While reading the first chapters and discussing some of it in class I can easily see the stereotypes of being feminism and masculine because I even make the same assumptions. Feminism refers to females, being dainty, loving pink, loving to shop, being a care-giver, being an emotional supporter, being just plain emotional, being beautiful, thin, etc. When I think about masculinity I picture strong, muscular men, being the financial supporter of the family, always taking the lead, not showing much emotions, being stubborn, tall, defending "his woman" if there was a need to, etc. I am one of the people who don’t easily see past that the typical stereotypes, but after reading the first few sections and talking about some of the issues in class I am starting to change my mind. I do know that women do a lot to better our world and are very strong; some being single parents therefore making them the ones financially responsible. On the other side males are also changing; lately there have been a lot more single dads who need to be the care-giver of the family. I can see now how many times the stereotype of a specific sex (male or female) is reversed.
Also I’d like to talk about another issued discussed in the readings: mythical norm (white, middle class, heterosexual, able, thin, and a young adult). Much of chapter 2 talked about institutions and how they central in creating systems of inequality and privilege. Institutions produce messages that shape our understanding of social life. I totally agree when the booked talk about that if something isn’t “normal” it’s mostly frowned upon. When the book discussed that heterosexuality is dominate and the opposite of that would be lesbian or gay (the subordinate) I easily related because in society it is clear that many people don’t approve of same sex relationships. Hopefully we the people can change some of the typical norms and adapt to some situations because the world is always changing around us and we need to see that the way we used to see the world is different than how the world is today.
I agree with your stereotyping comments. I do it many times unconciously as well when I am out in public with people I do not know. Although I am trying to do better... Your second paragraph has a great point and I do think we all as a society need to try and get past the "norms" and look at it from another perspective. But I have a sad feeling that this may never happen. Doing so would have to change the way people think and what they believe. Religion with homosexuality clash.
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