Does Gender Matter In Psychology Subject?

Psychology has been known to be a male-dominated subject for a while, and consequently, many findings often always represent a male perspective. This is known as androcentrism. There are many studies in psychology that either disregard the importance of gender differences or focus on the importance. The aim of this essay is to target the question that asks whether gender assigned at birth is an important consideration for Psychology.

A gender bias often follows a study where the treatment of males and females differ. There are two versions of cultural biases within a study that can occur. The first is alpha bias, which refers to when the “differences between males and females are exaggerated”. This often occurred in studies such as Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis (1948) that focused on the ‘Oedipus Complex’ and viewed femininity as failed masculinity. Beta bias often occurs when a theory usually ignores or often minimises the apparent dissimilarity between men and women. An example of this bias is the flight-or-fight response as this research was normally conducted by gathering a sample of male animals. It was research such as this that meant that female behaviour was left undiscovered. However, researchers found that mammals usually display differences between their behaviour and response to certain stressors by releasing different hormones (Baron-Cohen et al, 2009). It was suggested that the behavioural sex differences usually result from a sex difference in a hormone, androgen, during early development. This suggests that there is a biological predisposition as to why males differ from females. It is therefore important to focus on gender differences for research in Psychology as it is biological differences in the genders such as this that can be the key to certain behaviours.

Another advantage of gender being a consideration in psychology is the differences in our biological makeup that influence behaviours such as aggression. Gender differences in aggressive behaviours might be explained by the MAOA gene (Tiihonen et al, 2015). For example, the MAOA gene which is associated with aggression is found on the X chromosome of which men have one and women have two. Women are more commonly unaffected as they carry two X chromosomes, where one might be unaffected (Ozelius, 1988). This unaffected chromosome usually prevents the expression of an abnormal version of the MAOA gene, meaning women are less likely to display acts of aggression because of this. This finding suggests that gender should be of importance as it explains why there are certain differences in human behaviour.

The differences in gender are not only biological, but cultural also. Moè, A (2018) examined gender differences in mental rotation and in gender-stereotyped beliefs and assessed relationships in performance and ability. Findings showed that boys scored higher in agility, but not in mathematics whereas girls scored higher in mathematics in comparison to their mental rotation. Suggesting that boys and girls differ greatly in mental rotation, mathematics, gender-stereotyped beliefs and their relationships during childhood. This research insinuates that the gender assigned at birth is important to consider in psychology as it is a topic of discussion that is important from childhood through adolescent years to adulthood.

In addition, Sistrunk et al (1971) gathered the results from four experiments performed by researchers with a conformity measure that had been constructed to “control for sex relatedness of judgmental tasks”. It was found that “studies of conformity have consequently reported that females conform more than males.” This implies that gender might possibly be an important consideration in psychology as gender differences are often a common recurrence in findings when conducting both biological or cross-cultural research, whether it be minimising or overexaggerating the gender differences.

However, it is assumed that gender might not be of importance in Psychology as there have been many ways found to reduce the main issue of not including gender differences in research. Cornwell et al (2013) found that women are better at learning because they are more considerate, flexible and are orderly, not because of a biological predisposition. This research highlights the importance of women in the field of learning and focuses on the positive attributes of women. This study matters as it is this type of research that helps to challenge stereotypes along with people’s preconceptions. Alternatively, another way to reduce gender bias in psychology is to use another approach. By observing from a feminist perspective, feminist psychology aims to equalise the imbalances in different studies and research. Feminist psychology does not hide the fact that there are biological differences between the genders assigned at birth. For example, it was found that women may be less effective leaders which allows researchers to develop suitable training programmes that can help redress this gender bias in both theory and application (Eagly, 1978).

In conclusion, there are differences in gender. This means psychologists need to be aware of the differences, especially when conducting research as minimising the differences, whether they are cultural or biological, could lead to the study having beta bias or not being applicable at all.

Gender Discrimination And Racism In The Works Of Virginia Woolf And Brent Staples

Throughout history, gender has been a big issue among Human beings. Women have come a long way, protesting against abuse to gain equality. Unfortunately, gender has led to inequality within diverse societies of the world. Disadvantages in professional life, as well as cultural benefits, are factors accompanying gender inequality. Many talented writers were critics after World War One known as Lost Generation in which Virginia Woolf was inspired and criticized the unfairness of women in the career field. On the other hand, Brent Staples talked about the hard lifestyle of black men during the late ’90s and many more criticizing cultures and modern day society. Although some people might argue that gender has a positive impact on life in general; however, according to gender sources, the adverse effects are more predominant since it interferes with the chances of choosing one’s way and ability to be recognized in society.

Gender can be practical when associated with one’s looks, acts, or career choices. ‘Professions for Women’ by Virginia Woolf demonstrates how gender affects women in lifetime jobs. She states that ‘You have only got to figure yourselves a girl in a bedroom with a pen in her hand. She has only to move that pen from left to right – from ten o’clock to one. This is a powerful saying from Virginia Wolf because it shows women’s role in society. The first portion of the quote states that women are suited for ‘insignificant’ jobs only, such as writing. Writing is regarded as a feminine job because it requires no strong muscles and can be done at home. In other words, women can work as well as attend to the daily needs of their family members and household tasks. Another significant aspect of the quote depicts how women were allowed to work limited hours in a day, and only when children were put to sleep. Thus, women are regarded as housekeepers even with the choice of a career at hand. This situation is also similar to the way black men were viewed in New York. Brent Staples states that black men were seen as aggressive thieves both in life as well as in professional careers. ‘One Day, rushing into the office of a magazine I was writing for with a deadline story in hand, I was mistaken for a burglar.’ One can note both, gender as well as racial inequality in the previous statement. White people used to be scared of black men with no well-justified reason. There is a prejudice based on historical stereotypes that affect how one is perceived in society as well as at a workplace. The examples noted above demonstrate how gender inequality can interfere with one’s desired life curriculum and professional dream.

Gender also affects people’s behavior; thus, how they are perceived in a given surrounding. In the ‘Myth of the Latin Woman’ by Judith Ortiz Cofer, she talks about her experiences as a female in the Latino culture. She states, ‘that of Hispanic women as the Hot Tamale or sexual firebrand’ this quote from Her essay shows the expected behavior of women. It seems that the soul aspect of a Latino female is to be an object for men. In other words, to look sexually appealing but never intellectually involved. The quote also refers to the place of women in Latin American culture: to exist for the pleasure of men only. Such unequal treatment affects the overall life of women in Hispanic society since gender undermines any significance of female value. Black men have also been negatively affected by their gender, placing them in a community where they did not have a choice to choose. As Brent Staples said in his essay ‘Just Walk on By A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space,’ ‘I often witness that ‘hunch posture’ from women after darn on the Gwarren like streets of Brooklyn where I Live.’

Furthermore, ‘I came to doubt the virtues of intimidation early on. I chose perhaps even unconsciously, to remain a show – timid, but survivor.’ These two pieces of evidence from Brent Staples’s essay show how hard his gender and race have affected his place in society, making him behave differently than his true self. The author states that to assure that women were not scared of him, he had to behave unnaturally merely to please the expectations of those around. In other words, black men’s gender and race have placed him in a prison where he had to find alternative, unnatural behavioral patterns that would make him look ‘harmless’ in the eyes of white women. Latina women and black men are both victims of gender inequality. In such cases, gender has completely eliminated the idea of choice from the lives of Latina women and black men. The earlier being viewed as sexual accessories and later as dangerous thieves.

Gender can positively affect people’s place in society. That’s what some would think because they can argue that it made everything much more straightforward. According to the HuffPost article ‘The Rules Have Changed: Gender Roles in Modern Society,’ modern society is less affected by gender and the way it stratifies people. ‘Just a mere 50 or 60 years ago, roles in relationships were much more clear-cut. Two people knew what to expect from a relationship when they came together. Men’s chief duties dealt with issues outside the home, while women covered the responsibilities pertaining to the home. Therefore, no matter where you grew up or what your parents were like, across the board, marriage conveyed certain principles for both men and women.’ This quote refers to the fact that by enforcing gender equality, we have complicated things even further since modern society is utterly devoid of any gender roles and emotional responsibilities they carried. The later could be regarded as a positive aspect of gender influence; however, the negative effects are more dominant. In the ‘Professions for Women,’ Virginia Woolf talks about a relationship between a woman and her husband. ‘Had I not killed her, she would have killed me.’ The woman had to kill her husband to overcome the stigmatized character given to her by gender. It is unfair how one needs to fight a taboo, in this case, gender expectation, that is assigned at birth. In rare cases, women were able to overcome the pressure of gender to win their dream life. Nevertheless, for many, the pressure was too intense; thus, they remained under, and obediently carried the title assigned.

