Male Stereotypes In So Much Water So Close To Home

Changing Times

“We've begun to raise daughters more like sons... but few have the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters.” - Gloria Steinem

We can observe in today's society a massive shift in how women act and are portrayed. Their stereotypes are changing quickly and they grab most of the attention. But the male stereotype has remained very much the same throughout history. It can be seen in early in history that males have played relatively the same roles in society. While the roles of females have changed very much. Today the roles of men are changing drastically, and so are the male stereotypes. We can see males taking on the roles of female dominated jobs like caring for children and cooking. And the old male stereotype are slowly evolving. In the story “So Much Water So Close To Home.” By Raymond Carver and the story “Where have you gone charming billy” by Tim O’Brien the male stereotypes of showing strength, the inability to show emotion, and only males do dirty jobs are exemplified by the protagonists. In Toy Story by Disney,

After Stuart returns from his fishing trip after discovering the female corpse he is clearly frustrated but he does not openly show his anger with his wife; trying to have a calm composure. “He says, Goddamn it, why can’t people mind their own business? Tell me what I did wrong and I’ll listen! I wasn’t the only man there.” (1) This quote shows that he is trying to mask his true emotions with anger. His wife is desperately trying to have him open up with her but he is still unable to show his emotions. In addition, Stuart can be seen going on the defensive when asked to share his emotions. “I say, ‘Why did you have to go miles away?’ ‘Don’t rile me,’ he says.” (2) This quote shows that when asked indirectly about how he was feeling he went on the defensive so that he would not share his emotions with his