Mulan As I Viewed It

In the You Tube video about Disney, it points out gender stereotypes such as dominance, sexism, and strength that Disney is accused of perpetuating and reinforcing in its animations, which can easily be misinterpret by innocent impressible children. Who said a woman cannot do a man’s job? It must have been a man who said it because he has never known or seen a man’s job being done by a woman, but in Disney’s animated video “Mulan,” a young Chinese woman does just that as she penetrated a Chinese army by pretending to be young man. Disney’s “Mulan” reinforces as well as breaks down many of the gender stereotypes it is accused of.

The You Tube clip brought to light the many stereotype features of woman portrayed in Disney’s animations, which are tall slender bodies with small waist, beautiful big alluring eyes, with their faces all made up, and long flowing hair that is perfectly done. Mulan’s character is only seen in all of those female stereotyped images as she is getting ready to meet the match maker who will determine if she is a suitable enough to be chosen as a bride. From my understanding of that scene, I felt that the message Disney is depicting is that in order for a young lady to be noticed and considered marriage material she must—first be seen as attractive and desirable (sex object)—before she can even go on to stage two of the match making process, then she must present herself as being able to pour a simple cup of tea without spilling it (domesticated). Mulan did play dress up, but it was not in her to stay that way; she had the slender body with the narrow waist, hair and makeup was done to perfection, and she looked like a Chinese Barbie, but she was not cut out for that role and proved it by appearing awkward when dressed up as well as being clumsy when she spilled and over poured the tea. That scene showed her as being a disgrace and dishonor to her family and the female gender, so the female gender stereotype was reinforced in that scene of what is expected of a woman if she is to entice a man into marring her. This animation breaks down the typical Disney’s female stereotype it has been known to depict on its protagonist by proving by showing Mulan putting aside her femininity to fight also side men; she did this by wearing no makeup, acting like a man, wearing a man’s uniform, which concealed her female shape, as well as getting rid of her long flowing locks by cutting it short, which later proves her to be wiser, stronger, and better than they were. She became the hero in the animation and saved her city, and not the typical beautiful damsel in distress needing to be saved by a prince charming.

Furthermore, I noticed the gender stereotype of the male characters in “Mulan” were reinforced in the image of Captain Shang who had strong masculine facial features, six pack abs, muscles, and is strong. From my understanding, Disney is saying that this is the image of—a real man—a leader, and the men he was in charge of had body types that were indeed not seen as desirable and manly. One of the soldiers even made a comment for the captain to put back on his shirt because he obviously felt intimidated by the captain’s body. Mulan on the other hand, being a woman, was impressed by what she saw. Sexism is also presented as the soldiers goes off to war, so to boost their moral, they start singing about a girl worth fighting for—a real female—one who is beautiful, loves a strong man, can cook, and who thinks of her man a having no faults, but Mulan interjects her qualities and feels that a girl who has a brain and always speaks her mind should also be worth fighting for, but the soldiers dismiss her ideal of a girl worth fighting for. What was Disney thinking when they created that scene? Obviously they were not. “Mulan” did break down a male stereotype by showing a couple of the solders dressed as woman to seduced and distract the enemy soldiers who were holding the emperor as hostage, but then again a woman must use her beauty and charm as a way of distracting men.

So, Disney’s animated video “Mulan” reinforces and breaks down the gender stereotypes the YouTube clips accuses Disney of perpetuating.

Blog 13

Blogging WOW!!! Let me see, it has definitely helped me, but at this point right now, I am all blogged out, and can’t wait until I do the last one. I am not saying this in bad light of blogging; it is just that since I have been introduced to blogging in this class, it has become—my hunting for this semester. Every week by 11:59pm, Friday, I am on a mission to try and complete the minimum 500 word requirement; boy what pressure!!! It was like my whole world stopped because I had to get my blog completed, posted, and send a copy to me instructor before I turned into a pumpkin. What an uplifting feeling I got when I was able to accomplish it, and not only was I able to complete the minimum 500 word requirement, but sometimes I got carried away and wrote as much as 600 words. It was always difficult for me to try to decide which one of the three blog prompts to write about since they all were interesting and required taking a different approach on the topic that was discussed in class; The prompts seemed to be in three levels of understanding; the first prompt I felt required a very deep understanding of the what was discussed in class, the second prompt did not required as much analytical thinking, and the third prompt always seemed to easier than the other two. I always felt as if I did not understand the material and felt intimidated on getting started, but once I started writing, I got carried away and had to refer back to the prompt because I would start writing about things that were not pertaining to the prompt, and end up deleting ¼ of my paper and starting over. Blogging presented to be a burden and a challenge all in one to me, because I had to look at literature from another perspective and how it relates to gender, it also made me more aware of the different rhetoric surrounding it. I survived, and because of blogging, it has kept my mind on all the books, videos, and topics that were discussed throughout the semester in this class. Blogging turned out to be my open journal on my own points of view on the class and the contents that were being discussed.