Lastly, nowadays, gender has a very negative effect on women because it pressures them into the materialistic lifestyle and the materialistic side of society. The poem “Barbie Doll”shows how modern society sees women and appreciates them only because of how they look. In the poem, it says, ‘She was healthy, tested, intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity. She went and apologized. Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs.’ The quote demonstrates how people judge a character based on physical appearance. ‘So she cut off her nose and her legs and offered them up.’ This quote shows how her gender has pressured her negatively into leaving her natural state and joining into the materialistic place of society to be accepted as a beautiful female which is also relatable to ‘There Is No Unmarked Woman’ by Deborah Tanen in which she shows women are affected in career and relationships because gender has placed them into the always hot looking society which also goes back to Latino women who still have to look sexy to be considered as successful women. In her essay, Deborah Tannen states, ‘The third woman’s hair was wild, a frosted blond avalanche falling over and beyond her shoulders. When she spoke she frequently tossed her head, calling attention to her hair and away from her lecture. ‘this quote shows that woman had to go out of their way and dress and look as fancy as sexy as they can to have success in getting them significant or just an interview for a job for example if a woman is dressed basic with no makeup and natural hair came against the woman described in the quote the woman in the quote would get the job because of gender placing women in the materialistic place and they are only appreciated by the way society tells.

Gender influence in our society could be positive as it brings balance and simplicity to life. However, historically assigned taboos to male and female sexes in diverse societies of the world complicate the lives of many. The inner self of a person has subsided due to gender stigma, thus making it problematic for one to be natural and authentic to oneself. Women are forced to undergo dramatic physical changes not to be perceived as sexual objects. On the other hand, black men are encouraged to change their manner of behavior to be seen as less ‘dangerous.’ It is absurd how taboo and stereotypes pressure the whole understanding of gender and its manifestation in society. However, it is essential to acknowledge the profound change that has occurred throughout the years and only hope for a more harmonious and less disgusting society in the future.

The Influence Of Gender On Perceptions Of Intelligence

Abstract

Past research has found that males estimate their own intelligence higher than females, and that in general, individuals estimate their father’s intelligence to be higher than their mothers. This study aimed to examine these gender differences in the perception of intelligence through a methodologically similar survey to Hogan’s (1978) study on IQ estimations, and found that females consistently estimate their IQ lower than males, and both males and females estimate their mother’s IQ lower than their father. This could be explained through the idea of gender-role stereotyping, perhaps indicating that despite societal progression towards gender equality, gender-role socialisation is still very much present in modern day society.

Perceptions of Intelligence

Traditional gender-roles stereotype males as intelligent, masculine breadwinners while this is not expected of females, who are labelled as intellectually inferior, and are expected to prioritise caring for their home and children over developing their intellect. The Cambridge Dictionary defines intelligence as ‘the ability to learn, understand, and make judgements or have opinions that are based on reason’. ‘Self-concept’ refers to an individual’s beliefs about themselves, including their attributes and ideas of who and what they are (Baumeister, 1999), and self-perception of intelligence is a key aspect of self-concept, in addition to how this compares to our perception of others’ intelligence.

Intelligence can be measured objectively using intelligence quotient (IQ) tests, a standardised measure that is used around the world. The UK national average IQ score is 100, with scores of 120 and above being classed as superior, and scores of 79 and below being classed as borderline. Gender-role stereotyping labelling men as intelligent may influence individuals’ self-concept of intelligence and their IQ levels, and much of past research seems to suggest that this is the case.

Torrance (1963) found that both males and females expected schoolboys to perform better on a science test, despite the schoolgirls performing just as well. This suggests that gender-role stereotypes impact perceptions of intelligence, regardless of evidence of actual intellectual ability.

This proposal is further supported by Petrides, Furnham and Martin (2004), who studied estimates for both Emotional and Psychometric Intelligence. These researchers found that men gave higher IQ estimates but lower EI (emotional intelligence) estimates than women, and, regardless of gender, all participants rated their fathers as higher on the IQ scale but lower on the EI scale as their mothers. This furthers the idea that gender stereotypes significantly impact our perceptions of intelligence.

In addition to this, Kelly and Smail (1986) found that boys were significantly more sex stereotyped than females, and, for both sexes a feminine self-image was linked to low academic achievement. This suggests that gender has a significant impact on academic achievement due to gender stereotyping, as boys stereotyped as masculine and therefore intelligent exceeded more academically than those stereotyped as feminine.

This study is a partial replication of Hogan’s 1978 study which found that men give higher estimates of their own IQ than women, while both genders estimate their father’s IQ as higher, but their mother’s IQ as lower, than their own.

Previous research, especially Hogan (1978) seems to indicate that gender has a significant impact on perceptions of intelligence, however, it could be argued that these findings are outdated in today’s progressive society, therefore the rationale for this study is to see if these perceptions still exist in modern day, where gender-role stereotyping is seemingly non-apparent.

The aim of this study is to see if gender has a significant impact on the perception of intelligence, both between-subjects, measuring differences in the estimation of participants own IQ between males and females, and within-subjects, measuring any difference in participants’ estimation of their own IQ, their mother’s IQ, and their father’s IQ.

As a result of past research findings, in particular that of Petrides, Furnham and Martin (2004), I hypothesise the following: Hypothesis 1: males will estimate their own IQs higher than females; Hypothesis 2: participants will estimate their father’s IQ higher than their mother’s IQ; Hypothesis 3: participants will estimate their father’s IQ higher than their own IQ; Hypothesis 4: participants will estimate their mother’s IQ lower than their own IQ.

Design

A mixed design was used. Within-subject design was used to measure individual’s perception of their parents’ intelligence while between-subject design was used to measure gender differences in participants’ self-perceptions of intelligence. The independent variable for within-subjects analysis was the participant’s IQ perception for different individuals, while the dependent variable was their IQ estimate. The independent design for between-subject analysis was gender, while the dependent variable was again IQ estimate. The study was conducted in an interview format, with fixed responses.

Procedure

Participants were first told that the national average IQ score is 100, before being asked individually to estimate both their own IQ, their mother’s IQ, and their father’s IQ. Their responses to these three questions were recorded into a spreadsheet (see appendix C), along with each participant’s age and gender.

Discussion

This study found that males estimated their own IQ significantly higher than females, supporting hypothesis 1. It also found that individuals estimated their father’s IQ higher than their mother’s IQ, supporting hypothesis 2. However, the study found that participants did not estimate their father’s IQ higher than their own IQ, therefore hypothesis 3 must be rejected. Finally, the study found that participants did estimate their mother’s IQ lower than their own IQ, supporting hypothesis 3. These findings suggest that gender plays an important role in how we perceive our own intelligence, and the intelligence of others. However, it should be noted that two outliers were removed from the dataset, therefore this may affect reliability of findings.

These findings support past research, for example Reilly and Mulhern (1995) found that males self-estimates of IQ were significantly higher on average than females. In addition to this, it was found that the IQ estimates for males were typically higher than their measured IQs, while females estimates were typically lower than their actual IQ. This supports hypothesis 1, and indicates that gender role stereotyping can have a significant impact on our self-concepts of intelligence.

One weakness of this study is that many extraneous variables were not controlled for and therefore may have affected findings. For example, factors such as each participant’s level of education and the level of education of their parents would have affected findings significantly, as participants used this in order to aid their estimations. Many participants stated that their father attended university while their mother didn’t, causing them to give a higher estimate for their father based solely on this factor. Although the reason for only their father attending university could have been an effect of gender-role socialisation from a young age, this still seemed to impact findings, therefore if this study was repeated, level of education of participants’ and their parents should be controlled in order to minimise the effect this could have on finding.

Another weakness of this study is the particularly small participant age range of 18-33, making the sample size small and perhaps unrepresentative of the wider population. This suggests that findings may have been different if a more comprehensive sample was used, as traditional gender roles would be more typical for older participants, which may have made findings more significant. However, due to the consistencies in past gender-IQ research, it can be accepted with some certainty that these findings are representative of the wider population.

It would be interesting in further research to assess gender differences in different types of intelligence, using measures other than the standard IQ testing. For example, Furnham and Buchanan (2005) found that women generally provide lower estimates for general, mathematical, and spatial ability, but higher estimates of interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence than men. This would suggest that the general term of ‘intelligence’ is too broad, therefore particular aspects of intelligence should be measured in order to gain more detailed and comprehensive results.

