Masculinity (cont'd)

Today we had a brief demonstration about using specific language.
The lesson is: when telling someone how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, it is best to use specific language. Otherwise, you will end up with peanut butter everywhere.

We reviewed Michael Chabon's essay "Faking It" in which he talks about masculinity and faking masculinity.

We reviewed the traits that were considered "Masculine":
Active
Aggressive
Powerful
Strong
brave
competent and capable

On Friday, I introduced the concept that Masculinity is a construct. Or it is not a natural thing, but something fake that is built by society. And society reinforces this idea: we approve men who act masculine, we laugh at men who do not act masculine.

We viewed a few examples of videos that discuss "Masculinity" and talked about why they were funny: the men in these videos were not acting masculine.

Moving on, we identified roles of masculinity in Cinderella stories. The father and the prince were both masculine characters. They are active, powerful, and provide stability for those who depend upon them.

• We noted that the father was present in the beginning of the story, which is a time in which Cinderella's life was happy and stable. She was valued.
• When the father dies, Cinderella's life becomes unstable and she is oppressed by her stepmother. Her value decreases.
• When Cinderella marries the prince, her life becomes stable again and her value is increased.

Both the Prince and the Father perform their masculinity in traditional ways. And most versions of the Cinderella story reinforce traditional gender roles.

After the break, we discussed your reading for today: responding to arguments. Graff & Berkenstein provided 3 kinds of responses
Agree
Disagree
Agree/Disagree
Please see the reading and the PPT for detailed discussion and templates.

Your assignment:
read and respond to Cunningham's essay, "Why Women Smile" (link to the right).