Part 1:
The world that we live in is full of stereotypes and the “standards” that one should live up to. We may not realize it, but the standards of feminism and masculinity is something that has been around for a long time, and we all deal with it every day. Movies, advertisements, and music videos are just a few examples of the sexism that occurs each day. As Özlem Sensory and Robin DiAngelo (2017) describe, “According to advertisers, women drink iced coffee and eat yogurt, salads, chocolate, and cake, while men drink beer and eat pizza, hamburgers, bacon, and other red meat.” (pg. 110) This is exactly how you will see things on TV or in magazines because the world is so accustomed to sexism. Along with the sexism that occurs comes the gender norms such as, “act like a lady”, pink is a girl colour, guys can’t cry, or all guys have big muscles. Everyone has grown up with these stereotypes and have now become accustomed to them. No one ever goes against the normative narrative because then you will get looked at as the “not normal” person. Reading the different gender and sexism stories that my classmates have posted allows me to see that a lot of people witness the same gender and sexism issues.
Women and men each have their “specific roles” and people rarely go against these norms. People tend to make jokes about them sometimes, but this an issue that we face on a daily basis. “Dishes are a woman’s job” is a common line that is used and if you take a better look, almost everyone will follow this. Zoey’s blog post on gender demonstrates this very well. She states, “I watch my family start to disperse. The other kids go outside to play…. The women are all cleaning up the tables and the men retire to the living room while all the ladies do the dishes and put away the leftovers.” I can relate to this because at all of my family gatherings this is exactly what happens. Never will you see the men get up and do the dishes because that just “isn’t normal.” This has happened for so many years that it has become normal to everyone in the room. No one actually needs to tell the ladies to start the dishes, because they are so used to already doing it. Zoey makes a good point when she states, “It’s just the way the world works and it likely won’t change for a while.”
The second blog post that really connected with me was Haley’s “Is it Worth It To Be Apart Of The ‘Norm’.” She talks about graduation day and all the questions and concerns that ran through her mind. Haley says, “One thing I did know was that I had to get my hair and makeup done like every other girl in my graduating class.” This shows how all of us girls will do the same thing on grad day. We all go and get our nails, hair and makeup done so that we can all look super pretty. Even if you are a girl who doesn’t wear makeup every day, I can guarantee that on grad day she will book yourself a hair and makeup appointment. “Every year females still get their makeup and hair done, wear heels that make your feet hurt within the first 5 minutes of having them on, and wear fancy, expensive dresses.” It has just become a tradition and we all follow in each other’s footsteps. No one wants to look different from the others because then people will look at you. But, in reality, it really shouldn’t matter how much makeup you have on or how high your heels are. You are there to receive your high school diploma, not an award for who looks the best.
Part 2:
On the other hand, there is a lot of things in this world that any man or woman can do to go against the normative narrative. Everyone should be allowed to be who they want to be without always thinking about the expectations they are “supposed” to live up to. Being gendered is a big issue that has just become normal to everyone. Sports are a big thing that focus on either boys or girls. It isn’t right for a girl to play football or hockey and it isn’t manly for a boy to dance. Kylie states, “The problem is that the boys see us as girls instead of competitors like they should.” Everyone thinks that football is a man’s sports because you have to be fast and strong to play the sport. This is not true, women can be just as fast and strong as men. Kylie also mentions, “They just don’t try as hard as they can, only because they’re playing girls.” Why is it that they can’t try just because they are playing girls? If they were unaware that they were playing girls, I bet that they wouldn’t go as easy. I played hockey for a few years and all of the boys I ever told that to would react by saying, “Oh ya but its girl’s hockey and there is no contact so it’s easy.” Well considering hockey isn’t all about the contact anyways I just don’t see why this really matters? It is all in their heads that we are girls and cannot play these sports because we should be at home doing our hair or participating in dance.
“Girls can be athletic. Guys can have feelings. Girls can be smart. Guys can be creative. And vice versa.”
The narratives of women needing to always be dressed to the nines, wearing makeup, hair done and cleaning the house are all expectations of the “norm.” Don’t get me wrong some women follow this very well but I, and a lot of others, do not. I can easily relate to Shaunesy’s third story called “A Girl.” I am also a hunter and that is what one would say is “against the norm”. What girl can actually shoot a gun and gut an animal. She mentions, “I would now say that the fact that I as an eight-year-old girl gutting out a moose I probably fit into the ‘ran counter to the norms of gender’ section.” This is to true because girls aren’t supposed to get their hands dirty or shoot guns. Hunting is a hobby that either man or woman can enjoy and even though that may be considered against the normative narrative, it’s something that I enjoy doing so I will continue to do so. Even if this is against the normative narrative, I will not stop doing what I love to do!
Another blog post that I could easily relate to was Noah’s story called “Barbie Boy.” My story is somewhat similar because I grew up with 3 brothers, so I was that “tom boy” who didn’t always play with dolls or play dress up and do my hair and makeup. I was not the normal girl who loved pink and wanted to wear fancy clothes every day. Why is it not okay for a boy to want a barbie doll or a girl to want a dump truck? A toy is a toy and it shouldn’t matter what any child wants to play with. Just because it is against the normative narrative doesn’t mean that should affect the way one looks at us. This occurs at such a young age, so young its before one is even born. Samara explains, “Even before I was born onto this earth, my life was created for me.” This is very true because your parents will have pink or blue clothes ready before their child is even born and your room will be painted either a girly colour or a boy colour. This has all become so “normalized” to everyone because it occurs all the time.
Sources:
Sensoy, Özlem and DiAngelo Robin. Is Everyone Really Equal?: an Introduction to Key Concepts in Social Justice Education. 2nd ed., Teachers College Press, 2017.
Sargent, Zoe. “Gender” WordPress. October 25, 2018. https://zoesblogword.wordpress.com/2018/10/25/gender/
Litzenberger, Haley. “Writing The Self 3: Is it Worth it To Be Apart of the ‘Norm’?” WordPress. October 23, 2018. https://haleylitzblog.wordpress.com
Escott, Kylie. “Writing the self 3: Girls Can Play Football Too.” WordPress. October 23, 2018. https://kylieescott.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/writing-the-self-3-girls-can-play-football-too/
Maier, Shaunesy. “A Girl.” WordPress. October 23, 2018. https://shaunesyblog.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/story-telling-3-a-girl/
Suchorab, Noah. “Barbie Boy.” WordPress. October 23.2018. https://nsuchorab.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/29/
Stenson, Samara. “Life Before I was Born.” October 23, 2018. https://samarastenson.wordpress.com/2018/10/23/life-before-i-was-born/
The Future Miss.K 