In conclusion, the findings of this study suggest that gender has a significant impact on perceptions of intelligence, both with self-concepts, and in estimating the intelligence of others. The main explanation for this difference in perceptions is due to gender-role stereotyping, in which intelligence is portrayed as a masculine trait, and women are seen as intellectually inferior. Although gender-role stereotyping appears to be scarce in modern day society, particularly following the feminist movement and the commonplace of female empowerment, it seems that these stereotypes are still very prevalent, especially in self-perceptions of intelligence.

References

  1. Baumeister, R. F. (1999). Self-concept, self-esteem, and identity. In V. J. Derlega, B. A. Winstead, & W. H. Jones (Eds.), Nelson-Hall series in psychology. Personality: Contemporary theory and research (pp. 339-375). Chicago, IL, US: Nelson-Hall Publishers.
  2. Baumeister, R. F. (Ed.) (1999). The self in social psychology. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press (Taylor & Francis).
  3. Furnham, A. and Buchanan, T. 2005. Personality, gender and self-perceived intelligence. Personality and Individual Differences. 39 (3),
  4. Hogan, H. W. (1978). I.Q. Self-estimates of males and females. Journal of Social Psychology, 106
  5. Intelligence [def. 1]. (n.d). In Cambridge Dictionary Online, Retrieved April, 20, 2019, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/intelligence
  6. Kelly, A., & Smail, B. (1986). Sex stereotypes and attitudes to science among eleven‐year‐old children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 56(2)
  7. Petrides, K. V., Furnham, A., & Martin, G. N. (2004). Estimates of emotional and psychometric intelligence: Evidence for gender-based stereotypes. The Journal of social psychology, 144(2)
  8. Reilly, J., & Mulhern, G. (1995). Gender differences in self-estimated IQ: The need for care in interpreting group data. Personality and individual Differences, 18(2)
  9. Torrance, E. P. (1963). Changing reactions of pre-adolescent girls to tasks requiring creative scientific thinking. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 102

Theme Of Gender And Economics In Zora Neale Hurston’s Short Stories

Gender

Gender and economics affect key characters of Hurston in her short stories. During 1940s, the work of Hurston was published in different magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and The American Mercury. It has been demonstrated in Wikipedia source that “She also wrote fiction about contemporary issues in the black community and became a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance” A large number of Hurston publications such as “Sweat” has altogether addressed white characters, (Smith 2011).

As manifested in Wikipedia source, “The Harlem Renaissance was one of primarily African-American involvement. It rested on a support system of black patrons, black-owned businesses and publications”. It manifests the portraits of the trash of white women. In short, the meditation of Hurston on creation of gender and class identities, waste and abjection among poor whites provides a clear reflection for the eugenics disclosure of 1920s, (Zora Neale Hurston, n. d).

As far as the role of gender is concerned, it has been shown in the short story of English literature, composed by Zora Neale Hurston that Sykes playing the role of a dominant husband in the story had a huge impact on his wife, Delia, who appeared as one of the leading characters in the novel.

During the story, it appears that Sykes got easily angered and upset at his wife. Most of the times, Sykes started yelling at his wife for washing the clothes of white people in the house. At times, Sykes threatened Delia that he might throw all of the clothes if she does not stop washing them. During this time, Delia tells Sykes that in fifteen years of their marriage, it was the hard work of Delia that enabled them to bring table on the food and purchased their own house.

Throughout the story, the entire frustration was taken out by Sykes by teasing Delia with snakes (which always made her extremely frightened), cheating with other women and physically hurting his wife throughout the story. One of the Sykes action is clearly manifested in the statement provided by Smith (2011), “He is sleeping with another woman, Bertha, and he spends all of her hard-earned money buying her trite gifts”.

Even though the behavior of Sykes cannot be followed or accepted, he eventually manifested the signs of a mental issue that is not completely dug or addressed throughout the story. Sykes also felt menaced due to the reason that Delia was the only financial supporter of the house. He intends to exercise the control and power over their marriage, therefore he always made efforts to make Delia look inferior to him.

When yelling, screaming and hollering get failed; Sykes adopted another way of making Delia listen, through showing violent behavior. Throughout the novel, Delia was threatened by Sykes that he will physically hit her one way or another.

Economics

According to a Wikipedia source, “Hurston had become disenchanted with communism, but he used the struggle of African Americans for respect and economic advancement as both the setting and the motivation for his work” (Zora Neale Hurston, n. d). Various civil uprisings and race riots have taken place throughout the United States in 1919’s Red Summer.

It clearly mirrored the economic competition over housing and employment positions in different cities, as well increased escalation in different social territories (Harlem Renaissance, n. d). However, it has been clearly manifested in Wikipedia source that “Harlem Renaissance ended abruptly because of naive assumptions about the centrality of culture, unrelated to economic and social realities” (Harlem Renaissance, n. d).

It was the poor economic conditions that urged Delia to work for white people. Even Delia’s husband refused to assist his wife during economic problems. As a result, Delia was highly obstructed in different ways. In order to meet financial needs, Delia showed complete reliance on herself for making the survival of her family possible. She started supporting her husband and started paying for their supplies, food and house. The difficulty of the economic situations faced by Delia were only compounded by emotional and physical abuse she had undergone from Sykes, from whom she don’t have any more hope for affection.

It has been stated by Zora Neale Hurston that “I am colored but I offer nothing in the way of extenuating circumstances except the fact that I am the only Negro in the United States whose grandfather on the mother’s side was not an Indian chief,” (Zora Neale Hurston, n. d). Hurston faced different situations when she felt that she was discriminated from white people in a society.

References

  1. Harlem Renaissance. (n. d). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance
  2. Smith, N. (2011). Analysis and Summary of “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston. Retrieved from http://www.articlemyriad.com/analysis-summary-sweat-hurston/
  3. Zora Neale Hurston. (n. d). Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zora_Neale_Hurston

How Does The Play Medea Reflect Inequality Within The Male And Female Gender?

In Euripides’ ancient Greek tragedy ‘Medea,’ he explores how women are disadvantaged in society in terms of welfare under the authority of men. Firstly, Euripides speaks against men dehumanising women in their pursuit of higher social standing, criticising such actions as morally wrong. Moreover, Euripides exposes how the patriarchal society places men in positions of authority, inevitably leading women to be seen as inferior. This is demonstrated through how Medea possesses power, however, due to her excessive loyalty towards her husband, she lacks to establish dominance as Jason is in possession of masculinity. Nonetheless, while Euripides exposes how men are provided with more advantages, he proclaims that male and females are equal in terms of power, as seen through Medea’s manipulation of Aegeus’ inability to father children, exploiting his vulnerability for the purpose of revenge against Jason.

Firstly, Euripides asserts that men dehumanise females in order to gain social status, criticising such actions as selfish and immoral. Euripides exposes how ancient Greek society has patriarchal values that have males prioritise social status and power over the well-being of women. Through the character Jason, it is evident that he is capable of leaving “his lady and own children” “for a princess’ bed,” showing that social status is of greater value than his own wife. In marrying the princess, Jason is able to escape poverty and place himself in the line of claiming the throne. Jason’s lack of empathy for the females in his life and desire to gain control is an extension of Euripides’ representation of men in Greek society, showing how women are disregarded when the power play of men is involved. He blatantly believes that joining his two families together would “ensure” him a life filled with “prosperity” and disrespectfully proposes it is in Medea and his children’s “best” interests. This further reflects his narcissism as his intentions proved to be most beneficial for himself as “he has gained more than [she] has”. Furthermore, Jason disregards the princess’ name and only refers to her as her noble title, indicating how her worth to him is equated only to her wealth which is of significant value. Jason exploits her nobility for self-gain as he “wanted to raise his sons in a manner … worthy” in order to place them on an “equal footing” in fear that his children may denigrate his reputation. This further emphasises Jason’s avaricious desire for prominence and the lengths he is willing to get to in order to accomplish them–even objectifying the women in his life and taking advantage of them. Euripides portrays Jason as a man of questionable morals as a result of his misogynistic actions, as it is evident that Jason’s interests are solely focused on building social status, ultimately painting him as an egocentric figure. Hence, Euripides suggests how the selfish whims of men result in the dehumanisation of women thus allowing men to achieve a social status of substantial value, condemning such behaviours as pompous. Therefore, Euripides argues that patriarchal societies allow men to justify a woman’s importance based on their affluence.