Blog response did not prove to be as challenging; I rather did enjoy doing it. I also found to be a lot easier than writing my own initial blog. I looked forward to blogging the 200 words minimum—separate response for two classmates; it was a piece of cake because I was eager to view their perspectives on the prompt they chose to write about. Blogging has also helped me connect with my classmates by means of responding to their blogs, which provided an access into keeping an open dialect outside of class about the topic of discussion. Responding was like listening to a person’s own point of views and how they felt about the topic and respecting it for what it’s worth and allowing me to share my own views on the same topic for others to respond to.

A MALES PASSAGE FROM ADOLESNECES TO PUBERTY

The article “Culture of Cruelty" by Kindlon & Thompson was very interesting and informative. It is always nice to be able to examine other people’s points of views on the different behaviors children go through during their growth process. I found this article to be very interesting because I was not familiar with male’s passage from adolescence to puberty. The things that happened to those boys I found to be saddening and disturbing; furthermore, I had no idea that type of behavior went on. I am a female, so I could always tell if something was troubling my daughters, and I would help them through whatever crisis they were trying to handle; unfortunately, I could not do the same for my sons when they reached puberty because I was unfamiliar with the some of their behaviors as they went through puberty.

By both the authors being males, I would say, “They probably have some horror stories that they are keeping to themselves.” I agree with this article because as I think back on the time that my sons were going through puberty, their behavior did change just like my daughters, but the only difference is that my daughters came and talked to me about their problems and my sons did not. I remember when I use to be an overly protective mother, and would rush to the school to handle whatever situation that needed my attention involving my children; one day when one of my sons was in middle school, he was about 11 or 12 years old, and an incident happened at school, he did not come out and tell me, but I has suspected something was bothering him; of course, I had to pry it out of him because he refused to talk. When he finally told me, I said, “I am going up to the school to talk to the principle,” he said, “It was not a big deal.” I actually assumed he did not want me to go because he thought I was going to embarrass him, so I respect his wishes and did not go because I wanted him to be able to come to me if he had any other problems. Well needless to say from that moment on, he has kept me in the dark, the only way I knew there was a problem at school was because I got a call from the principle’ office saying that my son was involved in a fight and was going to be suspended; I will say that after a couple of fights he must have found his calling because I noticed that his group of friends started changing, and they appear to me to be rougher looking. My other son is the opposite of his brother in some ways, but the same in other ways.  He too stopped confining in me about unpleasant things that happened at school, and he also got into fights, but the difference is that he did not stay in trouble, and the quality of the friends he associated with were the type that I approved of.  He established his masculinity by playing and excelling in sports.  (By the way none of my daughters ever had been in fights at school or even suspended).

I agree that boys feel the pressure to prove their masculinity; I believe it is done for several reasons; one is to eliminate being a target to the tougher boys,  and to prove their strength, as well as impress the females, because speaking from experience, when I was junior high school,  I knew which boys were the toughest, and which boys got picked on all the time, and if it was known that a particular boy did not fight, he was considered a sissy, got bullied and even got picked on by girls.

Offensive Music Video “Ride”

I am an African American woman such as you. I am married and have five children, three girls and two boys; they are at the influential age were they want to emulate what they think is hip and cool. They are into music and music videos. They go through the house all the time singing their favorite songs, and your song just so happens to be one of their favorite songs; you have catchy lyrics. I could not make out the entire lyrics to one of your songs because they would abruptly stop singing it or playing it whenever they think I am near them. But on one occasion, they did not see or hear me coming, and I heard must of the lyrics to Ride. I thought to myself; you could not be singing about what I thought— having sex. I inquired if you made a video, and sure enough you did featuring Ludacris. Ms. Ciara you are a very beautiful African American young lady; God has blessed you to be a very talented artist with a lovely voice and the ability to dance. Please tell me, what made you decide to sing a song like that as well as make a music video that denotes your song?

In your video, you are singing and demonstrating—riding it. It is clear to me that you made your video either not thinking about you audience, or to entice a particular audience of men. If your man likes the way you ride it, then you both should be extremely happy, but to demonstrate your skills in your music video is distasteful. Your video has very strong sexual innuendos and is sending a clear message even without you singing the lyrics. For instance your dance movements, they are unambiguous as you lie on the floor and simulate how you have sex. Next, you stand with legs apart and squat your body to show your audience you are capable of even more sexual moves as you ride it. In another scene, you show your ass and bounce it to your audience letting them know you give that up too showing how you move it when you ride it. You are selling sex; for example; the way you are sitting in the chair the camera only exposes your legs apart with you wearing over the knee laced up stiletto heel boots; a decent female would not sit like that because it sends a nonverbal sexual message.  

