In Eugene August's essay, Real Men Don't: Anti-Male Bias in English, i found that his statement, "As our boy grows he faces threats and taunts if he does not take risks or endure pain to prove his manhood"(August 134), to be true. I especially saw this in grade school and high school. In grade school if a guy wouldn't take a dare or refuses to fight someone he is usually considered a "coward" or "scardy cat". The boy would be ostrasized. A quote i dont really believe was ""When a young man marries, he will be required by law and social custom to support his wife and children" (August 136). In this day in age I have seen many women as the bread winners of their families. My mom and dad make an equal amount of money and most of the days my dad cooks the meals and my mom is doing the yard work. Other than my last quote I was convinced by Augusts article because it made me think of the boy as a victim and English being prejudicial against men.
I loved reading Deborah Tannen's essay There is No Unmarked Woman, but this might be because I am a girl. I wan guys to realize what girls have to go through in the morning to get ready for the day. We have to do our hair put on our make up choose an outfit, because if we dont were considered a slob. My high school was an all girls high school and we had to wear uniforms. Although every girl was wearing the same shirt and skirt we each had our own unique style which Tannen agrees with "Instead of concentrating on the discussion I found myself looking at the three other women at the table, thinking how each had a different style and how each style was coherent" (Tannen 140). Each girl at my school wore her hair a different way, some had colorful socks and some had white, some wore make up and others didn't, but however someone looked I would always notice and judge them based on there appearance. Although i mainly agree with this article i don't agree with Tannen when she says "...I felt sad to think that we women didn't have the freedom to be unmarked that the men sitting next to us had" (Tannen 145). I believe that men are marked too, just not as much as women. Some men try to look good and others don't but they are both marked as either put together or sloppy.
I agree with your statement about your parents. We're in the same boat.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from about mother's being bread winners as well. Both of my parents work so I definitely think standards have changed, good point.
ReplyDeletei agree with both of you
ReplyDeleteMy parents divorced and so it is very clear in my family that both parents make their own money and support their half of the family. So I agree with you all as well that it's not put on the father to make all the money.
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