Changing Gender Roles

When it comes to controversial topics the subject of gender roles has created quite a stir. In their articles “Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt” by Jean Kilbourne, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning The Social Meanings of Gender” by Aaron H. Devor, and “Bros Before Hos” by Michael Kimmel each source describes in their own ways gender roles. There’s a certain art to persuasion and Kilbourne's article hits the nail right on the head. Her article is the most persuasive because of how well she uses her resources and delivers her argument.

These stereotypical expectations for both genders have been reinforced through generation after generation, In fact, “children five to seven years old understand gender as a function of role” Explains Devor

Why hasn't this consistent pattern changed over time? All three authors seem to have come to the conclusion that any form of change in gender roles leaves individuals vulnerable to becoming the new social outcast or the picked on. Devor's article states that “Society demands different gender performances from us and rewards… or punishes… us differently for conformity to… or from, social norms” as does Kimmel and Kilbourne (472). In Kimmel's article, multiple students describe their fears of not becoming the perfect masculine stereotype through watching others who were victimized or called names like “pussy”, “wuss”, “so gay” for not properly fitting the mold of how their gender should act (543). However, this is just one example in Kimmel's article of the results of “stepping outside the box” of how important it is for individuals to stick to the conformity of the gender role they were assigned. (Kimmel 545). This piece of evidence in Kimmel's argument is excellent and thoroughly convincing, however, Kilbourne goes above and beyond when explaining the difficulties of change. It's not just through gender roles that society is hard at work when it comes to criticising what “should be”. There are plenty of examples of how damaging being different is. “We see this with racism, with homophobia” says Kilbourne, where the color of your skin or showing even a hint of interest in the same gender gets you put up on a pedestal for getting beat up by

Kimmel describes the violence as a result of the values that men are forced to follow because of the gender codes that have been set by society. This code, as Kimmel explains, “leaves boys disconnected from a wide range of emotions” thus, leaving them to bottle all their feelings and become something that they are not (548). In Kimmel's article, when asked what would happen if they stepped outside their designated "gender roles" many students answered "[they’d] lose everything" "[they'd] get beat up", "[they'd] lose [their] friends", "be ostracized" or even "pull a Columbine" (546). These testimonies in Kimmel's article are what makes his argument so successful because they provide insight from a males point of view. Kilbourne, however, takes a different approach giving the blame partly to advertisements. She explains its campaigns like the “Bitch Skateboard” ad in which a man is holding a gun to a woman with the title bitch above her head, that contributes to the leading violence against women by men. Moreover, she expresses how rape is blatantly advertised as if it is an okay thing to do. For example, in her article, there's an alcohol advertisement with the caption “if your date won't listen to reason, try a velvet hammer”(494). Its children, and