Furthermore, as for your attire, you are exposing yourself by leaving very little to the imagination of your naked body by wearing a skimpy swimsuit exposing your pelvic area, as you rotate and thrust that region, wearing a fur coat as a backdrop with stiletto heels that appears to be 7” high. The image you portray is that of a typical male sexual fantasy. Given the fact that your video is called Ride, you surely are getting your message across loud and clear. In another scene change, you are soaking wet from head to toe as you ride an electronic bull, once more the camera is focused on the parts of your anatomy that is viewed by men as a sexual stimulator. The message you are sending in that scene also is loud and clear that you have sex (ride) with your man (the bull) and not give up even if you are tired and dripping wet with sweat; you can keep it up for hours.

I feel that your video should be discontinued, for the simple fact that it sends a negative message to young impressionable females, and your performance is degrading, and disrespectful to all respectable women. You may not believe that you are a role model, but your fame puts in the public eyes and qualifies you as being a role model because whatever you do that draws attention to yourself is magnified and available for millions of people of all age, sex, and nationality to view. Your video sends a negative message to young and upcoming females who may enter into the music business that it is okay to dress half naked and parade around like a trophy, while men have the common courtesy to stay fully dressed. Another degrading part of your video is where you put strong emphasis on each word of your song as you sing that “You work it so good many…want to buy me.” Money for sex is clearly not a positive message to be sending your audience especially to females. Even though the music industry dominated by males, you should not have to feel like you need to promote your music by being half naked and simulating sex just to boost your music sales.

To view this music video called “Ride” by Ciara featuring Ludacris. Click on this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp6W4aK1sbs

The Media and Sexual Stereotypes

In the past, it was easy to identify sexual stereotypes of men and women; they were depicted, in newspapers, magazines, and most of all in mass media.  The movie “Sexual Stereotypes in media: Superman and the Bride” is a prime example of how sexual stereotypes of women and men have been portrayed in the past 50 years. This is now 2010, and there have been significant changes in how society views sexual stereotypes in the media.

In the movie, it mentioned you can’t void messages or images you see; consequently, what is constantly viewed in the media causes brainwashing to take place because there are numerous messages and images of what a—real man or real woman represents. Many of the sexual stereotypes that were shown and mentioned compares woman to men, such as ying and yang, hot and cold; it also sent a message that you cannot be both. For so many years, men dominated the media industry, and they showed men and women in images of how they believed they should be viewed, of course, it was bias. In the movie, both sexes were described, a few descriptions says that a—real woman is soft, weak, confused, dumb, stupid, wrong, and a slave, but a—real man is described as being hard, strong, decisive, smart, right, and a hero; these metaphors are proof that men and women were depicted as being the exact opposite of each other.

Furthermore in the movie, there was a cartoon of a female shown as a little girl, teen ager, young lady, and as a woman and in every stage of her growth cycle she was attached to a ball and chain, which to me denotes that a female’s only purpose in life was to be chained like a slave to a man as a wife or as a mother. Times have changed and many of the sexual stereotypes no longer exist, or have overlapped. Hallelujah!!!  women have broken the chains and tossed the ball, and have put an end to old female sexual stereotypes; they are now being seen working along with men in roles that once were viewed as only for men for example: they are seen portraying roles such as detectives like all the CSI, doctors like in Gray’s Anatomy, lawyers like Judging Amy, and attorneys like in Law and Order, and in cartoons such as Wonder Woman and Superwoman; these roles represent female as being smart, strong, independent, decisive, as well as being heroes. They are no longer seen as just a simple homely housewife and mother needing a man to validate them.

Because the media is a multi-trillion dollar industry, it had to change with the time and put away sexual stereotypes of the past. If women had no choice but to continue viewing themselves in the images that did not truly depict them, they would stop watching television shows and movies, so lack of viewers equal poor ratings, and loss revenue. These significant changes could not have taken place if women were not given a voice and men not willing to hear.

Who is Louise?

Have you ever read a novel and got to the end, and the narrator leaves you conjecturing whether or not one of the main characters is alive or an apparition? Well, Jeanette Winterson does just that in her novel “Written on the Body.” I must decipher the ending of this novel; I will search for clues within the novel that implies that the ending of the novel is actually the beginning in hopes of resolving the final chapter; is Louise alive, or did she reappear to the narrator as a figment of his/her imagination, and thus has the love affair been loss or gain.

