Urban Legends Essay

Benevolent sexists apparently consider that women need to adopt a more conservative attitude in order to avoid falling victim to rapists. The article focuses on an Australian research that was meant to analyze an acquaintance rape scenario and determine the impact that gender and victim stereotypes can have on such a case. The study generated information showing that society has a different understanding of victim stereotypes in comparison to gender stereotypes and that factors related to each of them can be altered with the purpose of making it possible for them to fit a particular

In the 1900’s it was a social accepted practice to believe one’s gender restricted what an individual was cable of doing. During this time period and going back further in the past the main ideology of society was males were there to lead, provide and protect the fairer sex. Susan Glaspell uses stereotypes to disprove the notion that women are less superior than their male counterparts by having the women solve the murder of Mr. John Wright.

Upon reviewing the details of Why Nice Guys Finish Last, the author Julia Serano emphasizes that with society being the way it is, men tend to become “bad boys” because society and culture is brought up to believe that the way to win a womans heart and attention is by being sexually aggressive. Julia Serano argues that in order to recognize rape culture, we must first learn to understand the predator / prey mindset. In this essay, I will argue that in order to neutralize the predator / prey mindset, society needs to stop looking at women as the prey and the men as the predators. I believe that if society learns how to overlook men as being hunters and women as the prey, that would make the amount of rape occurrences drop massively.

The general public depicted in An's story utilizes a test to decide how masculine or feminine an individual is to dole out them to specific assignments and sexual orientation particular positions. While this is by all accounts fairly tragic at to start with, it quite accurately reflects the present society. In spite of the fact that individuals are not compelled to seek after professions that fit their cliché gender roles, in reality, there are unmistakable "manly" and "ladylike" connotations with numerous policed acts, wherein not adhered to, is met with prejudice, violence and varying levels of ridicule.

“There were stories in the newspapers, of course, corpses in ditches or the woods… but they were about other women, and men who did such things were other men. None of them were the men we knew. The newspaper stories were like dreams to us, bad dreams dreamt by other. How awful, we would say, and they were, but they were awful without being believable. They were too melodramatic, they had a dimension that was not the dimension of our lives” (57).

In the book, Slut!—Growing up Female with a Bad Reputation by Leora Tanenbaum, she collects a multitude of testimonies from women who have been subjected to sexual harassment, physical abuse, rape, incest and slut-bashing from all ethnicities and locations around the globe. One astonishing truth approaches you at the beginning of the book. Tanenbaum enters a table that shows the positives and negatives of being a sexually active man and a sexually active woman, unfortunately the truth is absolutely ludicrous. The table states a total of two positives of being a sexually active woman; hot and sexy. On the contrary, it states three negatives for sexually active men, compared to the twenty-eight negatives for sexually active women. This list consists of names from “slut” and “Jezebel” all the way to “prostitute.”

For centuries now, women have been bombarded with an infinite amount of conflicting and overwhelming messages about what it means to be a woman and which behaviors are considered appropriate, especially regarding sexual behavior. Traditionally, women have always been defined in relation to men. Men are seen as strong, while woman are seen as weak. Men are superior and women are their subordinates. This is exemplified by the fact that “masculine” traits such as strong, non-emotional, and competitive are considered socially desirable traits, while “feminine” traits such as docile, emotional, and passive are not. We evidently live in a society that is not only sexist, but also undoubtedly racist. The white woman typically appears as virtuous and pure, while the woman of color typically appears as unclean and tainted. If the woman of color also happens to be poor, she appears as being even more worthless. Therefore, in the United States, femininity as a concept is inextricably linked with concepts of race and class. In the present paper, I discuss the effect that this is having on women and their sexuality, the events that have paved the traveled path towards gender equality, and current issues plaguing women today, such as the attack on our reproductive rights and our value as women.

