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Desiree Shack
Professor Beadle
English 114A
24 February 2017
Two major articles that talk about gender were Lorbers, Night to His Day: The Social
Construction of Gender and Devors article Becoming Members of Society: The Social
Meanings of Gender. We live in a binary society where people only see he/she and anything
other than those are outside the norms. The main idea in the readings were to point out how
Lorber in the article, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender, explains
what the gender roles are. On page 27, she states, Women recruits in the US Marine Corps are
required to wear makeup -- at minimum, lipstick and eyeshadow. A lot of people have feelings
that going into the army is as being a tomboy and this is why women are required to wear
makeup. But it almost makes it as if its not ok to be a tomboy. Again, something society has
shaped around. Women are also viewed as dainty and hormonal. Which is why women dont
receive the same equality in the workplace. Women and men are segregated on the job and each
does work considered appropriate. (Lorber 30). As if we dont have the strength to do the same
work. Lorber's main point was to point out all the ways society views women and places these
Devor in the article, Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender,
argues that society shapes the term gender roles as well. One example given was how children
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know what the gender roles are at an early age. Generally, they are learning these roles through
television. Male actors always a patriarchal role where they have to take charge in the household,
etc. Speech plays a role in how society views you. If you're a man whose nonaggressive and
subordinate (Devor 41) while giving a speech you are considered more feminine. That goes for
if youre a speaker who use more polite expressions and ask more questions in a conversation
you seem more feminine.(Devor 41) Society places any rules and if you go anywhere outside
As a child, I remember being taught gender roles too. My parents bought me toys based
on my gender. I had barbie dolls, kitchen sets, musical instruments, stuffed animals, etc.
Meanwhile, my boy cousins would have nerf guns, military weapons, bikes, building sets &
blocks, and race cars. This does affect how you see the world as you get older, as I wanted to be
a cook and my cousins wanted to be firefighters. One is viewed in society to be more masculine
than the other. I was dressed in more feminine clothes than my cousins to really unriddle my
gender. Even with given features of a girl, I was still dressed in clothing with flowers, princesses,
and/or pastel colors. These things related back to what Devor and Lorber try explaining in their
articles.
When asked if they knew what the gender roles are, many people nodded no but when
told what the gender roles were people quickly agreed. If you're a man and you dont give a
speech with an aggressive tone, youre more feminine. If you're a woman who wants to join the
Marine and you dont wear makeup you're considered a tomboy, and thats a problem. If you're a
woman youre likely to not receive the same job as a man and as a child you will be dressed
opposed to your gender. Although, we are becoming a society that is slowly accepting more and
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more everyday so perhaps one day in the future we will no longer have these things called
gender roles.
Works Cited
Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender,
edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford St. Martins, 2014, pp. 19-33.
Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Composing
Gender, edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford St. Martins, 2014, pp. 35-43.