In the beginning of the novel, the first line says, “Why is the measure of love loss? The narrator could be referring to Louise as being the person loved, and that she has died, and unfortunately if Louise did die, the narrator would never get a change to quantify their love. Seeing that the narrator had carried on numerous affairs, and had been in several relationships throughout the novel, I have doubts if he/she really loved Louise and if she actually exists to the narrator. Louise, female, married to Elgin, carries on an affair with the narrator whose gender is ambiguous. On page 20, why is Louise lying in a bed between sheets that were Garish? It makes no sense to me when on page 28 he/she apparently just met her. We have two lovers the narrator and Louise; Louise desires the narrator, and vows to never leave him/her, and upon declaring her love, she announces to her husband she is leaving him, and moves in with her lover. All this makes for an interesting believable love story, but unfortunately, their new found love did not last long; Elgin states that Louise has been battling leukemia for sometime, which she neglected to tell her lover. Because of Louise’s health, she was discarded by her lover. Here Louise is: a woman who has given up everything, left her husband of 10 years, came to her lover with only the clothes on her back, and they set up house. She made the ultimate sacrifice for her lover, and the narrator does not give her a voice to decide what is best for her. Right here is where I question if she really existed. At this point, I don’t like the heartless narrator, because upon further skimming through the novel, Louise is nowhere to be found. Is she lost forever? The narrator is left licking his/her wounds in an unsuccessful quest to locate her. As the narrator puts it, “Body and mind know how to hide from what is too sore to handle.” Needless to say, his quest is over. “It’s as if Louise never existed, like a character in a book. Did I invent her?” (189).

I believe that because of the narrator’s previous escapades in love affairs, Louise was an imaginary person. The narrator needed to be in a relationship where a person would give up the world for him/her, and when that was done, apparently did not know how to handle it, so to get him/her out of that relationship the discovery of Louise’s leukemia set the stage. As far as Louise reappearing at the end of the novel showing signs of her battle with leukemia, I think not; the narrator is only wishing to be given a second chance, and to gain the love which was loss. May Louise rest in peace.     

Secret Codes

A person’s identity is something that changes all the time. Because one’s identity is unique to those that sees them or knows them, it can take on many outlines and can be written on anything. The novel, “Written on the Body” by Jeanette Winterson illustrates a story of lovers, love gain and love loss. The narrator reveals a secret code that he/she has written on its lover’s body; this secret code is only visible to the narrator; as the narrator is the one who wrote the code, and its meanings is understood as a message of love, which helps the narrator to reflect on its lover and the special moments they shared together.         

The body can hold many secret codes; these codes are secrets because they have been written secretly on one’s body by either a love one or by the person themselves. I will use for example my children, because I have five, I am sure when they see me, that each one  sees me (my body) as having their own personal secret code written on it, so to know me as my children know me, you would have to understand the secret codes they have written on my body. I have noticed on several occasions my children staring at me for long periods of time; when I ask them what they are looking at, they often would say, “Oh nothing.” They are probably writing more secret codes on my body for that particular moment. On occasions when I felt a certain urge to suffocate them with my love, I would secretly write things on their body that only I could see; the secret codes that I write on their bodies helps me to identify them with a special moment in my life that will forever be memorable and special to me.

A secret code can be written anywhere on the body; I have codes that I have secretly written on my body. I have several scars some visible and some invisible that acts as codes to help identify me, and there is a story behind every scar. For instants, I have a scar on my leg that has faded; it is not noticeable to anyone, but I know it is still there; therefore, I can call my scar a secret code that is written on my body. There is a message written on my leg that tells a story of a bike ride. My eyes at time tells a story of my life; I have once been told I have sad eyes, or that I have happy eyes, but the truth of the matter is that there are many secret codes written on my corneas that identifies me as having many stories to tell of being a daughter, sister, wife, mother, employer, and student. Each secret codes written on them is identifiable only to those who know me as such, or to others whom I have chosen to reveal my identity to. Furthermore, my hands tell many stories; they are soft, other times they are dry and chapped, and on occasions I have used them to speak for me. I have written secret codes in their palms as well as on the backs of them, because my hands have assisted me in my life’s ventures, they help to identify me though secret codes that I only know and see when I look at them.

The novel Written on the Body shows how the body can be used to hold secret codes, theses codes were messages of love, and they were written on the body by a lover. These secret codes are—a secret—not visible to anyone, but to the person who wrote them and understands their meanings and significants.

Life as Art

The novel “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham was a very interesting novel, which won him a Pulitzer Prize, and it was also created into a movie. Because the “The Hours” is about searching for the meaning of life, I will decide if either the novel or the movie more effectively explores the dominate themes, which are duty vs. individuality, reflections on mortality, constructive social roles, and life as art as well as how it was achieved.

First, the move was dominant in how the main characters roles were illustrated and reinforced by other characters in the movie. Kitty and Richie both verbally reinforced Mrs. Brown’s role as a house wife by mentioning baking a cake should not be so difficult, which happens to be just one of the domestic roles of a housewife. In the novel, there is no one reinforcing her role. Clarissa the socialite’s role was reinforced by Richard as he describes her role to that of the character in his novel, Mrs. Dalloway, who always throws parties. Mrs. Woolf’s role was enforced by her servant’s attitude toward her and how they mocked her; Nellie felt like she was in charge of the kitchen because Mrs. Woolf shines away from her role being authoritative. Still, the novel and the movie both effectively shown dominance when they portrayed the individuality of how each woman refused to accept their ordinary life, which was view and described similarly in the movie as well as in the novel.

