Grade 12: Gender

This unit includes a variety of texts that focus on and challenge gender and gender roles.  These gender roles are not blatantly stated in every text, but the reader understands them because of social and historical contexts and stereotypes.  Even in this modern day, there are still underlying assumptions about what is masculine and what is feminine.  The two parents raising a genderless child are attempting to break down these stereotypes.  By not identifying their child as a boy or girl, they believe that they are giving their child total freedom to determine who they want to be.  “The Genderbread Person” also shows how our preconceived ideas about gender may not be as clear as we thought.  The diagram shows that sexuality, attraction, and gender can all affect how we perceive others and how they perceive themselves. 

Similarly, the Chevy commercial and The New York Times article show traditional stereotypes about gender and sexuality.  In the commercial, the other men in the car scoot away from their friend because he is singing “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”  Even though the man is only singing a song, his friends look at each other questioningly and move away from him, implying that they are uncomfortable around him because he is not acting “masculine.”  The viewer may interpret the reactions of the other men as homophobic based on ideas that society has put in our head. The New York Times article addresses the issue of feminism in our modern world.  Sheryl Sandberg has very strong and somewhat controversial ideas about a feminist revolution.  She points out many of the reasons women are viewed differently.  She also advocates for a new wave of self-awareness for women.  Like the Chevy commercial, Sandberg also wants to break down the stereotypes that society has enforced over the years.

“The Wife of Bath” was a very interesting poem, especially for the time period.  The representation of women in this poem is different from what I would have assumed it would have been in 1387.  Women seemed to be the dominant characters in control in this poem.  However, the women still speak to the men as if they are inferior to them.  They speak to them respectfully, but the reader can tell that the queen and the old woman are really controlling the situations and ‘calling the shots.’  This text was written much earlier than any of the others, so it surprised me that the men were not completely in control. 

Unlike most of the other texts, the scene from Footloose and the song “Holding Out for a Hero” reinforce typical, clichéd gender roles.  The song and scene work very well together to show a stereotyped representation of masculine men.  Kevin Bacon and the other boy on the tractor seem to be competing in order to assert their masculinity and bravery.  One can almost imagine the two boys on the tractors as knights on horses charging towards one another.  There is a girl in the middle of the two tractors, cheering for them, watching to see which will prove themselves the nobler.  The song also seems to suggest that women are waiting around for a strong and fit hero.  Though neither the video nor the song suggest that women are weak, they do seem to imply that men must prove themselves to women through bravery, strength, and competition with other men.

            Although gender seems to be an overarching theme for these texts, they all seem to take different, more specific directions.  The different modes and formats also help to show different ideas about gender roles.  All of the texts except for the Footloose scene and the song seem to challenge the stereotypes that surround masculinity and femininity.