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AustinChristman
English1050400
Professor
Maenhardt
12/4/2015
DiverseGenderRoles
DuringmycourseinEnglish1050ithasshownmemanythingsaboutthedifferencesin
race,gender,class,and
ethnicity.Weallknowwehaveareopinionsabouteachoneofthese
topics,whenitcomestomind.Somethestoriesorsmallarticleswehavereadweremostlynew
tomewhenreadingthem.SoIgoingtodiveintohowgenderhasbecomeonofthebiggest
thingsinnotjustourculture,butanyone'sculture.Thereforelet'sstartwiththemajorityof
peoplebelievein.
Throughoutourhistorymenandwomenarebeentreatedverydifferentoverthecourseof
time.Thatcausewephysicallyandmentallydifferentintheinside.Menareclassifiedasthe
strongmanthattakescareofthehardlaborandgettingthepaychecktofeedthefamily.Asfor
womentheyconsideredweakandshouldstayhomeandcarefortheirfamily.Butovertheyears
wehaveseenchangesbetweenhowmenandwomenarebeingviewintoday'ssocietybywhat
theyaretryingtocomplistdoing.Lastly,itdoesntjustaffectjustonepieceoftheworld,but
partsofit.
Isareculturetoblameforwhataregenderrolescando.LookingatapiecefromThe
Veilissomethingverybasic,butsomethingthatisverydifferentinawaythatitiswrong.This
tookplaceinIran,whichislocatedinthemiddleeast.It'saboutagirlthatisforcedtowearaveil
tocoverherfacewhentheyareinpublic.It'snotjustthatbutsheQuotesIwantedtobea

prophet(satrapi365).Thoughshewantedtobeaprophetshecouldntbeone,becauseofher
gender.Thistomeseemwrongthatshehasthepassiontobeoneandenvisionherselfasthelast
prophet.Shefightsoverandoverinhermindthatshewillbecomethisprophet,butthemen
believethatwomenhavenorighttobecomeaprophetandholdthepoweroftheirreligion.Even
Whensheisconfrontedbyherfamilyonwhathewantstobesheliesaboutittonotbeforced
downorbetoldthatshecantbeaprophetbyherownparents.
InadditiontoTheVeilthereisanotherstorythathelpssupportsthissmallstoryofour
differencesingenderroles.InFranceWomenthatareimmigrantsfromaMuslimnationor
practicethereligionwererequiredtonotwhereanyBurqasandHeadscarves.Itissomewhat
similartoSatrapistory,butwithsomedifferencesthatmakethiskindofactwronginsomeway
oranother.ThisismakingWomentolosetherighttowhereanyheadscarvesandBurqasto
showwhotheyreallyareasawomen,butitreallydoesntaffectmen.Iwouldhavetoagreethat
thisaffectstheirgenderrolethatitsoppressivetothemandviolateswhatwhattheycanandcant
doinsuchaway.Nowtheychoosetowearitandit'spartoftheirreligion,butfrancesis
terrorizingitapart.IwouldliketoincludeaquotebyRickInman,whichstates
Inregardsto
Burqas,Ilikethatyoumentionedthefactthataslongasnoharmisbeingdonetoanother,there
shouldnotbeareasonthesewomencanweartheirreligiousattire.InadditiontoRick's
commentaboutthisItooagreewiththefactthereisnoreasononwhytheycan'twearthis,when
menmostlikelycanwearwhatevertheyfeellike.
Nowgoingintovisuallookonthesubjectofgenderrolesisadcampaigns.Inmostrecent
timesadcampaignarechangingthewaywelookateachimageandhowweprocessititinour
minds.TakingalookatthevisualessayReadingtheGazeshowsalotaboutourculture