Next, the reflections on mortality was definitely more effective in the movie than it was in the novel because of it was visual; the scene of the dead bird, and Mrs. Woolf thinking about kill off Mrs. Dalloway in her novel; she looks into the dying birds eyes and changes her mind about killing Mrs. Dalloway. The scene of Mrs. Brown in the hotel laying on the bed, and she dreams of it being submerged by water, which represents her taking her life; that scene was also a pivotal moment in  the movie because she changed her mind about committing suicide. The water scene represented life and death; life for Mrs. Brown and death for Mrs. Woolf who happens to have committed suicide by drowning. Richard believed if he was dead Clarissa would be able to focus on her life with Sally. The visual references of the reflections on mortality were clearly dominant in the movie vs. reading and tying to visualize it in the novel.

Furthermore, the constructive social roles of the main characters were equally displayed in both the movie and in the novel. Mrs. Woolf and Richard were novelist, Clarissa was an editor, and Mrs. Brown took pleasure in reading book, so all their social roles had something to do with literature.

Finally, life as art was equally represented in both the movie and in the novel; they both gave their audience an insight into the creation of life evolving into art. In the movie, I was able to view and connect the scenes, which helped me to understand the art of each of the characters life and what they were trying to accomplish; similarly, the novel’s rendition of life as art came to life as I was reading through its pages and trying to understand why each of the main characters were unhappy with their life and the journey their thoughts and feelings took them on while searching for happiness.

Clarissa Vaughan (Dalloway)

In the novel “The Hours” by Michael Cunningham, Clarissa Vaughan (Dalloway) ventures out to buy flowers for a celebration party she is giving for, Richard, her closes friend. During the course of her day, she has many thoughts and feeling, which are triggered by locations and people. She wonders if she made the right decision in her life and thinks about the paths she could have taken. I will decide if her feelings are simply personal or a product of the time in which she lives.

A beautiful June day, flowers to buy, and a party to prepare for her dearest close friend, Richard, has given her purpose for the day. She is feeling lively not at all for a woman of 52. She reflects back when she was 18 when she and Richard spent a romantic time at Wellfleet. Her feelings were personal because it was a romantic moment that they shared together; her feelings were also a product of time; her age is 52 and she also reflecting back on her youth.

Running into Walter on the streets causes her to think about Richard.  I believe the feeling she had at that moment were a product of time. She feels if she had been with Richard and they ran into Walter, they would be in disagreement about Walter and what he depicts.

She was standing on a corner on her way to see Richard, the exact corner, and she starts to reminisce about when he was 19 and tried to kiss her; she remembers that it was the argument about a kiss that caused them to part ways and seeking their freedom. I believe that her feelings were both personal and a product of time; the argument they had touched her and it was personal, and that same corner, which brought about her memory is a product of time.

Richard’s ill health causes her to think about Evan who also has Aids, and she questions herself; why didn’t Richard get his medication in time? Her feelings were personal as well as a product of time. She cares deeply for Richard and wants him to get well, but on the other hand, the timing for him to have started taking the drugs for Aids were proven to be very imperative to his health.

Richard reminds her about the romance they had at Wellfleet, the kiss by the pond, the night they spent in bed, and tells her he only his one regrets, she tell him he should have no regrets. The word regrets triggers her to start thinking about her own life, the choices she made, and the life she shares with her significant other, Sally. Her feelings are personal.

A visit from Louis, who was once Richard’s lover, also ignites feeling when all three of them enjoyed a lustful time at Wellfleet, and she remembers how they both loved Richard. Again her feelings were personal because they all shared a time of love and because it was in the past, her feelings were also a product of time; it was something that happened 30 years ago.

Clarissa’s daughter, Julia, has been acting differently toward her mother; her behavior has prompt Clarissa into thinking about her daughter never knowing who her father is, because she used a sperm donor to get pregnant. I believe Clarissa’s feelings about the changes in her daughter were personal as well as a product of time, because over time it is natural for a child to wonder who their father is if he has never been around.

 After reading “The Hours” I feel the celebration party Clarissa was given for Richard was not only to celebrate his life’s work as a poet, but a party to celebrate the life they shared together as friends, and lovers. I believe she knew he was dying from Aids.

Biblical Reference to Homosexuality

Homosexuality Wow! That is something I never thought I would be writing about. Well, I will be referring to several chapters in the King James Version of the Bible on homosexuality, and what it means to me.