Additionally, Euripides explores how men are the only ones in positions of authority, indicating that females have a more inferior place in society which he condemns as unjust and narrow-minded. Medea is arguably the most powerful character in terms of abilities as she is a sorceress, yet she is still subjected to the patriarchal authority of her society. Although Medea has the capacity to ‘br[ing] … many sorrows… on mankind’ as ‘she is no ordinary woman’, it is the ‘king’ Creon who has the supremacy to banish her as the presiding monarch. Evidently, Creon abuses his jurisdiction by banishing Medea, a “woman” into exile as her malicious intent for revenge may cause conflict to his standing. His title as the “Corinthian King” establishes his dominance to those lower than him within the Greek social hierarchy, especially women. Thus, Medea is forced to “[sink] to her knees and [seize] Creon by the hand” indicating Creon’s wishes were fulfilled, as the threat to his ‘sovereignty’ was “banished” despite the significance of her sorceress powers. Nonetheless, his control as ‘king’ wasn’t enough to avoid the death of his daughter which he indirectly caused by igniting Medea’s thirst for revenge towards his sexist repressions. Furthermore, Medea is under the authority of Jason as ‘in [marriage] she cannot refuse her husband’ in spite of her ‘nature being more savage than a Tuscan Scylla’. Euripides displays women as ’emotional creatures’ who are meant to serve their ‘husbands’ and ‘reproduce’, thus, forcing Medea’s ‘love’ for Jason to be ‘greater than [her] wisdom’ resulting in the oppression of her supernatural capabilities. Therefore, allowing Jason to degrade her self-worth as he accuses that ‘without female[s], ‘this would rid the world of all its troubles’ in order to further establish his dominance. Clearly, the society in which Medea is in does not value strength as much as it values one’s gender. However, the unfair treatment resulted in Medea’s ‘scowling fury’, ultimately proving that although Jason is in a position of power due to his gender, it was unable to prevent the inevitable death of his children because Medea was avenging herself as a result of his misogynistic actions. Despite her immoral actions, Euripides rewards Medea with a “dragon chariot” to freedom accentuating how her power triumphed, arguing how society mistreats Medea, and by extension, the female sex and therefore should be corrected. Hence, Euripides asserts how although women may be in possession of power, the patriarchal society inevitably places men in a position of control, which Euripides warns will result in detrimental consequences. Thus, the patriarchy results in women to be inferior as males are in positions of control.

While Euripides exposes how society provides men with more advantages, he declares that female emotion triumphs over male authority, suggesting that both genders are equal in terms of physical power. Within the patriarchal society, Euripides has established, it is evident how men have supremacy over women, making them “the most miserable of specimens” as they are unable to “refuse [their] husbands” and are merely their “husband’s plaything[s]”. Whilst women are portrayed as passion-driven individuals, Euripides argues how passion is their source of empowerment which allows them to reach a point of superiority against men. It is through Jason’s betrayal of Medea’s love that led her “soul [to] hold so many thoughts of blood”. Although women are painted by their male counterparts as “timid creature[s]” who are “coward[s] when it comes to fighting” men, Medea contrasts from these incorrect stereotypes as she refuses to submissively tolerate Jason’s act of infidelity, but rather seek vengeance for the injustice he has caused her, as she wishes “him and his bride in utter ruin”. She refuses to “grieve so much for a husband” as it “wastes away your life”. Even proving she is capable of “Kill[ing] the fruit of [her] womb” and would rather “go to war than suffer childbirth once” which completely destroys her image of femininity, bringing upon her masculinity as mothers are meant to “love” their children unconditionally. Thus, Medea’s ability to acknowledge her right for revenge ultimately places her in an equal footing with the male sex as a “woman” who dares to challenge a male-centric society. However, Jason’s deception exemplified how women are significantly dependent on their “husbands” as it led Medea to question “what benefit is it to [her] to continue living”. This indicates how she is unable to understand the value of life, as she is left without a husband. Furthermore, when Medea’s love turned into a “mighty curse”, she reveals the deceptive and cunning behaviour of women as she manipulates Aegeus with the use of “honeyed words”, exploiting his inability to father children for self-gain, ultimately allowing her to destroy Jason. Therefore, Euripides suggests how the emotions of women significantly impact one’s purpose to live, exposing how such passion causes destructive suffering. Hence, through male deception, females are able to surpass male authority implying how the strength of women is dependent on the actions of men.

Ultimately, ‘Medea’ explores the unfair treatment within a patriarchal society that females receive through the selfish acts of men as they dehumanise females for self-gain. However, although males are granted with more advantages, females and males are argued to be equivalent in terms of physical abilities by Euripides. Such as how women are dehumanised by men for social status, furthermore, the patriarchy ultimately forces women in an inferior state as well. However, Medea demonstrates how women who act upon their passion will be driven to become stronger than men. Hence, Euripides criticises the patriarchal society as corrupt.

William Shakespeare and Gender

Did you know that in Shakespeare’s time, the decision to marry was in the hands of a girl’s father? Sexuality and gender are vital themes in Shakespeare’s plays. Depending on any type of play or genre sexuality and gender can be used as a tool of manipulation. During the time of Shakespeare, there was a social construct of gender and sexuality norms just as there are today. There was a hierarchy of sexes and each had their own role in society. Men were masculine, they were not ruled by their emotions, and they were strong and hard working. Women belonged in the home, they were ruled by men and therefore were thought to often make bad decisions. By blurring the lines between sexuality and gender in his plays, Shakespeare deconstructs these norms to display their uncertainty. In most Shakespeare plays masculine men can play effeminate female roles and effeminate women can play masculine male roles. Looking at Much Ado About Nothing as a major example, this presentation will show the different ways sexuality and gender are used to manipulate characters, alter the action of the play and deconstruct the social norm of gender and sexuality and how Shakespearean text questions and examines our expectations of gender.

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s famous plays, a comedy loved by many, and produced still to this day. However, within the lines Shakespeare wrote he uncovers the truth about gender roles and inequality within the Elizabethan society. The inequality of genders is prevalent in Beatrice’s language, how the male characters view women within the play, and the concept of honour. Beatrice is easily one of the non-stereotypical women in Much Ado About Nothing. Shakespeare created Beatrice’s character in order to change the view of society to the “traditional woman” of the Elizabethan time and shed light on gender inequality. Hero seems to be the ideal woman, polite, respectful, obedient, and quiet. Beatrice, on the other hand is sharp, witty, and a feisty woman. It first becomes apparent that she is not the “norm” and does not follow society’s gender roles when in Act 1 when she speaks of Benedick, Leonato apologizes on her behalf to the Messenger “You must not, sir, mistake my niece. There is a kind of merry way betwix Signor Benedick and her” A woman rightfully criticizing a man does not go with gender roles in this society, and therefore Leonato feels the need to cover what Beatrice has to say.

The way Shakespeare has the men view the women characters in the play Much Ado About Nothing also gives insight into Elizabethan gender equality rights as well. Throughout the play women are referred to untrustworthy items. Claudio asks Benedick early on his opinion of Hero, and the conversation turns quickly to talk of buying her and her “worthiness” of love and marriage. Her beauty and obedience are things that these men seem to value and think make her “worthy”. In Act 2 when Claudio is led to believe that Don Pedro stole Hero for himself, Benedick proclaims Don Pedro “stole your meat”. Objectifying the women makes it evident that the men believe the women have no real voice in any matter; they are there for the taking and meant to be submissive. The frequency of deceiving jokes suggests that the men also believe that women by nature are untrustworthy and unfaithful. Benedick basically compares marriage to a prison – saying a married man is a man who gets cheated on.

Many people still stick to traditional ideas that both genders should behave in ways that fall into specific categories determined solely on their gender. Gender roles are social constructs developed over time and are not based on natural human behaviour. This is because gender roles advanced as a way to establish the necessary tasks done in early human society. Some may say that due to the fact that traditional gender stereotypes have been followed for so long, they should not be changed, and are now a key section in human development. As a result of this many people struggle to reach their full potential. This is because social expectations of each gender change over a time period, and often develop differently in cultures around the world. Sara Bobolts, a writer for The Huffington Post, stated how several common gender stereotypes changed over time. She describes how gender stereotypes, such as the colour blue being for boys and the colour pink being for girls, are new concepts. She explains that between the years 1918 and 1940, pink was viewed as a masculine colour, while blue was seen dainty and soft, making it best suited for females.

Through Shakespeare’s play Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare exposes the dark truth that is gender inequality of the Elizabethan time. He does so through the character Beatrice, with her language that speaks and craves for gender equality. She considers herself to be equal of some sorts with her wits and attempts to defy the norms by vowing to not marry in order to be an unmarried woman but is aware that society does not allow her a true voice when it comes to defending herself or her friends. The way that the men treat the women in this play also gives understanding into how women of this time were viewed. It is made clear that they are viewed mostly as items that tend to not be loyal. It’s no surprise if they are found to be dishonest, but at the same time the men must constantly keep their honour intact. Characters are disposed to limitations and expectations based on gender and challenges our stereotypes, which is a major theme of Much Ado About Nothing.

