This chapter is about sex, gender, and social expectations. What is sex? Sex is a social construct based on biological factors. Gender is similar to sex, but is based on cultural factors. I’m today’s society gender comes with expectations/rules that are expected to be followed. For example, a color is assigned to you based on you sex/gender. Blue is normally for boys, and pinks is normally for girls. What a child is mislabeled by someone, the parent(s) will correct the person in a somewhat aggressive way. The parent(s) will assume that the person is stupid or the clothing/activity that cause the misconception is at fault. What eventually comes for us all is masculinity or femininity. The chapter talked in a view of a young boy growing up. The chapter went over how boys are suppose to be tough, loud, rude, dirty, and violent. While girls had to be dainty, clean, quite, and polite. Boys are suppose to have it easier than girls since there isn’t as many restrictions. Even when the mother tells them to not do some or to be safe, the boys get a pass. The only time a boy gets harsher treatment is when the parent(s) want to show them off. The book goes on to describe how boys have to eventually put on a kind of “act” for girls. This “act” normally takes place during teenage years; being hormonal and all. Goes on into adulthood, and how they use outlets as escape methods. Since men have to act more “feminine” around women, they escape through sports, or other “manly” activities. That’s pretty much the entirety of the book, I feel like the book was a little biased. I’m the chapter, a male seems to be a stereotypical male from the 1950s/60s. The male described was a tough as nails male who didn’t want to “act like a woman” would. They would do manly things, and criticize other males who didn’t meet the masculine expectations. The representation of the mind of a typical male seemed to have been picked out of biased views. Yes males did think like that at one point, but it’s roughly been decades since that stereotype was true.
4/19/2019
Sociology Blog 