Gender Stereotypes Throughout History
ENG3U-04
Evolution of Female Concerns
Women have fought for their equality between men throughout history. Women have fought for their right to vote, the right to receive education and more. Now in modern society, women legally possess equal rights as men. However, there is another huge wall women have to climb over; society’s gender norms and expectation. Gender norms and expectations are culturally constructed in a way that has historically been to the detriment of women; even though women have made significant advancements in sport, in the home and in the workplace, they still have to deal with limitations that are left over from previous gender expectations and assumptions that have held back women in the past. This contention is supported by the analysis of Jacob Anderson-Minshall’s article “Out of Bounds”, Howard Miller’s propaganda poster “We Can Do It!” and Cathy Glui’s essay “Richer Sex”.
Few decades ago, women were not given equal right to play specific sports which men were allowed to participate in. Time has shifted and modern society gives generally equal options to both genders when choosing sports. Although female athletes have gained opportunities, the basic society’s assumptions are still entwined in our culture, mistreating female athletes through judgments and media. It is a society’s normative that males are physically stronger and are more capable of competitive sports. This gender expectation that women are less athletic also takes place in the recent hot topic, transgender. Article, “Out of Bounds” by Jacob Anderson-Minshall illustrates the society’s overlooked misconception towards trans-sexual athletes. Within trans-sexual, FTMs comparing to MTFs receive far less limitation. Article states about FTMs that “they are never a subject of debate, nor are they presented as viable threats to men’s sports”(Minshall,2005). This implicitly indicates that FTMs are considered weaker than males because FTMs originate from female. It is mentioned
Evolution of Female Concerns
Women have fought for their equality between men throughout history. Women have fought for their right to vote, the right to receive education and more. Now in modern society, women legally possess equal rights as men. However, there is another huge wall women have to climb over; society’s gender norms and expectation. Gender norms and expectations are culturally constructed in a way that has historically been to the detriment of women; even though women have made significant advancements in sport, in the home and in the workplace, they still have to deal with limitations that are left over from previous gender expectations and assumptions that have held back women in the past. This contention is supported by the analysis of Jacob Anderson-Minshall’s article “Out of Bounds”, Howard Miller’s propaganda poster “We Can Do It!” and Cathy Glui’s essay “Richer Sex”.
Few decades ago, women were not given equal right to play specific sports which men were allowed to participate in. Time has shifted and modern society gives generally equal options to both genders when choosing sports. Although female athletes have gained opportunities, the basic society’s assumptions are still entwined in our culture, mistreating female athletes through judgments and media. It is a society’s normative that males are physically stronger and are more capable of competitive sports. This gender expectation that women are less athletic also takes place in the recent hot topic, transgender. Article, “Out of Bounds” by Jacob Anderson-Minshall illustrates the society’s overlooked misconception towards trans-sexual athletes. Within trans-sexual, FTMs comparing to MTFs receive far less limitation. Article states about FTMs that “they are never a subject of debate, nor are they presented as viable threats to men’s sports”(Minshall,2005). This implicitly indicates that FTMs are considered weaker than males because FTMs originate from female. It is mentioned
Cited: Anderson-Minshall, Jacob. "Out of Bounds." Fun & Games 2005. Brady, Judy. "I want a Wife." 2006. Glui, Cathy. "Richer Sex." Maclean 's 6 March 2012. Sadker, David. "Gender Games." Washington Post 30 July 2000. Shea, Renée, Lawrence Scanlon and Robin Dissin Aufses. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford, 2008.