Gender Nature Vs Nurture: Essay

The emergence of the transgender movement has raised many questions for psychologists as to its root causes of it. We find ourselves asking, much like homosexuality, is gender dysphoria a product of your environment, or are there underlying natural causes? While we still don’t know the specific cause or causes, we have been making great headway into understanding these individuals more. Finding out the underlying causes better equips up to help these individuals both psychologically and to better acclimate into society and further their acceptance. While the goal of these studies has mainly been to determine the cause of gender dysphoria from the standpoint of nature vs. nurture, it seems to be more of a combination of the two.

As stated in “Gender Identity: Nature and Nurture Working Together,” “As social scientists define the concept, gender identity is individuals’ self-definition as female or male, which is based on their biological sex as interpreted within their culture” (Eagly, Wood, 2017). Traditionally in society, an individual would have either been male or female. However, there has been a rapidly increasing fight for acceptance and understanding from the transgender community. This has opened up the idea of gender interpretation, straying away from the idea that sex is purely a natural idea. Biologically speaking, sex is determined based on the XX or XY chromosomes at birth, however, humans aren’t born understanding their gender roles in society. According to the study, this self-awareness isn’t formed until around 18 months of age. Early factors, such as personality traits and toy selection can be early indicators of one self’s gender identity. While early childhood decision-making can’t be used as proof of one’s identity, it does raise the question as to how the parent’s reactions to such choices will affect these individuals later in life.

In recent years, there has been a large emergence of young individuals beginning to question their gender, as well as making life decisions that will forever affect them. This raises the question, have people always been self-aware of their gender dysphoria from a young age, or is our society simply opening up more opportunities for acceptance and help? This is the idea explored in “Found in Transition: Our Littlest Transgender People.” The goal of this study is to determine and understand how individuals can feel disagreement with the gender on their birth certificate, and how families and psychologists can give them the proper care needed (Ehrensaft, 2014). Similarly, to the previous article, that people with gender dysphoria, even from a young age, are not fitting into the societal expectations of their birth gender. Further exploration into parenting techniques is needed to see if these ideas are simply being accepted or reinforced by the parents.

One of the major aspects of the nurture argument is the treatment that individuals with gender dysphoria received from society. According to “Boys don’t cry” – or do they? Adult attitudes toward and beliefs about transgender youth,” Participants recruited online reported generally favorable attitudes towards transgender minors but expressed some hesitation to allow a transgender child to use the restroom aligned with their gender as opposed to their birth sex” ” (Elischbeger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco-Baker, 2016). This shows that while society as a whole is becoming more accepting of transgender people, specifically transgender youth, many people still express concerns. This idea reinforces that nurture can heavily affect the outcome of an individual with gender dysphoria. Growing up in a family that supports a choice such as a restroom selection would likely create an environment of acceptance, one in which they would feel comfortable with their choices.

However, the article also mentions that “Attitudes were less positive in respondents who reported a religious affiliation, conservative social-political views, and stronger conformity to certain traditional gender norms – particularly in men.” While this doesn’t inherently prove that gender dysphoria is created through nurture, as opposed to a genetic predisposition, it shows that there is still a profound impact on individuals. This explains the importance of educating the public on the needs of people with gender dysphoria, as well as teaching the difference between gender identity and sexual orientation (Elischbeger, Glazier, Hill, Verduzco-Baker, 2016).

The argument of nature vs nurture in the context of gender dysphoria raises some very important questions. One that must be asked is: how does an individual know if they are male or female? While there is no simple answer, it’s likely a combination of both nature and nurture. According to, “Biased-Interaction Theory of Psychosexual Development: “How Does One Know if One is Male or Female?”,” “A theory of gender development is presented that incorporates early biological factors that organize predispositions in temperament and attitudes.” The idea that individuals with gender dysphoria have a genetic predisposition to feeling uncomfortable with their birth sex is not new, but we now know more about it. “The predispositions establish preferences and aversions the growing child compares with those of others.” (Diamond, 2006) This reinforces the idea that while an individual is indeed born with the genetic makeup to have gender dysphoria, the way this individual understands and acts on it depends on the environment they are in. While individuals are born with a “gendered brain,” it is the life experiences that shape the way that the individual acts on their gender dysphoria.

An unfortunate statistic involving transgender people is the alarming rate at which suicide is attempted. While this may be used as evidence that these individuals are simply uncomfortable in their skin and want an escape, it also furthers the argument of nurture being the main factor in an individual’s ability to be transgender. This is shown in the study, “Family Rejection as a Predictor of Suicide Attempts and Substance Misuse Among Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Adults,” where it’s stated they studied the “associations between family rejection and risk of suicide attempts and substance misuse among a national sample of transgender and gender nonconforming adults” (Klein, Golub, 2016). While it doesn’t prove causation, it shows that there is a direct correlation between the level of family acceptance and the rate at which individuals attempt suicide.

After controlling for age, race, birth sex, and other factors, the study was able to see the rate at which transgender individuals and those with gender dysphoria attempt suicide. According to the study, “Overall, 42.3% of the sample reported a suicide attempt and 26.3% reported miss using drugs or alcohol to cope with transgender-related discrimination.” This shows that even if an individual is genetically predisposed to being transgender, their happiness level and life satisfaction with their gender transformation are directly affected by their environment. It states that “family rejection was associated with increased odds of both behaviors. The level at which an individual’s family rejects transgenderism or non-conformity also dramatically increases the rate at which they attempt suicide.

The idea of nature vs nurture for gender dysphoria also raises the question, is gender identity concrete throughout life, or is it subject to change based on one’s environment? This idea is explored in, “Shifting Sands or Solid Foundation? Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Identity Formation.” It asks if there is a “rock-solid foundation, stable and consistent over time,” or if it’s a process that adapts over time. While both arguments point to different initial causes of gender dysphoria, they share common themes. The two arguments both point to, “nature, biology, and essentialistic paradigms” (Eliason, Scope, 2007)). that confirms that gender identities are indeed a true psychological phenomenon. They both argue that if either nature or nurture causes gender dysphoria, gender identity stays consistent throughout life.

The Intervenable factors associated with suicide risk in transgender persons: a respondent-driven sampling study in Ontario, Canada study discusses out of the adult population, 0.5% is transgender and transsexual people. This study looked into the suicide rate of trans in all of Canada. (Bauer, Scheim, Pyne, Travers, Hammond, 2015). The study, Attempted suicide among transgender persons: The influence of gender-based discrimination and victimization, this study was conducted in San Francisco.

While there is still no concrete evidence as to the root causes of gender dysphoria, most studies have been in agreement. Transgender individuals are directly affected by both a genetic predisposition to gender dysphoria as well as the environment in which they grow up. While gender identity remains consistent throughout life, it is the acceptance and treatment of these individuals by their peers that determine the comfortability of their birth gender. While social and familial treatment does not determine if an individual has gender dysphoria, or becomes transgender, it does significantly improve one’s ability to feel comfortable in their skin. Acknowledging that gender identity is indeed “real,” will create a more welcoming society for those with gender dysphoria and will create waves of social acceptance. Only the future will tell if a higher-level acceptance will lead to an increased number of transgender individuals, or if it will lower the alarming rate of suicide attempts of this group. By understanding that transgender people are a product of both nature and nurture, we can understand gender dysphoria more and create a society in which we can allow them to figure out their identity. Over time, we will have a better understanding of how both nature and nurture work together to form the identities of those with gender dysphoria.

The Handling of Gender in Jane Eyre and Things Fall Apart

In every culture, there are many distinct roles that must be fulfilled by the member of each society.”One such role, arguably the most prominent, is gender. Gender roles are demonstrated to people as soon as they become a part of this world. The ways people treat newborns according to their sex greatly influences the process of teaching a child the articulate workings of a culture” (Wickingson, 1). “Male and females learn a set of rules, behaviors, attitudes and rights in accordance with their sex. When these attributes of enculturation are applied specifically to a male or female, gender is created.” (Wickingson, 1)

In the books, Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte and Things Fall Apart, written by Chinua Achebe, the illustration of gender roles and how these roles are reinforced and challenged in their specific society is overwhelming. Jane Eyre is based on British culture and Things Fall Apart is based off Nigerian culture. Both societies both display similarities and differences in how gender is handled. In this essay, both books will be discussed based on gender and how this is reinforced in terms of the division of labor and the treatment of women and also how gender rules are challenged within these distinct cultures and then compared.