In the book of Genesis 1:28, when God created man and woman, he wanted them to go out and multiply; therefore, he created them both with distinct sex organs, so that they would be sexually compatible to replenish the earth. His sole purpose was to have them procreate; thus, that is why it is a sin for man and man or woman and woman to be together sexually. Also mentioned in Genesis 19:5, the town of Sodom and Gomorrah is known for its ungodly acts (sin) one in particular is homosexual behavior. There was a situation centered on Lot’s house guess, which were two male angles (who were strangers to that town.) The soldiers demanded Lot to, “bring them out unto us, that we may know them.” I believe Lot knew what the soldier’s intentions were for the angels, so he said, “I pray you brethren, do not so wickedly;” therefore, he offered the soldiers his daughters. Apparently, the soldiers did not want his daughters, and were blinded, so they would not harm the angles. Homosexuality in Genesis is referred to as being wicked. Next is the book of Leviticus 18:22, which says, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it [is] abomination.” Abomination is referred to homosexuality, so in this chapter God is saying if a man or woman has sex with anything/one other than (each other) husband and wife it is an abomination. Another  book is Judge 19: 23-25, the town of Gibeah had one similar situation as Sodom and Gomorrah; a stranger in town was a guess in the home of a villager; during which time they were disturbed by soldiers saying, “Bring forth the man that came into thine house, that we may know him.” The master of the house said, “Nay, my brethren, [nay], I pray you, do not [so] wickedly, Behold, [here is] my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing.” In this chapter homosexually is referred to as being vile; I interpret vile as being something contemptible, despicable, or evil.  Furthermore, reference to homosexuality is in Romans, 1:26-32, which speaks of women and men giving up that which is natural for that which is against nature; I believe it is referring to homosexual acts as being against nature, which to me means participating in unnatural sexual behavior. Finally in I Corinthians 6:9-10, homosexuality is referred to as being effeminate. The definitions of effeminate in the Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary states it is a man having feminine qualities untypical of a man: not manly in appearance or manner.

In concluding, homosexuality in the Bible is considered a sin; as well as, any sexual act that is not between—husband and wife. All humans are sexual beings and sinners; even though they may not be homosexual. A sin is a sin so in order to enter the Kingdom of heaven—one must be repentant for their sins.

Women Are Restricted in Their Choices and Behavior

For centuries, men have and still hold the dominant role in society, which have allowed them to have the freedom to make choices and to behave in any manner they deemed acceptable. Because men have the power to control women, they have set limits on women’s choices and behaviors. By setting restrictions, it allows them to keep women suppressed and in their place. It is very unfortunate that even thou women have been emancipated for many, many years; they are still limited in their choices and behaviors, and men are not.

Given the fact that men have always had more freedom than women, and women’s liberation has allowed women to also enjoy some of the freedom men have been entailed to; women are still restricted in many areas such as education and in the workplace, even though it is not obvious, it does exist. For example, if a woman chooses to give birth, she is usually the responsible party in taking care of the baby, which may limit her ability to obtain a higher education. On the other hand, men don’t have that limit placed on them when obtaining a higher education. Also, if a woman chooses to enter the work force, she may be unaware that her pay may be restricted; for instance, a man and woman may be employed in the same position; unfortunately, her pay may be limited to her male adversary. I believe this is done because many companies still see men as being the bread winner of their families, and women are typically seen as the homemaker. Many companies are paying men more than women for the same position, and have been getting away with it until now.  According to an article written by Emily Freidman of ABC NEWS/money, “Novartis a drug company lauded for being one of the best places to work for mothers has been found guilty of discriminating against female employees, paying them less than their male counterparts and denying them promotions.” Another well known company is Wal-Mart, whom is currently being suited for similar bias behaviors.

In addition to women having more restrictions in their choices, then men, they also have more limits placed on their behavior. I believe these boundaries are set to keep women in their place, and not to allow their behavior to get out of control. Once a woman has crossed the boundaries in her behavior, she is no longer considered a lady.  In referring to the picture “keep within the compass,” the picture in the center is a depiction of a woman one may assume is consider a lady, and if one behave within her boundaries, she will have a prosperous life. The four pictures outside of the circle signify a difficult life a woman will have if she does not stay within her behavioral boundaries, so even though the picture represents a woman in the 18 or 19^th century, women are still faced with restrictions placed on their behavior, and it still holds true that if a woman is to be considered a lady and wants to be treated as one; she must be restricted in her behavior. Typically, if a man goes beyond what is expected of his behavior, it is just blown off, and he is said to be behaving just a classic man; a few examples are, swearing, promiscuous sex, poor hygiene, scratching private parts in public, and picking his noise. If a woman did any of those things she would be looked upon in repugnance, and may even be treated as an outcast among other woman.

A Woman's Role In the Mid 19th Century

During the mid 19^th century, women had no means of support and had to depend on the men in their families in order to sustain. Unfortunately, their dependency for financial support and shelter left them with no rights, thus they were considered property. A woman’s education was very limited, and only the upper class were able to be educated on such things as learning French, playing the piano, drawing, and sometimes Geography. Through this form of education, it prepared a woman for a role as mistress of a home or governess. A governess role did not provide a modest pay, which would leave her dependent on her master (yes, I did say master; that word makes me think of slavery) for pay; if he paid her at all. Due to the fact that she lived in his home and ate his food, I guess it was up to him to pay her or not, which would reinforce his control over her.

