Blog for 3/3/10

Chelsea Gamble

Society for some reason or another tends to portray feminine characteristics of males as negative characteristics. For example, on page 142 “The fellows who are afraid are called “sissies” for the reason that they are like girls when they are in danger or have hard things to do.” The term “sissies” refers directly to females and is defined as a negative trait for men to exhibit. Another example is “to be able to fight it out according to the rules of the game and not whine when you are beaten or hurt is to be a man instead of a “baby.” The term baby usually refers to the female gender, because females carry babies. So this type of statement used my men, like the previous statement of “sissies” demeans women simply through a single word.

Another way Pink Think dismisses women relative to children and males masculinity is in an example on page 135, ‘”rejection” a boy who felt rejected during childhood would likely grow into a social outcast, a “slum-bum” or a “juke-joint rock n roll artist who required all-night sessions and a barby to keep the gang awake. Also, mothers and women are dismissed for the opposite, which is, “a mother who “smothered” her son by trying “too hard, constantly protecting him, continuously reminding him, lavishing him with love whether he reciprocates it or not, fighting all his battles, making all his decisions, doing all his work” runs the risk of turning out a son who is unprepared for adult life, timid, dependent, and afraid. These characteristics are the exact opposite of how society defines masculinity, therefore it’s safe to assume these are negative characteristics that the mother enforces on her son through her actions.

Women are women they strive to look there best, charm the nicest, greatest looking lad in the room, and be perfect in every way possible. On page 165 the “beauty czar” John Robert Powers says, “posture, speech, dress, make-up, personality-all were elements of charm.” He continued in saying that the charming woman exhibits characteristics of a Girl Scout, “unfailing in her service to others,” always engaged in “some form of constructive activity.” These are all types of guides for women on how to act, what to do, and how to charm, which are very similar to the guidebooks made for men discussed in Chapter 5. The Charm Teachers Manual was a very direct manual that communicated verbally to women the importance of charm, beauty, and personality training. Women were taught how to become submissive and command power because they’re “innermost urge was to procreate,” which required attention from the opposite sex, the acquisition of a husband, and the establishment of a home.”

Your Power as a Woman stated that it wasn’t just a woman’s “right and duty” to look and be her best it was an “obligation to take pride in her womanliness.” This type of pride in oneself is what is defined as power. Through all these guides and books of teachings women gain an understanding of who the world and society wants them to be, instead of which they believe they are, what they believe in, and how they want to act. These type of manuals and books cause women to become even more self conscious and insecure about themselves if they don’t posses the type of beauty and charm they “should have.” Women and society should be who they want to be, and like Professor Scott says we should all just give each other an f-ing break!