<p>For this months blog I want to talk about stereotypes. From the time we are taught to think, we are taught about certain types of people. These stereotypes are normally subconsciously taught, but they are instilled in us. Though not all are bad. Do not take candy from strangers, because they might abduct you. Well, I'm pretty sure that the neighbor across the street isn't planning on kidnapping you. Even something like do not touch someones dog on a leash because they might have rabies or bite is a taught stereotype. How so you might ask. We then associate all dogs as harmful and dangerous and some people actuality develop an irrational fear of dogs due to being told this. However, I can understand this type of" stereotype" because it is meant to keep us safe. But then we get into the gender stereotypes. A whole different ball game.
It starts out with colors. Boys are supposed to be masculine and like blue, while girls are the little ambassadors for the hue of pink. And it is funny how if a boy wants to wear pink, it is frowned upon and said to be a girl color. But who decided that certain colors belong to certain genders. I mean did Eve trademark pink so that Adam couldn't wear it. Personally, I don't wear pink for several reasons. First and foremost I would be made fun of for wearing it. Second off I would probably receive flak from my parents if I did. I know for a fact that they would say that pink is not a guys color. And third, I probably just wouldn't wear it because it has been beaten into my brain that certain colors are for girls to wear.
Now let's talk about the gender roles. Please do not take offense to anything I say in this paragraph , I am just stating the ways we have been taught to be proper. In a relationship, between a man and a wife, the man is the" provider" of the family. He goes to work in his fancy shmancy suit everyday and brings home the bacon. His wife stays home and takes care of the kids if they are younger. If they are more grown up and in school, she maybe has a job, but probably just cleans and watches General Hospital all day. Or she runs to the supermarket. Then around 4:30 or so she gets started on dinner, so that at 6 when her husband gets home, he doesn't gripe because there's no food on the table. He worked all day, and expects a meal(its not unreasonable for him to want food when he gets home, but I'm just throwing it in there).
But why does it have to be the wife who stays home. It doesn't. I think that some people are still fixated on the 1950s typical family and expect their wife to be like the one from Leave it to Beaver. Honestly, I was not raised with that. I'm gonna work my ass off so I can provide for my family, but who cares if my wife doesn't stay at home. I would be happy if she had a job just as I, because my family would be better off financially. I guess its not as big of a deal today because most women work, I just wanted to vent my feelings.
Now, as for being a mother, I do not think Edna was a good one. She was irresponsible and imature. And if anyone. If anyone wants to argue with me about that, I have a problem. People in our class tried to say it wasn't irresponsible and that was her only option. I'm sorry, no it wasn't. And then I would ask them how committing suicide and abandoning your kids is responsible. I would wait as they stayed silent, trying to make up and answer, and the conversation would be over. You see I don't really get emotionally attached to the books we read, because afterall the characters are fake. But something just struck me with our seminar. I could not understand how people were siding with Edna. Then people said that she wasn't a good mother anyway, so it wasn't as bad. True, but was it a responsible choice on Ednas part, NO.
Look, I know I kind of went on a litle rant at the end, but I just had to vent my frustration. I think as a country we need to just try to ris ourselves of the stereotypes we have. We all do it, even if it is something little, and the world would be better without it. Try and wipe the Tabula Rasa clear of stereotyping.
Good blog Ryan. Question: if staying at home instead of working consists of watching General Hospital, why should man or woman do it? ;-)
ReplyDeleteI want to address your discussion of Edna just a bit. I really appreciate your passion, but I want to point out that you are making a huge point without realizing it. In your discussion of Edna you have shown that she does not exist as anything but a mother. You aren't analyzing her or her actions as a character of literature, or as a person, or even as a woman... but as a mother only. And this is why you are reacting so angrily to her decision, when your reaction to Okonkwo's and Neil Perry's identical decisions was maybe similar, but not quite so vehemently angry. This is the point I, and I think some of your classmates have been trying to make, that even today it is difficult for a woman to have an identity or "self" outside of wife and mother, and 100 years ago, impossible. The reader does not get to know Edna's children, they are not real children: it is not a sense of wanting to protect these imaginary children that you are reacting so angrily to, it is the fact that Edna is resisting the role of mother, and that is the role we expect her to want and live (which is why you discuss her action by using terms like "irresponsible" instead of saying something like "tragic for the children.")
I also want to remind you of something I said in class: this book is Chopin's fight, not the fictional character Edna's fight. In real life, suicide is a tragic and senseless act- in literature it is a statement. It is the statement that needs to be focused on, not the act, but because we are still today so attached to societal roles, it seems impossible to get past talking about Edna's decision "as a mother."
Hopefully, we will have a chance to return to this conversation in class. :-)