The book Jane Eyre is set in the mid 19^th century. When Jane was a student at Lowood School, her education was very limited; she was only taught the basic things (to keep her suppressed).  Because females had such minute roles, there was no need for them to be given the same education as males, so unfortunately, Jane’s education only consist of sewing, drawing, learning French, and Geography, which would make it difficult for her to become independent; thus, leaving her to remain in the role of a dependent woman. Regretfully, she did not have any male family members that offered her financial support. So upon her departure from Lowood School, she took the role of a governess, a common role in that era, under the watchful eyes of Mr. Rochester, whom owned Thornfield Manor. She would often refer to him as her—master. Due to the fact that Jane had never been a governess before, she was not aware that there would be other duties she would have to perform besides her position as Adela’s teacher. When her governess position exceeded beyond teaching, which some evenings it did, she would be summonsed to keep company with, her master, Mr. Rochester (when the word master is used it signifies the control he had over her). Even though there were times she did not want to socialize with him, Jane—had to obey, for submissiveness was yet another role of a women in the mid 19^th century. Although she was the governess, her position reigned over the other servants, and she had no authority of her own. Since Jane was an inexperience young woman of 19, she would fall prey to many of the antics the 40 year old Mr. Rochester performed, and she was compelled to submit to them without any questions (women in this era had no voice of their own). Given that Adela did not have a mother; Jane’s governess position eventually had to coincide with that of a surrogate mother, which was also common back then.

I believe that Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre, wanted to convey to her readers that even though the setting of her book was in the mid 19^th century and women were subservient to man, Jane struggled to crossed that line; she knew how to underhandedly assert her mind and her beliefs, which clearly was not the role of a woman of that time. She had an independent nature, and did not want to be controlled. But as fate should have it, she became wealthy; Mr. Rochester needed her and depended on her. Fortunately, she did not have to live the social life of society, but lived the life she wanted to live far away at Ferndean finding happiness as a married woman free to express herself, as well as feeling equal to her husband.

The Right to Decide

Who has the right to decide which gender an inter-sex child should be? One may argue that a parent has the right to make that decision, or the right should be left up to that individual. Because the responsibility of a child is its parent, a parent may argue that it is solely their right to make the decision of the gender for their inter-sex child. On what basis, I would ask, “would it be for its health or well being?” Since the gender of an inter-sex child has not been proven to be perilous to its health, a parent may argue that changing the gender of their child to either male of female is necessary for its psychological well being; to prevent psychological trauma a child—might endure being teased upon reaching the age of puberty by fellow classmates when undressing for gym. According to Guinet and Decourt, by far the most frequent form of true hermaphrodite they have encountered—55 percent appear to have more masculine physique, and during puberty will start to develop breasts. But that is not a good argument because kids gets teased all the time in the locker rooms; it has happened to me, and I was not an inter-sex child. An inter-sex child may experience perplexities about its body—haven’t we all? Since I cannot come up with a valid reason why a parent should have the right to determine the gender of their inter-sex child, they should not be given that right. Unfortunately, some children experiences teasing, sexual confusion, and alienation while growing up, and as parents we teach them how to handle it. I feel the true nature of a parent is to—love, protect and provide for our children. Many parents neglect to realize that children are also sexual beings, and upon reaching maturity it is within their nature to seek sexual gratification. Therefore, if a parent is given the right to decide the gender of their inter-sex child, they may indeed be doing more damage to the child then they realize, thus leaving their child with mental and physical scares. Through education and possibly counseling, the child upon reaching maturity can then objectively make their own decision. Consequently, the inter-sex adult will have the freedom to explore and choose what is best for him/her. Studies have been done proving that people who are inter-sex gender can live and have lived a normal healthy life. As mentioned in the article, “The Five Sexes” by Anne Fausto-Sterling, there are reports describing children who grew up knowing that they were intersexual (though they did not advertise it) adjusted to their usual status. Likewise in the video “Multiple Genders” Georgina and Arthur are hermaphrodites, due to his/her chromosomes Georgina biologically looks like a woman but has male genitals and appeared to be content with him/herself, and Arthur who is happily married enjoys the best of both worlds. These two people were given—the right to decided what was best for them (as it should be) because in the end they are the ones, inter-sex, who will live the life that makes them happy.

