Becoming Members Of Society Learning The Social Meaning...

What does it mean to be a woman or man? Whether we a man or a woman, in today’s society it is not determined just by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How do you act, talk, and behave like a woman or man? Are you feminine or masculine, both, or neither? These are questions that help us get to the core of our gender and gender identity. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles: clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It is a feeling that we have as early as age two or three. In the article, â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,† the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to persuade his readers that gender shapes how we behave because of the expectation from us and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. He gets readers to reflect on how â€Å"Childr en’s developing concepts of themselves as individuals are necessarily bound up †¦to understand the expectations of the society which they are a part of† (389). Growing up, from being a child to an adult is where most of us try to find ourselves. We tend to struggle during this transition period, people around us tell us what to be and not to be, Jamaica Kincaidt in her short story, â€Å"Girl† tells just that, the setting is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly. The mother soberlyShow MoreRelatedBecoming Members Of Society : Learning The Social Meanings Of Gender Essay1063 Words   |  5 Pagesdifferently from each other. Society has developed stereotypes and archetypes for the two different genders. Men are portrayed to be strong, independent individuals that are the providers of the household. Women are often seen as weak subordinates that take care of the children and residences of men. The way society has char acterized genders and their roles are as separate and unequal. Aaron H. Devor wrote in his essay â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender† the following quote:Read MoreBecoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender (Devor1029 Words   |  5 Pagessegregate themselves only because society has taught them that grouping together is the only way to stay safe. In support of this argument I contend that this feeling of being ashamed of one’s own native tongue is nothing less than marginalization, in order to appropriate the labor of the Hispanic Americans to keep them from assimilating into the American mainstream. In the 1960’s American society was influenced by movements that were fighting the political and social injustices of the time. The XicanoRead MoreRhetorical Analysis on the Article, Becoming Members of Society1162 Words   |  5 PagesRhetorical Analysis (Paper 2) In the article, â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,† the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to convince his audience that gender shapes how we behave and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. These rhetorical devices serve his larger goal of getting readers to reflect on how their childhoods formed their genders. â€Å"Maleness and femaleness seem â€Å"naturalRead MoreEssay on Equal and Alike1158 Words   |  5 Pagesmasculinity and femininity is less clear. Aaron H. Devor wrote in his 1989 article, Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender, that due to the structure of American society, â€Å"masculinity thus becomes ‘innately’ valuable and femininity serves a contrapuntal function to delineate and magnify the hierarchical dominance of masculinity† (430). Devor describes the role of femininity in cu rrent society as merely a way to put the value and superiority of masculinity into perspectiveRead MoreThe Male Gender as a Performance in Beer Advertisements Essay812 Words   |  4 PagesAaron Devor in, â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender,† argues that gender is a performance. He supports his argument by recognizing how society rewards, tolerates or punishes conformity to or divergence from social norms (widely accepted behaviors set by society). If a male fails to fall into his expected characterization of dominance and aggression or a female fails to act out in passivity and submission, they are at high risk of societal punishment. Michael MessnerRead MoreWhat Are Gender Roles?1123 Words   |  5 PagesProf. LaTour Eng. 101 Specific Gender Roles What are gender roles? Gender roles are those that are portrayed by a certain gender identity. In other words, a male and/or female should act and dress as if their gender is supposed to as seen by society. Guys will wear shorts and a T-shirt while girls will wear dresses and skirts; that is just how society sees an individual. Men and women’s gender roles reflect on what others will think in today’s society. Society sees men and women playing theirRead MoreWomen s Social Construction Of Gender1524 Words   |  7 Pageswith trying to redefine various positions at this point in history. To allow freedom for women, freedom for men, freedom from those sharply defined gender roles.† Ward mentions how much society emphasizes gender to create this social construction of gender, which restricts personal freedoms. Many articles have been written about the social norms of gender, and the differences between men and women. Jamaica Kincaid’s â€Å"Girl† (1978) illustrates a conversation with a woman and a young girl about how a girlRead MoreModern Day American Society By Aaron Devor s Bros Before Hos : The Guy Code ``1635 Words   |  7 PagesAmerican society, yet it is the root of all gender relations. The widely accepted notion that men naturally evolved to become the superior sex is a myth. Aaron Devor’s â€Å"Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanin gs of Gender,† and Michael Kimmel’s â€Å"Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code,† both argue that the gender hierarchy America has been built upon is the product of socialization. Devor s essay, written more like a research paper, focuses on explaining the origins of the gender myth throughRead MoreGender Roles Has Created An Ideal Set Of Rules And Behaviors1646 Words   |  7 Pageslady† or â€Å"real men don’t cry† and why do you suppose that is? The answer to the question is gender roles; society has created an ideal set of rules and behaviors that both men and women need to follow. These roles have been passed down from generation to generation to the point where both men and women are finally questioning why they have to live by a certain standard. No one knows for certain how gender roles came about or when they were created. These roles have been oppressing and crippling menRead MoreEthnic Identity And Cultural Identity1204 Words   |  5 Pa gesEthnic identity much like racial identity is difficult to clearly discern and delineate. As a social construct, it is an umbrella term that mark a group affiliation to a common origin, culture, religion, or geography; it consists of shared traditions, behaviors, values and beliefs. (Waters, 1990) Outlining the elements and components of ethnic identity, Phinney and Ong (2007) stress its multidimensionality and dynamism, it encompasses several cultural, linguistic, behavioral features as well as being