The first
reading, "The Sociological Imagination" by C. Wright Mills begins by
discussing the relation between a persons' history and biography. In other words, our lives reflect a
historical pattern and reflect what is the norm for that time period. In Judith Lorber's article "Believing Is
Seeing: Biology As An Ideology", also touches upon this subject by giving
the example of the peoples' thoughts about men and women in the 1800s and
now. During the 1800s, men and women were
thought as being the exact same but with reversed private parts. Currently, the views of people have changed
and they believe that men and women are almost two different species but they
are made of the same material. The
difference in hormones and organs is what separates men and women. Since the viewpoints between men and women
have changed other the years, gender rules have also changed. An example Lorber gives is gender segregation
in sports. In earlier years, women were
not allowed to participate in any sporting activities yet today women sports
are extremely popular. However, there
are still huge differences between men and women sports. Similar sports have different regulations
based on the gender playing; for example, men's baseball has a larger field,
different bats, smaller gloves, and a smaller ball while women's softball,
which is essentially the same as baseball, contains a smaller field, slower pitching,
bigger gloves, and bigger balls. On
television there is a 92% coverage on only male sports. During these shows the male athletes are
usually referred to by their last names but during the 8% of the women's sport
coverage the female athletes are always referred to by their first names (Lorber
571). According to Lorber, the biggest
difference between men and women's sports is how they are portrayed. Men athletics "glorify their strength,
power, and violence" meanwhile women athletics emphasize their "beauty,
grace, and thin bodies"(573). Referring
back to Mill's point on history affecting biography, the biography of a women
is significantly different now than a biography of a women in the 1800s. Today a women can be more athletic and
independent which proves how society's changes in history have affected the
personality of most women.
In our week's
third reading, “Becoming a
Gendered Body: Practices of Preschool” by Karin A. Martin, it discusses how the
development of the natural body is affected by its' surroundings. Naturally men and women are born with different
characteristics; they "sit, stand, gesture, walk, and throw differently" (Martin 494). Martin's main point is that these natural
tendencies that men and women do with their bodies stem from their childhood
education. The way teachers have taught
kids to be obedient, play, and learn has influenced the way their bodies act in
a certain situation. From the beginning
teachers, and also parents, tell children to behave like "young
ladies" or "young gentlemen" which automatically puts a label on
the difference between the two genders (Martin 496). The classroom experiment Martin conducted
further proves the point on how society or a more powerful figure can influential
a persons' behavior. The result of the
experiment showed that the natural body movements between the boys and girls
were significantly different in the preschool that contain more gender based
rules. Clothing also separated the boys
and girls; girls usually wore pink while boys never did and stuck to primary
colors (498). The game dress up also
caused a separation in genders because more girls participated in the game and
more female clothes were added to each collection. The results of this experiment continues and
further proves that our society has created this huge division between males
and females.
It appears that the separation
between men and women has grown over the years but it seems questionable if
society will continue to separate the two or bring them back together. Do you think as history continues the split
between men and women will grow, decrease, or stay the same?
Lily Cannon
ReplyDeleteSomething that stood out to me in Jill’s response would be the fact she brought out about how boys and girls are separated by what they wear. Martin discusses in the article that most girls wear pink and boys are seen in colors like black, greens, and other primary colors. This idea I believe has definitely changed throughout the years due to the evolving fashion trends. More and more these day I see boys in pink. I think this might be due to the fact that as boys and girls get older and start to feel more comfortable in their sexuality, men tend to dress in pink more often. In addition, this is also due to the media. In reality television and also in magazines you see celebrities with their children and the first thing that comes to mind is how are these children dressed. A perfect example of this would be Rachel Zoe’s son who is seen in feminine attire and also with longer hair. While its good that she feels comfortable dressing her son this way, the rest of society is clearly taken aback by it evidenced by the magazines need to comment on it. The change in fashion may be a way to bring male and females closer together based on their appearance but not as a whole.
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ReplyDeleteOver the years we have clearly come a long way with equality. For the most part, men and women are treated as if we are on the same level, however in many aspects women are still not treated or respected in the same way as men. What stood out to me was the example of the difference between men and women’s sports that Jill used from Lorber’s article. Years ago women did not even think to play sports; it was an activity only for men. Over time, especially in this day and age women athletes are not uncommon and women can play the same sports as men. Yet, women athletes and women’s sports are treated slightly differently than men’s. As you were saying in your response, for men’s baseball, the field is bigger, the balls are smaller, etc. and for women, the field is smaller and the balls are bigger. These subtle differences go the same for almost every sport that women and men play. For example, one could say that men and women’s lacrosse are almost two different sports. Men have a smaller field, sticks with bigger pockets, they are required to wear pads, helmets, and gloves and they are allowed to be much more aggressive by hitting each other with their sticks. Women have a bigger field, yet, we can have little to no body contact at all, our sticks have smaller pockets, and the only kind of exterior protection that we wear are goggles. However, what I find most strange is the fact that women wear skirts while playing. Due to the fact that just because you are a woman, you must wear a skirt, even though you are playing a sport and being active, is extremely impractical. This all goes to show how women and men are still treated differently, which further pushes us to be two segregated societies, living with different social norms and rules.
ReplyDelete-Charlotte Sargent
Natalie Bennett
ReplyDeleteI really don't like this idea of men and women being so different that they are nearly different species. I really think that most differences seen between us are exaggerated by society. There is really no reason for there to be such drastic differences in men and women's sports. It's actually disgusting the amount of bias that exists there.
I like the point you mention from the third article about being told to act like a young lady or gentleman. This is something i often experience with my parents. I can remember one time specifically this summer when I was outside with my dad and brother helping to build our new deck. When my mom got home she came outside and asked what I was doing working out there. She told me it wasn't ladylike to work outside like that. I was astonished to say the least. But this is also a phrase she often uses when my sister or I swears, its not ladylike for us to do so.