The Gender Knot Unraveling Our Patriarchal Legacy Analysis

It seems like we arrived at a deadlock, where no progress can be made about it. We still have feminists fighting for their rights, but I doesn’t seem to work that much, although they have much more rights than they had fifty years ago. But the question that remains is: what is women’s and men’s role? In “The World on Turtle’s Back”, we can see an stereotypical view on male and female roles.

Every woman has her own responsibilities in society in which men are still considered the strongest. Although women’s lifes are more difficult than men’s life. A woman has to take care of her work, her personal life, her kids, and her husband. On the other side, men have to work and pay bills. In addition, men don 't have to cook, clean and be responsible for kids.

I guess growing up in America, I tend to have a mindset that anything is possible. The mindset to always think that anything can be change if we fight for it or if we have the will to change it. One thing that I failed to realized when I brought up the ideas of gender roles is that, this is society and the world itself and not just me. Through this experience, it’s better to be realistic.

In Robert Jensen’s article “The High Cost of Manliness”, he states that the idea of masculinity is a bad thing and they should get rid of it. This article debates on the common stereotypes of men, as he states: “That dominant conception of masculinity in U.S. Culture is easily summarized: Men are assumed to be naturally competitive and aggressive, and being a real man is therefore marked by the struggle for control, conquest, and domination” (par. 4). Nonetheless, there are some traits that men and woman share, such as, caring, compassion, and tenderness. These traits often depend on the situation, since a man cannot always be this way, whereas, a woman is often expected to have these traits.

History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be

Brief Summary Aaron Devor discusses the patriarchally-expected gender roles of today’s society. He delves into the discussion of femininity versus masculinity. Society associates femininity with weakness, whilst associating masculinity with greatness. Furthermore, Aaron sheds light on today’s societal gender norms.

A patriarchal system refers to “A form of social organization in which males dominate females” (Macionis). America is still considered a patriarchal society even though feminists are rising up more and more. Some researchers claim that biological factors like the difference of hormones and how the brain is structured differently is a major part as to why America cannot seem to break the chain of patriarchy. Through this chapter examples of how gender is perceived/rooted links to the way our society is set up. Men still dominate work fields such as engineering, computer science, and physical science. Although women have went from 20 to 60 percent work force population, jobs are relatively gender base. Women still have mostly “pink-collar jobs” with male overhead. While America has come a long way from the past, things like gender inequality, job stratification, and unequal pay make America a patriarchal society.

From birth, men and women were born equal to one another. Both genders have the ability to share the same opportunities, and achieve whatever desires they choose in life. In our current society as well as the past, this does not entirely follow through. “Gender is a social construct that specifies the socially and culturally appropriate roles that men and women are to play” (Kearl 2011). Going along that “it is one of the most universal measures upon which status is based (Kearl 2011).

Life in the twenty-first century has its perks. There have been some amazing advances in the world, with major breakthroughs in science, medicine, technology, and more. But the part we take for granted most is our ability to be human beings. For the majority of history, women were seen as lesser than men. Men thought that they were emotional, hormone driven creatures with no greater purpose in life than to bear children.

There are no men but only the great WE, one indivisible and forever.”(19). To further restrict the freedom of the people in equality’s society, men

The growing rift in today’s polarized political and socio-economic climates beg the question: when did this estrangement begin? Similar to the polarization of the political and socio-economic climates, the polarization between gender values has likewise always been an object of study for scientists. The ideas of gender specific behaviors and attributes have been around for a long time, but the ideas of where they belong are hardly agreed upon. Rhoda Jordan, a spiritual mentor, writer, and actress, speaks of a harmony between values that reside in each person, regardless of gender. In order to have a world that is inclusive and available for all, Jordan argues through the article “The Problem With Masculinity” that this distinction breeds hostility

Changing Times “We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” - Gloria Steinem We can observe in today's society a massive shift in how women act and are portrayed. Their stereotypes are changing quickly and they grab most of the attention. But the male stereotype has remained very much the same throughout history. It can be seen in early in history that males have played relatively the same roles in society.

It also says that men are doing a lot worse than women when it comes to getting a bachelor's degree. That these men are irresponsible and still not suited enough for adulthood. That they have not accomplished all the

Men and women should be treated equal in Jobs, at home and sports. They are biological differences, but not limited. In the 1920s women could not work jobs they were to be housewives, they were supposed to take care of kids, cook and clean. Basically they were property of men they had no say in what they want to with their lives. This was

Men in America In the recent years there has been a greater amount of attention brought to the gender roles in America. This is prevalent in many different forms in our society including advertisements and articles. In the Article “The men America left behind” by Kirsten Weir we take a look at the many roles that men take on compared to the women in our current American society. Kristen Weir is a well-known female author that specializes in the science and health industry. These attributes of “masculinity” in men are often the effects of women finding these characteristics attractive in men.