Learning to be Gendered is an essay written by Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet who are linguistic professors and published authors. In their essay, Eckert and McConnell-Ginet explore normative gender roles and how they are implemented in our society. They describe practices that reinforce gender roles such as assigning colors to each gender. They explore the idea that we “learn” and “perform” gender by replicating adults around us. They explain that we inadvertently engage in this process in which gender roles are determined and defined for us. Furthermore, they corroborate that even parents that “strive for gender equality,” tend to perpetuate these gender roles.
It is inevitable to recognize the truth behind the authors’ arguments …show more content…
Since kindergarten, boys are often told to be strong, to hit back, and to “man up.” They are often told not to cry because "men don 't cry." As adults, we project and reinforce these ideas therefore, young boys grow up thinking that showing their emotions will show them to be weak. This can create problems in the psychological development of children since they can create a habit of suppressing their …show more content…
Historically, women have been treated as delicate, fragile creatures who need to be protected. Because of this, and many other factors, women have been considered as the weaker gender. We experience this disparity between men and women all our lives. Even in our physical educational system, girls are separated from boys and are assigned different, easier workouts. Although females are physically capable of matching and surpassing males physically, girls are given more time to finish a mile run. Furthermore, it has been normalized that boys and girls play sports separately under the assumption that boy play “rougher,” which begs the question: Do they play rougher because of their nature or because we send the message that they’re supposed to do it? There are even commonly used phrases that show the gender gap in our society. When a boy is doing something inadequately they are often insulted with phrases like: "You run like a girl" or "You hit like a girl.” These commonly used phrases in our language, create the perception and strengthen the stereotype that women are weaker. These misguided perceptions have created a society in which women have been denied their rights while their male counterparts took most of the political and social power. Therefore, women have been forced to take back their rightful place in society with movements such as the Women’s Suffrage and Feminist movements. But the fight
It is inevitable to recognize the truth behind the authors’ arguments …show more content…
Since kindergarten, boys are often told to be strong, to hit back, and to “man up.” They are often told not to cry because "men don 't cry." As adults, we project and reinforce these ideas therefore, young boys grow up thinking that showing their emotions will show them to be weak. This can create problems in the psychological development of children since they can create a habit of suppressing their …show more content…
Historically, women have been treated as delicate, fragile creatures who need to be protected. Because of this, and many other factors, women have been considered as the weaker gender. We experience this disparity between men and women all our lives. Even in our physical educational system, girls are separated from boys and are assigned different, easier workouts. Although females are physically capable of matching and surpassing males physically, girls are given more time to finish a mile run. Furthermore, it has been normalized that boys and girls play sports separately under the assumption that boy play “rougher,” which begs the question: Do they play rougher because of their nature or because we send the message that they’re supposed to do it? There are even commonly used phrases that show the gender gap in our society. When a boy is doing something inadequately they are often insulted with phrases like: "You run like a girl" or "You hit like a girl.” These commonly used phrases in our language, create the perception and strengthen the stereotype that women are weaker. These misguided perceptions have created a society in which women have been denied their rights while their male counterparts took most of the political and social power. Therefore, women have been forced to take back their rightful place in society with movements such as the Women’s Suffrage and Feminist movements. But the fight