Blog 9: Feminism and Masculinity 12/19/16

        The "There Is No Unmarked Woman," by Deborah Tannen, and "I Want A Wife," by Judy Brady, pieces we went over this week summed up the gender inequalities, roles, and stereotypes prevalent in the later 20th century, that continue even to this day. "I Want A Wife" uses many hasty generalizations to help the reader picture a model of a superior male. This male has all the prerequisites to be a stereotypical dominant man who treats his wife like an inferior. He doesn't associate her with his sense of self, and he expects her to do everything when he wants. Brady uses repetition of "I want a wife..." to emphasize on the tasks that wives have to do for their husbands. She also uses the Strawman logical fallacy to phrase the wants of men in her own words. She takes an extreme take on gender roles, and even goes into saying, "...my wife will arrange and pay..." even though if she was keeping constant with gender stereotypes, the man would be paying.
        "There Is No Unmarked Woman" lists the various markers that the identity of a woman is defined by. Whether it be her clothes, her hair, her posture, or her make-up, every choice she makes seems to be a marker to society. I like this text, because it uses the comparison of the unmarked man. A man can go outside in black shoes, a suit, parted hair and not be judged for how he chose to look that day. However, an automatic profile of a woman is made regardless of what she wears.  Tannen uses extended metaphors to show the difference in gender stereotypes.
        I liked both these pieces because they summarized the struggle of being a woman in society. Although slightly over-emphasized, these situations may still happen today. Having both an older sister and a younger one, I've seen my older sister succumb to the standards of today and so I want anything but that for my younger sister. In psychology, a study showed that people of one opinion or value understood the other side best when they were asked to "Consider the opposite." I think that men have to consider the opposite. They should place themselves in the role of women, who are scrutinized for any action done and expected to be less of a role in society. This awareness might reveal the hardships of being a woman, but it can also reveal the hardships of being a man. Awareness is the best way to change the way society makes gender roles out to be.