Things Fall Apart takes place in an Igbo village in Nigeria. Through the story of Okonkwo, his clan and family we are able to see clearly the rules of gender within this society played a major role in Okonkwo’s life as well as other characters in this story. In Igbo society men were considered strong and the women considered weak. In Igbo culture, women were expected to be the caretakers of the home, doing jobs such as cooking, cleaning and taking care of the children. Despite being considered as weak, women within this society were endowed with qualities that make them worthy of worship, like the ability to bear children. Men on the other hand, were expected to be strong, masculine and dominant and if they did not fulfill expectations, they were considered weak.

Jane Eyre takes place in the 19th century in rural England, Victorian era. The ways in which gender is handled here is very similar in most societies where the males are superior to the women. In this book, the main protagonist, Jane, is forced to contend with female oppression and inequality the society in which she lives in. Jane also proceeds to challenge Victorian prejudices against women with her strong beliefs in gender and social equality. Many tried to discourage her from this path but she kept her head held high and continued pursuing her passion. Men were also viewed a specific way in this society as well. Bronte depicts men and masculinity as gruff, mysterious, and ill-tempered, however, ironically as the plot moves, Rochester, the man Jane later falls in love with, was the complete opposite of this and was rather more heroic and beautiful.

Okonkwo is the main protagonist in Things Fall Apart. His entire life is based upon masculinity. In this novel, there was one particular crop used to symbolize masculinity at that was yams. Okonkwo states “Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop” (Achebe, 15). He believed, “Yam stood for manliness, and he who could feed his family on yams from one harvest to another was a very great man indeed.”(Achebe, 21) This states that growing yams serves as a man’s capabilities as a provider and a masculine figure. Achebe clearly provides that is not only the physical activity of farming that makes someone a rich, powerful and masculine man but specifically the growing of yams. “His mother and sisters worked hard enough, but they grew women’s crops, like coco-yams, beans and cassava. Yam, the king of crops, was a man’s crop” (Achebe, 15). We therefore see that there is clear distinction between “feminine” crops and “masculine” crops.

Okonkwo makes it loud and clear that men are higher and greater than women and that even certain a crop could not be grown by women because it was the “king of crops” and kings would obviously be the men. Women would plant their “women crop” in between the men’s yams, projecting that women are always working in between the huge shadows of the men. An example in Achebe’s Things Fall Apart where men are overshadowing mean is in the justice system. This occurs when a ceremony, a trial between Mgbafo, and her brothers against her husband, Uzowulu, and his family. This ceremony is naturally for men but the women would look from the fringe of the crowd. There here show that women are never at the front but always behind the men like a shadow. Mgbafo here, is not allow to speak for herself, her brother did the speaking for her demonstrating that men dominate the government system.

One of the most conspicuous tools used to identify the gender roles of a society is through the analysis of its division of labour. Labour is usually divided between age and gender. It specifies the tasks that are required of each sex, demonstrates a society’s expectations, and defines the overall roles that people must live up to as being members of that society. (Wickingson, 2) In Things Fall Apart, the Igbo society’s division of labour is mostly influenced by gender. Here, the women of Umuofia are expected to prepare food, clean, raise children and any other household chores. For instance, during the Feast of the New Yam, as a part of the preparations, the women “scrubbed the walls and the huts with red earth until they reflected light before painting the walls with colourful designs.” (Achebe, 37), Just as the men are expected to do heavy labour, earn money and fight for the clan when necessary.

Women were expected to cook and prepare food on time for their husbands and children. One example of this is when Okonkwo came home, expecting a hot meal and a warm hut, or obi, and instead finds an empty, cold obi. This made him extremely angry and he beat her. This scenario represents that women were expected to be prompt and well organized for their husbands.

In Jane Eyre, the division of labour was also based on your gender, age and also social class. Jane was a governess. During the Victorian era, a governess was a young educated woman who moved in with an employer’s family to teach daily lessons to the children that lived there. The expectations of governesses were to mimic motherly behavior and become the protector and caregiver of the children (Bell 264). Clearly here we can see that domestic works were the main jobs society saw that women were ideal for. A governess was also viewed as an outsider because Victorians believed that they did not fit into a family or society since they were not truly a member of the family but not truly a servant either (Amies, 537). This shows that even as having a job as a governess, you were still looked down upon in some form in society. Basically women could not have had a comfortable job despite the social class they were from, once you were female, you had to deal with the critics of society. Through the gender construct, the idea of masculinity is applied to all aspects of Igbo life, including how women are treated by men, in particular, their husbands. It states in the book, “No matter how prosperous a man was, if he was unable to rule his women and children (and especially his women) he was not really a man” (Achebe, 53).

In Igbo society, not only women were seen as weak but they were also treated unfairly and they were not allowed their own freedom and were just seen objects and were expected to cook, clean and make babies. Okonkwo always physically abused his wives, he never showed close affection to them because in this society showing affection was considered weak as according to Achebe, “To show affection was a sign of weakness; the only thing worth demonstrating was strength” (28). An example of how women were treated in Igbo society is demonstrated in Chapter 4 where during the “Week of peace” Okonkwo noticed that his youngest wife, Ojiugo, had left her hut to braid her hair and didn’t cook any dinner. For neglecting her duties, his anger caused him to beat her and by doing this, he disrupted the peace of the sacred week. The elders and members of society saw this as a sin, however they were mostly concerned about this sacred week rather than how Ojiugo was treated. This goes to show that women were inferior and unimportant, even to a mere observance. If she had gotten injured from being beaten, it was of no concern to anyone as society only cared about the “Week of Peace.”

In the Victorian Era, the treatment of women was also very poor. The superiority and dominance that men had over women was extreme.For instance, Bronte displayed the poor treatment of women in the novel when Mr. Brocklehurst, considered to be the typical man of the Victorian era, treated the girls at Lowood School very badly. The girls were given poor clothing to wear and very little meager food to eat. “The scanty supply of food was distressing” (Bronte 109) He also wanted the girl’s hair cut off. The haircuts here showed how the girl’s feelings are ignored (Fyfe, 7) Ms Temple’s silent anger and fake smiles towards this situation demonstrated as a woman she had no power to confront Mr. Brocklehurst and had to do as he says regardless of what she thinks. “Miss Temple passed her handkerchief over her lips, as if to smooth away the involuntary smile that curled them”(Bronte, 118) Mr. Brocklehurst can be seen as an example of the mindset of men at that time, and how men treated women.

The novel shows extensively, the treatment of women. In this time period, when a man and women got married, the men in a way took ownership over the women. She became his property and personal item and they had to listen to their husband’s every command. Edward Rochester, a man that exemplifies the typical attitude of men in the Victorian era. He indeed showed this by trying to trick Jane into a false marriage by not telling her about his previous marriage with Bertha. He also tried to buy her over with gifts and nice clothes. He tried to objectify her. This shows women were never actually free, married or not, they were always oppressed.

Within both novels, the role of gender was also challenged in each specific society. Starting off with Things Fall Apart, an example where the gender roles were challenged in this novel can be found in the characterization of Okonkwo’s father, Unoka. As it may be known already, in Igbo society, men were expected to be strong and masculine and dominant of their family and children. Weakness in men was very much looked down upon in this society. Unoka, Okonkwo’s father, however, was the complete opposite of this expectation. In this society, Unoka’s physical appearance was seen as uninspiring as “He was tall but very thin and had a slight stoop. He wore a haggard and mournful look except when he was drinking or playing on his flute.”(Achebe, 55) He was also against war and could not stand the sight of blood. This made him seem to be a weak coward which were trait that were unacceptable for a man to possess in Igbo society. However, Unoka did not care for any of these, he enjoyed himself to the fullest and loved music regardless of what society thought. As Achebe states “He was very good on his flute, and his happiest moments were the two or three moons after the harvest when the village musicians brought down their instruments, hung above the fireplace. Unoka would play with them, his face beaming with blessedness and peace.” (4) Okonkwo’s extreme fear of becoming like his dad emphasizes how unacceptable and looked down upon this “feminine” behavior was unacceptable in Igbo society.

In Jane Eyre, Jane was the complete opposite of what a woman was supposed to be in the Victorian era. In this era, women were expected to be submissive to men, gentle and obedient, something Jane was not. An instance where a role of gender is challenged is where Jane refused to marry Rochester, despite her being so in love with him. She thought about how much of her freedom would be taken away from her if she proceeded with the wedding and also the fact that Rochester was already married to Bertha Mason, pushed her away even more as she did not want to live as Rochester’s mistress and his object. Jane seemingly wanted to prove that women’s happiness does not always lie in getting married to a rich, handsome guy. Her response to this situation showed this. Jane realized that she had married Rochester, even though he would be at fault, her reputation and future would be ruined by this marriage. Jane’s goal was to become an equal and a mistress could never be an equal of her lover. (Fyfe 27) After a lot of thought, Jane decided to leave Gateshead because she prizes her independence and self worth more than her love for Rochester.

