Rough Draft #2

Mark Wild

11/25/12

Dear youth residing in the red states,

In the south, specifically the red states there tends to be a way of life most people abide by. One that is simple, even expected and is deeply rooted in the heritage of our families and community. Your mother, father and grandparents have all endorsed the trend and through generations it has been refined into assumed gender roles women and men play in our society.  I am certain that children whom grow up in a community where men and women assume gender roles are more likely to conform to the norms of their community and grow with the characteristics associated with their gender. Thus, I believe gender roles are socially constructed and not biological and that it is dangerous for it causes conformity, which in turn, diminishes one ability to individualize themselves.

Gender is widely accepted as one identifying with masculine or feminine qualities regardless of sex. Sex, in medical terms is strictly biological; it is what genitals we are born with. If one is born in a male’s body though identifies with female characteristics then they might identify as female. Their gender is female while their sex is male. From birth we are already assigned gender roles, just minutes after we are brought into this world we are either wrapped with a pink or baby blue blanket signifying if we are a boy or a girl. From then on without choice, the culture we are born into shapes us with the perceptions of what masculinity and femininity mean, and how it plays in our society. Typically in the south gender roles are straight forward. Men tend to be associated with qualities such as leadership, hard work and maintain an image that is distant in emotion and sensitivity. On the contrary, women are shaped in our society to become domestic, passive, favoring aesthetics rather then intellect, becoming prizes rather then individuals. These qualities act as a framework for the norms that are created in each community and function as a mechanism for social control.  They are reinforced by the conformity of the masses of people assuming their gender roles, and induce fear in the ones that don’t fit the stereotype.

This system of social control,  according to Linda L. Lindsey in Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective is a “Mechanism to ensure that its members act in a normative, generally approved way. In many societies, when a woman asks a man for a date or a married couple decides to reverse occupational and household roles, they become vulnerable to a number of social control mechanisms which may include ridicule, loss of friends and family support, or exclusion from certain social circles. “ It is important to acknowledge and understand that the meta message states that there is no over lapping.  There has to be a clear distinction between a man and a women and the traits associated with the gender.  Interestingly enough there has been emerging research that directly counters the argument of assigned gender.  One of which was a groundbreaking study in the mid 1970’s that supported the idea that men and women are actually more alike then different.  During a study conducted by Maccoby and Jacklin’s (1974)  The psychology of sex differences, they reviewed more then 2000 studies of gender difference in a wide variety of subjects, including abilities, personality, cognitive ability, social behavior and memory.  Popular to contrary belief they concluded that men and women are psychologically 98% similar, breaking the long accepted myth that girls are more social then boys and that women have equal higher level cognitive ability in mathematics and science. Maccoby and Jacklin concluded that there were slight gender differences established in only 4 areas: verbal ability, mathematical ability, spatial recognition and aggression.

            Gender roles pertain only to the culture of communities and generations and are not a basis of how man and women should behave.  In the United States there is a well defined image of what a man and a women is. There is an associated interest each gender is supposed to like, and a wide variety of activities they admire.  At a young age boys are giving Tonka Trucks, Plastic Army men and knives, ever instilling these subconscious attributes to masculinity. According to Michael Kimmel’s article Bros before hos: the guy code, he concludes through a series of interviews with men ageing from 16 through 26 that there is a common theme men live by, he dwindled it down into the “real guys top ten list.” Such attributes on the list were Boys don’t cry, size matters and its better to be mad then sad.  This, of course, is only a recent generational  phenomenon and I assure you that it has never been the case.  If we take a look into history, specifically Europe around 1800- 1900 and narrow in on the musical culture that was so prevalent and admired back then we will fall right in what historians call the romantic period of music.  In this age, the musicians were considered a modern equivalent of what we call a  rockstar, they were popular, mimicked and appreciated.  The artist were not symbols of sex nor mischief, there wasn’t even much attention to their image, it was their music that caught on.  It wasn’t hard or was it vulgar, rather high in emotion, delicate with feminine qualities.  A popular artist at that time, Chopin was recorded crying as he played his piano during a concert.  Emotion was encouraged, the influence to embellishing in the natural emotions such as melancholy and suppress the unrestrained urge of anger was approved. It was simply the trend of the time.

If we apply the “size matters” rule to history we must go back a few hundred  more years to Florence Italy, Where Michelangelo completed his masterpiece, David in 1504 A.D. This was made during the renaissance, a time that many historians consider the pinnacle of art as we know it.  Where much thought was given to the proportions of the figure, to accentuate and celebrate the beauty of the anatomy of man. His piece, a 17 foot, pure marble statue of naked Hero, delicately standing with a sling over his shoulder is beautiful in ever right, though I wonder what a modern man who had no prior education in art would think about the size of his penis. One would think in this modern age that if it was a celebration of the anatomy of man, the artist would make sure he was making it rememberable by exaggerating the size of his penis. Though in fact, at that time many artists including Michelangelo considered a large genital to be grotesque and thus kept it small.  Apply that to the modern perception of size and men would be offended.

As I mentioned, conformity is dangerous.  It has the ability to cripple individualism by fear of being isolated from the community.   Homosexuals tend to be the victims, especially in an environment that favors traditional gender roles. Some Forms of homosexuality tend to emphasis feminine characteristics, a sense of flamboyancy. In theory, if one who carries such traits were to grow up in a town that perceived men as the highest regard of masculinity, or if it was in a state were homosexuality isn’t considered an act of love but rather has a hostel take on the matter, then homosexuals will no doubt feel oppressed, disempowered, and alone. They are the ones that are not socially constructed, they simply are born gay.  I ask of you, southern youths, to accept people for who they are.  If you do not understand them, or if they don’t live how you live you should not fret. People are different, every culture on this planet functions different from our own but in the end we are all the same.  Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.