Maintaining Control Chapter Seven: Patriarchy, Politics, and Government describes an America that is very similar to England, on the other side of the Atlantic, especially in Virginia, and an America that is starting to resemble an early United States. Virginia colony was very similar to England in a number of ways. Elites held the most control in society, wealthy people sent children to Europe for education, and families intermarried.
Being a doctor requires patients to feel confident in their provider, and when coworkers provide a sense of powerlessness, it can make patients feel scared to be treated. This is a continuation of the idea that women are underqualified for their positions. Doctor Harper is also faced with this issue, being discriminated against by her coworkers. “... I am waiting for a callback from hospital ethics. I told them the whole case because I do not think he can refuse an exam and medical interventions…
On February 3, 1821 in Bristol, England a remarkable woman was born. Her name was Elizabeth Blackwell. At the time most of society gave women minimum rights, because they were thought to not be as educated as men. But Blackwell proved everyone wrong. She was an intelligent woman, who followed her dreams.
Women’s worse health is because they have lower socioeconomic and subordinate status which causes greater stress. Stress can weaken the immune system, cause higher rates of depression and mood disorders. Gender equality has progressed over the years however women still experience discrimination which negatively impacts both their mental and physical health. Researchers found that physicians are not taking female patients pain as serious as men’s because they believe it’s a psychological problem due to anxiety or emotional stress. Women are not as likely to receive the appropriate treatment or diagnostic testing as males and physicians were disregarding serious health problems in female
Burak defines gender socialization as “the process of interaction through which we learn the gender norms of our culture and acquire a sense of ourselves as feminine, masculine, or even androgynous” (Burack, 1). According to Burack, people of different genders behave differently not due to biological factors, but due to socialization that teaches individuals to behave in a particular way in order to belong to a certain gender. For example, women may tend to be nurturing, not because they are biologically programed to be caretakers, but as a result of society teaching them through toys and media to act as mothers. In this way, gender becomes a performance based on expectations rather than natural behaviors or biology, a phenomenon called “doing
As a woman learning to be herself in a patriarchy and a culture in which she could not express herself “Edna looked straight before her...felt no interest...part and parcel of an alien world” (Chopin 60). Edna is separated from society, seeming to have given up on finding herself within a society that she is now opposed to. She has lost hope in society, feeling as if she was in another world that had become evil and against her. In The Awakening Kate Chopin develops a theme of how Edna is struggling to find s self identity, while stuck in a patriarchal society. Edna begins to learn about new aspects of herself and figure herself out.
I have not had a negative experience with the healthcare system based on my gender. What I have experienced in the healthcare system is discrimination due to my size. I am on the larger side, but pretty healthy. I exercise and eat well enough, and (besides my weight) my vital signs indicate that I am ok.
In his essay “Why do we make so much of gender?” an excerpt from his 1997 book, The Gender Knot: Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy, Allan G Johnson argues about patriarchy and the differences both between men and women. He first argues about how important roles are to reproduction, “the roles are crucial to human life “(546). Next he goes to argue about patriarchy, the idea of a male-identified society (547). Third he argues that men are defined more by their manhood then adulthood (548).
Through implicit bias, Black women receive different healthcare compared to women of other races. It was recorded that Black women experience more maternal health complications in comparison to women and they are three times more likely to have fibroids than white women with the fibroid occuring at a younger age (National Partnership for Women & Families). The barrier of being Black is clearly impacted through discrimination, creating healthcare settings that seem unwelcoming and uncomfortable. Unwelcoming environments can result in Black women avoiding health spaces in fear of unequal treatment. Studies show that Black women are more likely to have their pain dismissed by professionals which leads to misdiagnosis and undertreatment (Black Women’s Maternal Health).
Another aspect that Nussler brings up is how as a woman in a Southern aristocracy, Mrs. Compson is not privyed to any of the financial decisions which harms her and her family after Mr. Compson passes away. If Mrs. Compson had known about money, she might have been able to make the right investments and saved her family’s reputation and prevented Jason from scamming his sister, Caddy. As a victim of this patriarchy which prevents women from learning anything or taking control of anything, Mrs. Compson is useless to her family in terms of providing. Nüssler utilizes the quote, “We Bascombs(Mrs. Compson’s maiden name she takes back after Mr. Compson’s death) need nobody’s charity, certainly not that of a fallen women”().
In ancient Indian cultures, women were expected to show respect for their husband by throwing themselves to their own death on their husband’s burning funeral pyre. In the more contemporary Victorian cultures, women were shamed for not spending visible and substantial lengths of time mourning their husband after he died. While acting as a superficially less extreme example, the Lady in Black of Chopin’s The Awakening who only appears briefly and has no lines also emphasizes the arbitrary social expectations put on women and the dire outcomes of systematic oppression. The Lady in Black does not have a proper name in the novel and she only appears wearing all black.
“Sex and Gender Differences in Health” examines the importance gender and sex plays in healthcare because of the obvious biological and pathological differences in men and women. The reading summarizes the purpose of reexamining the medical field, “To discuss and address properly the differences in health and health care between men and women, it is necessary to distinguish between sex and gender and their respective effects on health” (Sex and Gender Differences in Health). For centuries, men have been leaders in the health field; subsequently, treatments have been focused on the male gender. If different approaches had been made in situations like that of Perkins, women may have received better treatment in the past for diseases men do not commonly suffer from, like postpartum depression. Strides are continuously being made to ensure equal healthcare and diagnosis for women; however, people who face intersectionality suffer immensely from a lack of available resources and misjudgments.
I remembered when I was young, there were plenty of movie that has girls play dolls and boys play football. These movies were popular among children that day until now, girls were meant to be soft and boys were meant to be powerful and strong. Then one day, I’ve watched a movie that has a girl play in the football team and I were surprised because it’s the first time that I’ve seen a movie that shows girl can be both femininity and masculinity. This movie has a huge impact on young children behaviour and has influenced children in constructing gender roles in the society. ‘Little Giants’ has shown the characteristic of the main character to be abnormal and changing the gender stereotypes in young audiences’ perspective.
Though men are entering into what was a predominately female occupation, they are measuring their patient interaction off of a feminine standard/scale? We can find the same standard in waiting professions. It is pointed out that many associate waiting with the majority in this field being female, and male wait staff are looked at differently and placed on the same feminine scale. One thing I want to critique though, with the new age of different sexual cultures unveiling, we must understand that these specific ideations no longer describe us in these occupational settings. First, we must do away with phrases such as: male nurse, female waiter, etc.
Being pressured into conventional roles today is less common than back in the 40’s and 50’s when society had nothing but conforming roles for men and women in society. examples of this come from how men and women were brought up, culture and media. If it were not for these three factors gender roles would be farfetched. But unfortunately, there is still this pressure of gender roles and one way or another everyone has to make the decision of whoever they want to be and live with those roles. In this essay culture, media and how both men and women being raised affect gender roles and socialization.