Sexual assault and violence is increasing due to advertisements misinforming people into believing that such behavior is acceptable. “In the 1960’s Kilbourne found that she received more recognition for her looks rather than her intelligence” (Grean and Lidinisky, 490). Perhaps this is why Kilbourne wrote her book, Deadly Persuasion, analyzing this problem. Kilbourne found herself in the environment bubble the media is creating where the objective analysis of people is acceptable. Kilbourne’s book is an attempt to bring awareness towards how much harm the media’s portrayal of people is generating. Kilbourne’s book is mainly targeted towards women, and is trying to spur them towards action in an attempt to change the world and, more

Popular culture is often a reflection of society; both literature and the media have the capacity to cement ideas in the minds of readers and viewers. In many cases, the notions and stories glorified by the media refrain from sharing a true depiction of society and are narrow-minded in their focus. Recently, the feminist movement has denounced popular culture for its ignorance, fighting for a more realistic portrait to be painted by those with the power to reach millions. Specifically, both Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “The Danger of a Single Story” share how the classic gender stereotypes seen in popular culture are unable to capture the full spectrum of stories that define society, and are limiting in their portrayals of women. Moreover, both authors share personal stories, reference prominent world figures, and cite relevant statistics in their works. Therefore, in both Bad Feminist and “The Danger of a Single Story”, Roxane Gay and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie appeal to readers pathos, logos, and ethos in order to construct the argument that the single story of women in popular culture is stereotypical and restrictive.

Jody Miller uses the urban neighborhoods of St. Louis as a canvas to paint a picture of the constant struggles that young African-American women face. Such as, neighborhood violence, sexual violence, gender and sexual harassment in school, as well as dating violence within their lives on a daily basis; Miller focuses on the gender inequalities that are present within the urban communities and how patriarchy is ingrained in the young men of urban subculture. The girls views the males of their communities as being more susceptible to violence because of their masculine personas and gang participation. This shows that although the girls acknowledge the potential victimization’s they are likely to face, they still succumb to their victimization, categorizing the violence against them as commonplace. This leads them to viewing themselves as second-class citizens within the community. While they have acquired knowledge that the neighborhood streets at nighttime are a male-dominated place, even though it is a public space for anyone, it is seen as dangerous for women at night, this example illustrates the preconceived need for self-isolation within the neighborhood. “Gail stated I’ll be walkin’ at night and people just be walkin’ behind you I mean, I do not know, everybody gets scared to walk at nighttime, so I guess it’s just normal” (Miller,2008, p36)

In society, there is a lot of violence, in particular, violence against women. Women are very often murdered, far more than is discussed. We never hear about most of these cases, simply because there are so many of them. 25% of women have experienced some sort of domestic violence, and 20% have faced sexual violence, making having faced violence almost normal. The notion that violence is something normal is very dangerous, as it is not only harmful to survivors of violence, but it also makes it more likely that more people will be victims of violence as perpetrators can get away with it more easily. Though violence against women is not talked about enough, our flaws as a society are reflected in literature. An example of an instance in which violence against women appears in literature is in John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men. Said instance is the death of “Curley’s Wife”. She is blamed for her own death, and she is clearly not valued as a whole person, no one reacts emotionally to her death. Victim blaming leads to the normalization of violence and the devaluing of women.

Every day I go on TV, there is at least one story or more relating to rape, assault towards woman, and of course violence. It is getting repetitive; as a result, more and more people are starting to brush it off their shoulders like a dust. Within rape culture, there is controversy on which it is to blame. The writers Walter Moseley and Rae Gomes write an article about the remedies for rape culture “Ten Things to End Rape Culture” and how it can create an atmosphere that enable both sexes to change for the better. In “Masculinity Is More Than a Mask”, Christina Hoff Sommers discusses the relationship between violence and masculinity when she critiques and analyzes a documentary based on the biological side of masculinity.

An Annotated Bibliography for The Main Cause In Negative Gender Stereotypes and Traditional Gender Roles:

In American society, there is an obvious gender hierarchy in which men are viewed as strong, powerful, and valuable while women are viewed as weak and timid. Women face this challenge every day, and more prominently when they are trying to go against the hierarchy. Regardless of how many social norms or “power ceilings” that women break, they constantly face messages that perpetuate stereotypes, which reinforces this gender hierarchy. At the same time, men are also facing similar, gender-related pressures. Because men are on the top of the social hierarchy, there is an expectation that they be strong, brave, and confident. This causes an undue burden on the men that are unable to fulfill these gendered expectations.

In the text "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time", Christopher Boone suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism (QUOTE). This means he can be sometimes a handful for his parents. It is because of his condition that his mother leaves and his relationship with his father breaks down. But its not just Christopher's fault his parents are having a hard time. They them selves make some bad decisions that lead to each of them feeling frustrated and even forcing themselves to do some morally bad things (QUOTE). It is these things that Christopher parents do that we, the readers, cannot accept, despite Christopher's