Aaron Devor Gender

774 Words4 Pages

Brief Summary Aaron Devor discusses the patriarchally-expected gender roles of today’s society. He delves into the discussion of femininity versus masculinity. Society associates femininity with weakness, whilst associating masculinity with greatness. Furthermore, Aaron sheds light on today’s societal gender norms. He explains that men must be seen as the providers, while women are seen as caregivers. He writes that society doesn’t appreciate when people deviate from the norms that they’ve been shown. Women are supposed to be available for men at all times, and men are supposed to always be seen as strong. Devor tells that to be taught how to be “properly gendered” (Devor, 424), one must first establish a gender identity; this is something …show more content…

This should enrage anyone who considers themselves to be female. For example, Devor talks about how women are seen as creatures who always want to avoid confrontation and who are instinctually maternal. Females are just expected to want to have and raise children, appeal to men, and be completely and utterly weak-natured. When they break beyond the boundaries that society has glued them into, they are seen as undesirable and tainted by feministic ideology. Furthermore, society, especially men, seem to have a strong disdain for feminism. There seems to be this notion that if society treats women as equals, the entire world as we know it will cease to exist. Even if that were true and happened, it might not be such an awful thing. It seems that nowadays if a person even says that they are a feminist, they are seen as a misandrist and immediately need apologize for their man-hating ways. In reality, feminism has absolutely nothing to do with misandry; it has everything to do with empowerment and equality for all persons. Everyone deserves to be treated as an equal, regardless of appearance, race, or …show more content…

It’s hard to hear about the way something is without reading or learning about it for one’s self. This paper helps someone do exactly that. Society does have an impact on the way people think, and in some ways they mediate or control what is being thought through their actions. When Aaron said, “As we move through our lives, society demands different gender performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently for conformity to, or digression from, social norms.” (Devor, 424) he was right. People are afraid to stray from what they have been conditioned to think by society. They believe that they aren’t doing anything wrong, because the patriarchy rewards them for acting a certain way. The problem is that just because something is the norm, doesn’t mean that it’s the only right answer or solution. This paper highlights that in specific ways. Humans feel the need to categorize everything, but gender isn’t something that is black and white. There are grey and in-between areas. Sex characteristics do not always define a person’s gender identity. Many people are nonbinary and that’s perfectly okay, just as many people are cisgender and that is fine as well. The best thing about this paper is that it explains that, and that many cultures accept this