genderroles.LookingattheGucciGuiltyperfumeadshowsawomanandamanininbed
togetherwhilethewomenislookingatus.Inthisimageitshowsthatwomen'srolesaretobe
thissexiconinsteadofjustlookingnormalandtryingtosponsorjusttheperform.Furthermore,
womenarebeinglessrestrictiveonwhatclothingtheyarewearingineachoneoftheseadsthat
arebeingplacehere.Asformenithascameuptothatmenwearnoshirtsandaresophysically
fitinthereads.ThatsideofthegenderisshowninTheGotMilkadinReadingtheGaze,
whereamanhasnoshirtwithabigmusclebuild.Thishelpsshowthatourcultureofgender
rolesischangingthatmenshouldbethisverybigphysicaltypeandnotlookskinnyatall.Asfor
thewomentheirgenderrolesinadshavegonefrombeingnormaltobeingasexiconinsteadofa
normalperson.
Lookingmoreaboutthegenderrolesofmenitcomestothattheymustbetheleaderand
shownofearorremorse.ThestoryinShootingtheElephantshowsaverygoodexampleof
howthisideaofamanshowingthestandardizemanthesedays.Intheoneofthelinesbeforehe
killstheelephanthestatesAwhitemanmustntbefrightenedinfrontofnativesandso,in
general,heisntfrightened(Orwell507).Itgivesyouthisideathatmanroleintoday'ssociety
shouldnotshowanyweakness,fear,andhavenoleadership.Themanshowsnoremorsefor
whathehasdonehurtingtheanimalwhenitwassittinginthegrass.Inrecentyearswehave
seenmenbecomelessofaleaderintheirownhousehold.Thoughthisstoryrepresentsthatmen
shouldalwayshavecontrolovereverysituationandbetheonlyonesthatcanendit.
Nextwehavegenderrolesaboutwomen.Theyareconsideredweakandthecaregivers
fortheirfamilyathome.Thereishoweverthereismultiplestoriesthatchallengeswomen'sroles
andhowtheyarelookat.InDelilahMontoyasessayWomenBoxers:TheNewWarriorsits

challengesonhowwomenaretryingshowthattheydon'thavetobethisfragileweakwomen,
butcanbecomeanythingtheywanttobecome.Italsoshowshowtheyarethemainhousehold
incomesforthefamilyinsteadofthemanandevenwhentheyareasingleparentthatistryingto
supportthem.Montoyacompliesalistawomenthatuseboxingtosupporttheirfamily.Inoneof
thelinesshestatesLucyContreras,DoreenHilton,andElishaOlivasarealsosinglemothers
whousethepursestheyearntoprovidefortheiryoungfamilies(Montoya212).Thisreally
challengesaregenderrolesespeciallyforwomenthatarefightinginboxing.Boxingoverthe
yearswasjustprimarilyamansportthatwasconsideredtooviolentforwomentobein.though
Aftertheyearsithasbecomeamainstreamformanywomenasopportunitytoprovetothe
worldthattheydon'tjustneedamantofighttheirbattles,butcanalmostdoanythingamancan
do.OveralleversincetheCivilRightsActfemaleshavebecometorealizethattheydonthave
toliveinaman'sshadoweveragainwhenitcomestodefendingthemselvesandtakingcareof
thepaycheckthatmostmendo.
InConclusionGenderroleshavechangedandaresomewhatbecomingstandardizedina
blindingwaythatwekindafollow.Womenareportrayedasweakandfragilecharacters,butin
factcanbecomesomethingfarnormalthanajuststayathomemother.Menareportrayedas
thesebigbuffguysthatdoallthework,buttheycan'talwaysbethemainsupporterofthe
family.Bothmenandwomenthatsomewhatsimilarinalotofways,butwedodifferentthings
betterthananotherinsomeaspect.Overalleveryadthatweseeistryingtostandardizeare
gendersthatwecanbecomemorethattheadthenarerealselves.Lastly,Ibelievethatthereason
forwhyourgenderrolesarebecomingmorestandardizedisbecauseofthemedia.Itistryingto
tellusthatwewanttobecomesomethingandnotshowwhowereallyareunderneath.

WorkCited
BanningBurqasandHeadscarvesinFrance.D.George,J.Timbur.ReadingCulture
ContextsforCriticalReadingandWriting.Boston:Pearson,2012.544546.
Montoya,Delilah."WomenBoxers:TheNewWarriors"D.George,J.Timbur.ReadingCulture
ContextsforCriticalReadingandWriting.Boston:Pearson,2012.211214.
Orwell,George.ShootingtheElephant.D.George,J.Timbur.ReadingCulture
ContextsforCriticalReadingandWriting.Boston:Pearson,2012.503508.
ReadingtheGaze.GenderRolesinAdvertising.DianaGeorge,JohnTrimbur.Reading
CultureContextsforCriticalReadingandWriting.Boston:Pearson,2012.206210.
Satrapi,Marjane."TheVeil."DianaGeorge,JohnTrimbur.ReadingCultureContextsfor
CriticalReadingandWriting.Boston:Pearson,2012.361369.