairs (Good and Sherrod 210). Women did not work in industries then because industrial labor was considered too physical beyond their capacity. This led to

How is gender and gender roles socially constructed? Soulliere states that gender is a cultural creation that is frequently developed by and represented through popular cultural media such as advertisements, music, sports, and entertainment television (Soulliere 2006). The article “Wrestling with Masculinity: Messages about Manhood in the WWE” by Danielle M. Soulliere (2006), examines messages about manhood revealed by televised professional wrestling (Soulliere 1). Messages concerning masculinity and manhood were investigated and compared to the cultural version of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). Soulliere’s research proves that the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) depicts messages, which supports the dominant hegemonic form of masculinity (Soulliere 2006). To further grasp and understand Soulliere’s hypothesis, we must first examine her research methods and outcomes.

First, hegemonic masculinity is the ultimate description of a male and anyone who does not fit this description is seen as inferior and unworthy (Kimmel, 2012). In America, the hegemonic men are described as being white, middle class, married, straight, church going men that provide for their families (Kimmel, 2012). The problem with hegemonic masculinity is that it is largely unobtainable and is more of an idea that is held up because many may never achieve it (Connell and Messerschmidt, 2005). People that don’t feel like they fit the standard definition of hegemonic masculinity still feel like they have to subscribe to it in order to avoid being degraded or

In order to fully understand a more in depth evaluation of both why and how men conform to this social phenomenon, one must know how hegemonic masculinity is defined. This term was made popular by Connell’s work Gender and Power which critiqued the male social role and how hegemonic masculinity has developed (Connell 830). Scholars agree that hegemonic masculinity is characterized by “being emotionally detached and

There are distinct differences between Sex and Gender. Sex is divided up into two divisions, male or female, based upon their reproductive system. Gender is the notion set by society on what social behaviours are acceptable for males and females, for example the expectation that females are more caring or nurturing than men. Gender can be further divided into two subcategorise: identity and stereotype. Gender identity is the concept that your sex and gender do not have to be the same but can different, i.e. a male at birth can identify as a female. These notions of acceptable behaviour set by society create gender stereotypes for both male and female, which can cause a person to reject their gender identity if they do not conform these gender stereotypes.