In conclusion, Things Fall Apart and Jane Eyre both tackle the issues on gender roles in specific societies. Both novels present how women were treated as weak, inferior and object to the males. The women were also beaten when they did not do what was expected of them and also viewed in the eyes of society as rebellious. They were also seen as only caretakers and child bearers and they could never measure up to be what a man can be. The issue of gender inequality still occurs in contemporary society, where women are looked down upon and certain roles and responsibilities are expected of a specific gender. However, these issues are now being rebelled against in modern day more freely than it could have been back then where there are many feminist movements that fight for equality.

Works Cited

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  19. Wickingson, Danielle. “The Gender Roles of Things Fall Apart.” 12 July 2011.

Tar Baby And Robinson Crusoe: Gender, Age And Sex

An island far civilization, Robinson Crusoe’s events, have happened on a peaceful beautiful isolated island. Both islands have been identified quiet and beautiful. An external judgment, since nobody knows what was happening on these two islands. What masteries are they hiding? What kind of hidden chaos in both works Robison & son was waiting for the two visitors.In Robinson Crusoe and son, in Tar Baby, Robinson thought the islands were peaceful and full of peace. So, both of them were shocked to find on them .so many adventures.

On February 18th, Toni Morrison was born1931. She was the second child in the sixth family. Her fath was George Woffordand Ramah Willis was her wife. Morrison was born in Ohio, where her family moved in south to escape racism.In order to find better life and better opportunities, the family moved to the North. There support his family, her father worked three jobs. His main job was a shipyard welder. George Wofford was a worthy man of hard work.His work was of high quality, so he also welded his name to the side of ship every time he welded a ship. She was a church going woman for Morrison’s mother and she also sang in the choir.

The first name of Morrison was Chloe. She used listen to southern black folklore songs and stories. Morrison was the only black student in her first grade and the only one who could read. Her relationship with friends of the white class was nice . she was never discriminated against until she started dating. Choe inherited to white people the hate of her father. She admitted that her father was racist when she said he had spent his life despising all the whites. She first wanted to be a popular dancer and turned to read books. She wrote on behalf of the Russian Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky behalf of the French Gustave and for the British Jane Austen. She attended high school in Lorain, then became a graduate of Howard University in WashingtonP.C. She numerous southern trips the location her parents fled .

She was the black’s first hand. She graduated with a B.A. degree from Howard University in.1953 Then in the year she received her M.A. degree from Cornel University in Ithaca 1955 .She began her career at Texas Southern University in Houston. Through this university, Morrison was able to focus about what was called Hakins about the black culture. Instead of just personal recollections, she introduced black culture as a discipline. At Howard University, she met Harold Morrison and married him in. This was a time for fighting for civil rights. She met a lot of them. She met young Amiri Baraka and Andrew for example. Morrison had two children. She continued to work with them. She joined a small group of writers .where she was able to share with people interested in literature like her in debating various pieces of literature. In one of her meetings with this party, an unforgettable incident happened to her when she wrote a story about a girl she met in the past, Loraine, who had prayed for blue eyes with God.

She joined a small group of writers . she could discuss different pieces of literature with people interested in literature like her. An unforgettable incident happened to her one meetings with this group .she wrote a story about a girl she knew in the past, Loraine, who pleaded to God for blue eyes. The novel was selected by the book-of -the-Month club and nominated in fiction for the 1975 National Novel Award. She published Solomon’s song in 1977, concentrating on black male characters. When she watched her sons grow . she was inspired to do so.

The novel’s main theme was the lost self. His narrator is a man who was looking for his identity The book, Solomon’s song, won the National Book Critics Circle Award and the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters Award. In,1981 her Tar Baby was born. A novel set on a Caribbean island.

A novel addressing differences of race gender and sex. In this novel, we find Morrison, who for the firsme deals with black and white characters. In 1984 Morrison was named Professor of Humanities Albert Schweitzer at New York State University in Albany. Blue & Naden, she published her Beloved, a novel based on a real story of a black woman who escaped with her children from her master and as she was captured, she tried to kill her children. She said they’re better off dead than surviving in poverty like their mothers did. The book has won for fiction the Pulitzer Prize. She published her Jazz novel in 199s. She also primarily published critical plays, Playing in the Dark. For literature, she was awarded the Nobel Prize. She was the first black woman to be recognized. Her seventh book paradise was released in 1998. she wrote her next novel Love then she wrote Mercy. In,2008 Morrison published her latest novel Home in a compilation of her non-fiction writings called What Moves at the Margin. Morrison discussed several important topics in her writings. Those problems are discrimination colour, feminism and post-colonialism.

Synopsis of Tar Baby is a novel written by the American writer Toni Morrison, first written in the late 1970s and published in The Bahamas, New York and Florida in 1981. The novel’s main characters are Jadine Childs, William Green (son), Valerian Street, Margaret Street, Sydney Childs, Odine Child, Therese and Alma Este. The novel addressed a number of literary themes, including the issue of African Americans, New York in the 1970s, North Americans, class conflict racism slavery interracial relations servants models and fashion. Just before Christmas the novel ends when an unidentified sailor falls overboard and swims to the Quee. And because he could not touch the sea, he climbed a yacht and moved to a small island called Isle des Chevaliers. He’s hidden in a house called Larbe de La Croix this time again.

This house belonged to the Valerian street and Margaret, his mother. Ondine,Sydney and Jadine Children were also in that building. She’s a well-educated kid for Jadine who studied at the Sorbonne and the n of France sh And then she worked as a model in Paris and for Margaret, for her hosting visitors against her wishes, she was always in dispute with her husband. One night, Margaret quarreled with her husband, then went to sleep in her bedroom. She quickly came back shouting she found a man in her closet hiding. With the exception of her son, everyone was frightened by the news because he welcomed this homelessores.

This man was(Son) the same at the beginning of the novel who climbed the yacht. Back to Jadin, with her boyfriend who sent her a luxury sealskin coat, we consider her smiling. Son appeared in front of her as she put the coat on and started making some sexually crude remarks. Jadine got angry and threatened to report to Valerian what he had done. Following that, we washed up the son.They continued their adventure as they flew to New York where as lovers they had a wonderful carefree time. They lived without work, they didn’t seem to care about money.

In spring, the couple arrived in Florida, the home town of their son, on Eloe; this journey was a disaster for them because Jadin They kept fighting more and more as they returned to New York. Jadine had abandoned him and had gone to Paris. Son and Therese, the servant, arrived looking for her and agreed to take him by boat to Isle des chevaliers. American Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 4, No. 9; September 2014 96 Instead of taking him to the location where Jadine could be found,e hated Eloe and his son liked it. On the water floated the main differences between the two. She left him in a foggy part of the island and proposed either to continue searching for Jadine, or to join the race of wild horsemen on the island; here the island opened its arms to welcome the son as one of its horsemen. The Novel Tar Baby’s review traces Jadine Children’s search for self-identification. Jadine seems to embrace the white culture and society’s constructions. She has never opposed it. Although she was a niece of servants, she had a glamorous life. She had the best education in the U.S.A. and then, at the Sorbonne in Paris, she received her Master’s degree in art history. A rich young Parisian man who wants to marry her, he put a sealskin coat on her as a token of his great love.

This means that the wide gap between her and other cultures can not be seen for her, Jadine. Cultures are always engaging with each other and connection between Anglo-American and African American cultures is certainly clear. Therefore, the appare conflict between cultures that Morrison sought to create in her Tar Baby cannot be overlooked. Culture clash is defined as a significant feature of Tar Baby’s climate. For example, it is apparent between cultures of people living in Paris and the U.S. compared to those living in the Caribbean Sea or in Eloe. who represent different cultures under investigation live on the remote island of the Caribbean sea.

The wealthy retired candy creates the two white people living in Jadine’s house and her family. Added to them is Son the ‘outlaws’ who live everywhere and nowhere, the symbol of the novel’s diasporas. Danielle., uncivilized.This is caused by his being a homeless man, roaming form one location to another without having a kind of shelter. Jadine reflected on the hair he had to put in jail ‘Tar Baby.’ In this interpretation of the extremely aggressive Blackman’s stereotype.animal. Therefore, she treated him as a stupid, uneducated, uneducatednigger.She even called him an ape then. she addressed him as’ you hideous barefoot baboon.A white man thought you were a human being and should be treate as one. He’s civilized and made the mistake of thinking you might too. Even the white man, her husband, who welcomed him to his house and regarded him as a human being is praised. All represents the son’s role as a representation of a character from the Diaspora.