Analyzing My Gender Role

I have decided to write on Devor’s text, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender.” Because I feel my family is a society, it is a collective community of—all my relatives; I will begin analyzing my gender role, which happens to be female. I would say that a lot of the feminine responsibilities, mannerisms, and thinking that I have been participating in have been taught to me by my mother, grandmother, aunts, and other females in my family, while I was growing up. I felt no pressure to conform to the role I was expected to portray; I was too eager to learn because it made me feel close to them, and it also felt natural to me. As mentioned in the article I read, I became part of my generalized order by doing the conventional female roles like helping my mother take care of the house, washing the dishes, cooking, cleaning, washing the clothes, and taking care of my younger siblings. Even though I had a sister who was three years older than me, she did take an interest in the things that I was doing, so my mother entrusted me with the majority of the so call female responsibilities. Performing these tasks made me feel girly; since, I had never seen any of the men or boys in my family partake in any of these duties. While growing up, television really reinforced my role; only girls were shown helping their mothers around the house. I believed this role was to prepare me to become—first-class wife material. I know longer believe in gender roles in the home thanks to woman’s emancipation, and this ever so changing society. I believe shared roles will strengthen a relationship, and it also teaches children (who always watch and emulate their parents) that gender roles in a home do not exist.


When it came to practicing my role of being sexy, I turned to the television, magazines, and watched other women; I did this because I was not taught how to be sexy, or how to attract the opposite sex, so duplicating what I saw and what society wants females to believe is attractive and sexy did not last too long because I was not white, with long hair and a size 2. Hence, I started copying people who I could relate to that I found beautiful. Because this society is so diverse with beautiful women, and has so many translations of how a female should portray sexy and attractiveness, I enjoy and have the liberty to pick and choose what feels right for me, and have changed it periodically. According to Devor, female role attributes are commonly seen as mirror images of one another.

Watching my mother incorporate stronger roles, such as mowing the yard, painting the house, going to work, paying bills, has had a profound effect in shaping my identity; She showed me that a woman can be beautiful, soft, and still do roles that typically done by a man. There are other significant females such as my teachers and other famous women I read about that have also helped to contour my identity; because through them it has been proven that there is not a gender role that is—only male or female, and the roles that I can choose to identify with are unrestricted.

Watching my mother incorporate stronger roles, such as mowing the lawn, painting the house, going to work, paying bills, has had a profound effect in shaping my identity; she has shown me that a female does not have to be trapped in the role society deem as female, and it is tolerable to do roles that have been stereotyped as males. Because of my mother and other strong women like her, I was able to believe and openly accept that I too am not limited to the role society insists are meant for only females.

Gender and Identity

I have never taken the time to actually think about what gender and identity means to me until I took this class, which is ENG 259: Gender, Images, and Rhetoric. While growing up, I had always categorized gender as being either male or female, because that is what I was told, but now that I am grown, I come to learn that there are other genders besides male and female. When speaking of identity, I would say a person’s identity is the distinctiveness of the gender they represent.


I had to read an essay by Judith Lorber called “Night to his Day”: The Social Construction of Gender. I agree with her that the construction of gender starts at birth. After each birth of all my children, I could not wait until the doctor told me what my newborn’s gender was, so at the first sight of the genitalia it was going to be a boy or a girl. A lot of people may not be aware that babies born are not always male or female, and their gender is unknown, so what happens when it is unclear what the sexual category is? I am not sure; therefore I would guess hormone tests are done, and the decision of labeling the gender is left up to the parents, which would be to categorize the newborn’s gender as male, female, or other.

When talking about gender and identity, I feel a person’s identity is usually based on their sexual characteristics. Identifying a person by their clothing and mannerisms can fool anyone into believing their identity. On the other hand, there are people who clearly identify themselves as a particular sex and truly portray the mannerisms of that sexual category even without wearing the clothing; it could be that it is who they are inside that makes them that way, and if this is the case, I would say they are justly portraying their natural born identity.

I agree with a lot of things in the essay that I read; such as society places a role in conforming gender roles, and these roles changes all the time, so what use to be the—NORM for gender roles 10 years ago may not be the norm now. In the past, women stayed home and took care of the children and kept the house because that was their role, but now there are men choosing to stay home to rear the children, cook, and clean while their wives bring home the bacon. Even though this is one of the new gender roles in this society, I still can’t quite embrace it. Another thing that I agree with is the classification of gender; I am guilty of classifying my sons and my daughters, as well as a lot of people I know. I dressed my daughters in—PINK and got their ears pierced to proclaim their gender as female, and for my sons they did not wear the pastel colors; they wore anything that made a statement that they were boys, and I did all this because I was in control of their identity. News flash!!! Once my kids discovered their own identity in grade school, my boys begged to have a pierced ear because it was cool, and my daughters hated anything that was pink and frilly.

I believe by taking this class it will heighten my perception about the different types of gender, and help me to understand how people identify themselves as another gender besides male or female.

First Time

Hi, this is my first time blogging; I have to keep a journal of my readings in my ENG 259 class, which use to be called Images of Women in Literature, but it is now called Gender, Images, and Rhetoric. Well, wish me luck because my first blog is due next week, so I better get started on what I think about “Night to his Day”: The Social Construction of Gender by Judith Lorber.