Even the white man, her husband, who welcomed him to his house and regarded him as a human being, is praised. All represents the son’s role as a representation of a character from the Diaspora. Only Jadine’s portrayal of him reminds us of the characters of Robinson Crosio’s Friday savage movie. Then we encounter the concept of the person as opposed to the community; when Jadine spoke to Son as us,hereby leading him to ask her .who are you? You’re not part of this building .She first responded Morrison .She means that she acts as the private secretary of Mrs. Margaret, so after all she is herself. By doing so, she reveals her loyalty to the Anglo-American culture and society, the society in which she was born.

We can also notice that a lot of ethos characterizes the Black American culture. Society is not seen as the place where the citizen, through his own efforts, will work and prove himself and obtain a share of America’s benefits. To the black culture, these gains are not only accomplished by individual efforts, but also through a radical change in the cultural, economic and political advancement of society. First of all, we are shocked by the fact that she addressed herself first of all to herself and then to Margaret’s home, despite the fact that she seems to be self-reliant and self-reliant. Going back to the brother, however, one can find that Morrison wants to say that being ‘outlaws’ does not mean belonging to a group irrespective of how She relates to the whole idea of excluding an illegal individual from being an Anglo-American concept completely from a family.

Therefore, though son lives his life in an exile, he still has a family he belongs to. Clearly Jadine is the modern black generation that is greatly affected by white culture and technology, while son is the raw black American character irritating the character. Perceive a wide gap between the Anglo-American and his own society. One can note the different reaction of both characters when they went to New York. Center for the Promotion of Ideas, While Jadine thought that New York was the place where she could thrive and live the life she wanted, Son saw New York as not a safe place to live in for the African-American people.

Jadine’s cultural background which is a mixture of both the black and the white, the old and the modern , the American and the European, and son’s cultural background which consists of the south radical black culture, that belongs to the black community where he grew up. Here, son can’t adjust to the different environment she suddenly finds himself in. For that, he insisted on Eloe, his home town which rep However, she found herself there an outsider when he took Jadine to his home town, she refused it, and the conflict between the two began again.resents the manifestation of his cultural beliefs. Clearly, what son wants from Jadine is far from being reflected in Jadine’s white European point of view. He expects a very traditional role: he dreams of a woman who loves, cares and knows how to do housework. This vision will not suit those of Jadine, the new, well-educated women who still have the personality of a red. She is a self-reliant woman who doesn’t need others to affirm her worth, she doesn’t even have to come for those who once cared for her. It shows once again the theory of Morrison to use sectional opposition like the opposition between the role of women as nurtures and women following their careers and plans.

Morrison says one of the charactersl European woman, although with a black face. She refuses the conventional role of women, the modern woman. As a modern woman, she tried to emphasize her personal goal. She opposed the romantic story that normally scarifies her own ideas and plans for her love’s sake. In reality, Jadine refuses to make such a sacrifice. I think he can be considered a hero for Son, though,His son is believed to be a savior of Jadine’s spiritual wounds, who is sent as a Christian to free Jadine from her wrong ways and from the negative influences she had in her life because she acquired them from the white culture. I expect that the characters of both Jadine and son were depicted with merits as well as with flaws.Obviously, Tar Baby Compared to Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe is a novel written by the Britis, Tar Baby Compared to Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe, Tar Baby Compared Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe is a book that is written by the Britis.

The novel depicts the life and unusual living exploits of a man named Robinson Crusoe who lived for eight and twenty years, all alone on an uninhabited island on the American coast, near the Oroonoque Mouth of the Great River. Though published in the eighteenth century, this novel has some characteristics in common with Tar Baby, the novel written in the twentieth century by Toni Morrison. Clearly, When Tar Baby’s events took place on an island, which is described as stunning and peaceful. An island far from civilization, Robinson Crusoe’s events, have happened on a peaceful, beautiful isolated island.

Both islands have been identified as calm and beautiful. From an outside viewpoint as nobody knew what was going on on these two island. What masters are they hiding? What kind of secret confusion in both works Robison & son were the two visitors waiting for? In Robinson Crusoe and son, in Tar Baby, Robinson felt these islands were safe and full of love. So they were both shocked to find so many surprises on them .Adding to that one can see a great resemblance between the depiction of the two characters two protagonists, on and Friday, Robinson Crusoe’s brutal hero. We saw that Morrison was able to describe her son as a lewd, wild filthy fel When he appears in Jadine’s house, in his Robinson Crusoe, the readers ‘ imagination will immediately fly to Defoe’s character description on Friday. American Journal of Contemporary Science. Besides that, we can see that both of the main characters of both novels have been on a journey from a civilized place to a wild one, then back to the civilized.

They’ve got youth character. They are still human beings capable of compassion,hate understanding. So, note a discrepancy between the two novels. While Robinson Crusoe’s theme is to show the capacity of man to thrive and begin his life from the zero point, one of Tar Baby’s themes is to portray the conflict between.. Therefore, if any author decides to focus his comparative study on these two books, he would certainly find parallels between the two works and other differences.

Gender Norms Presented In Romeo And Juliet

In William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, he demonstrates and critiques the strong gender norms that were present at the time in which the play is set in Verona, Italy. He portrays the role of men and women as they were at this time. Men are shown as having a sense of honour, masculinity and are the head of their households whereas women are seen as having to obey men and had a lack of independence due to men being superior. Shakespeare’s play suggests that gender norms were so strict at this time that you had to represent what society dictates upon genders properly or you’d be under severe judgement.

Throughout Romeo and Juliet there are many times in which men are depicted representing masculinity during Shakespeare’s time, such as Sampson directly saying to Gregory after both jokingly exchange lines on being tough “Tis true, and therefore women being the weaker vessels, are ever thrust to the wall. Therefore, I will push Montague’s men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the wall.” (1.1. 17-20.) This quote shows Sampson explaining how women are of lower class than men and showcases his masculinity in a brutal matter by saying he will conquer Montague’s men and rape his maids. Sampson then goes on to state “When I have fought with the men. I will be civil with the maids, I will cut off their heads… ay, the heads of the maids or their maidenheads.” (1.1. 24-28.) He continues to represent women as victims of violence and sexual assault due to male domination in an even more severe fashion by combining both violence and sexuality. In society and for both servants of Capulet, Sampson and Gregory, violence and sexually violation are seen as qualities of being a “man” at this time.

Besides men being forced to act certain ways, women are also required and demanded to portray a certain character being lesser than men. An example of women being demanded to follow orders by men is Capulet expressing to Paris “My child is yet a stranger in the world, she hath not seen the change in fourteen years; let two more summers wither in their pride, ere we may think her ripe to be a bride.” (1.2. 8-11) This quote by Capulet explains his thoughts regarding Juliet’s marriage. He suggests that she is inexperienced and needs to gain more knowledge in the world and is too young to be getting married. It shows that men have power over women, because Juliet wasn’t even participating in discussions of her marriage, which is primarily about her. Being that she is the daughter of a wealthy family, it’s for her family to decide when it’s the right time for her to be married without her input.

In Shakespeare’s play he challenged the stereotypical male gender norm by utilizing Romeo as a character that isn’t afraid to differ from other males by at times expressing emotions and acting “feminine” rather than acting overly masculine like others. An example in which men are being told to act man-like is when the Friar says “Art thou a man? Thy form cries out thou art; the unreasonable fury of a beast. Unseemly woman in a seeming man! And ill-beseeming beast in seeming both!” (3.3. 109-113.) His response to Romeo’s emotional breakdown implies that he’s unimpressed by Romeo for committing an act considered to be “womanish”, because it shows a sign of weakness to one’s self esteem, which is how a man in the society of Verona shouldn’t be acting. Later on, the Nurse also gives her judgement on Romeo by explaining “Oh, he is even in my mistress’ case, just in her case. O woeful sympathy, piteous predicament! Even so lies she, blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering. Stand up, stand up. Stand, an you be a man. For Juliet’s sake, for her sake, rise and stand.” (3.3 84-89.) The Nurse compares both Romeo and Juliet for acting the same way by “blubbering and weeping” and he should stand up if he’s really a man, because he’s acting as if he were a female. These two quotes by the Friar and the Nurse show that men were harshly judged for acting unmanly and without a sense of pride or confidence.

In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare depicts the society in Verona as a time in which there were harsh gender norms that differentiated between men and women. Men were viewed as being rulers and having extreme power and differed from women, because they were seen as being of lower status and inferior to men. If men were seen acting like a female it was considered cowardly and soft. Although there were gender stereotypes present in Verona it didn’t change the abilities of both men and women at a time of judgement.