Essay Sample on Gender Notions and Stereotypes That Men Are Stronger Than Women Are False

Introduction

The way we think about others in the communities we live in is shaped by essential gender roles. In most societies, women have been classified and quoted as weak individuals, in terms of being small and fragile. In most cultures, women are viewed to be passive and majorly domestic and are oriented on weakness and submission. For instance, having read the poem, "what do women want" by Kim Addonizio, I notice that the roles of women in the society are engraved in them wanting to be taken care of by men. The gender stereotypes outlined in this poem need more inquiry since most can be argued by science. Most women, unlike men, have a lower threshold of pain which they can withstand regularly. In this essay, I will argue that Gender Notions and Stereotypes that Man are stronger than Women are false. My arguments will be based on the play titled "Mona Lisa Smile", and the Ted Talk, "A Call to Men."

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Gender Roles are created from the parents, the societies, schools, the Media and religion. Most people are expected to behave according to the roles set by these distinct groups. 'Mona Lisa Smiles" illustrates the gender roles of a teacher, Katherine Watson who comes to a new city, looks for a place to live and shows how women find difficulty living by themselves. The place she lives has a rule that prohibits male visitors ("Watch Mona Lisa on FMovies n.d). People criticise her for being single in her mid-thirties. In the story, women are depicted in the American Society to be socially dependent and intellectually inferior to men. While Katherine represents the newly emerging norms, Wellesley illustrates the old generation that is resistant to social change. Katherine manages to awaken her students to have their distinct thoughts and to aspire for their own lives outside the traditional way of life. Katherine's students cannot wholly accept her way of life, but they get to a moment when they respect and adore her. She is successful in winning students heart making the college extend her time at work on certain conditions. Katherine realises that there are greater opportunities elsewhere and departs to Europe to pursue her self-discovery process.

Each level of humanity is a work in progress, with first people striving to rise above their origins, then to become full human beings that can be distinguished by their rational mentalities, cultural norms and civilised character. Most of us aspire to become more than just human, to be divine and spiritual beings. In between these stages, each person undergoes some societal definitions, which are guided by the culture and aspirations of the community; this is when a person begins to think for themselves, see beyond the viewpoint of the general perspective and reflect an inner urge for some spiritual growth. Katherine shows this transition when she represents the stages of growth of the modern woman from being socially dependant to becoming a psychologically and developed individual ("Watch Mona Lisa on FMovies n.d). Through her story, it is easy to depict the inner struggles of women wanting to emerge above or on the same levels as men in the society. While she is attracted to the world of conformity, something within her still wants to have the security enjoyed by everyone else. She becomes stronger in her speeches on feminism and the future of women and is a firm believer that how women are viewed in the society needs to be changed if great things have to be achieved.

'Mona Lisa Smile' breaks the challenges of the contemporary and status quo in different ways. Many themes can be obtained from the film with the major one being that of gender codes, that is a central concern in the twentieth century ("Watch Mona Lisa on FMovies n.d). The desires young undergraduates have in the movie are; for women to get married to a perfect man, to be perfect housewives. Girls are required to get married immediately after graduating. This is an expectation that both the girls and the society have believed and are focused on achieving. Katherine questions their freedom of choice by taking on this battle and winning. The play also shows how there are various courses taken in college to help girls in managing house-matters, showed on how classes like organising dinner for your husband's boss is conducted ("Watch Mona Lisa on FMovies n.d). Gender Roles have become the only way of living, making human performance impossible without stereotypes. Those who do not adhere to the cultural definition of men being stronger than woman are usually disregarded, dispelled and structurally outlawed. It is legitimate to say, that based on these, the entire humanity way of living is a form of violence since it is based on codes of gender.

Male dominance has been known to be one of the most widespread inequality forms in the history of human beings. Most people feel that it is weird how such a culture such as inequality can exist. Evidence from different scholars has suggested that male dominance is a historical problem that began in the early decades. It is true that sexual difference and the differentiation of sex roles is the same thing. These problems have had their origins in the socio-historical processes and events that defined human nature.

The Ted Talk, "A Call to Men", is a call from men all over the globe by Tony Potter to "not act like a man." Tony Porter aims at ending the violence which exists towards women. He tells sample stories from his life that show how the character of men and boys can lead to disrespect and mistreat of women ("Call for Men by Tony Porter" n.d). Most men are the solutions we have to the problems in the contemporary society. Inclusive in the thoughts of the man's box are; men do not cry, men are stronger than women, men should not act like girls and men are tough and do not go through pain. The National Association of men has committed itself to end the violence against women with Porter coming up with a reputation of being an international activist of violence against women. The notion of men on what it means to be a man is the root of all the violence we have today.

It is the right of everyone to explore their potentials, embrace our full humanity and be our authentic selves. This includes men and boys that have been harmed by the destructive and limited gender roles and stereotypes and the belief that women are somehow inferior. Culture has shown us ways in which the society and the media encourage the masculine qualities of domination, aggression and violence. It has also demonstrated how boys do not show emotion and are taught to toughen up and act like men; these notions affect the men's sense of self and experiences in life, those around them and cultivate attitudes of sexism, violence and discrimination against women. To address ills in the society such as sexism, feminist work, violence and discrimination against women come in aid of helping those affected due to victimisation and focuses on addressing harmful cultural and societal norms that are the root causes. Most men are becoming aware of the forces in our society and look into breaking free and speaking against them. Everyone has a chance to support these movements and help in creating more awareness on the increase in numbers of men and women in the organisations that work to create a different culture.

'A Call to Men' has pioneered the work of educating men across the globe towards respectful manhood. One of its most recent initiatives is to educate boys in high school to get a grasp of healthy and unhealthy relationships and decide better for themselves and the people surrounding them. In recent searches, it has been confirmed that schools that have an implementation of the 'LIVERESPECT' curriculum have found notable changes in awareness's and attitudes that has lead to a decreased incidents in the violence in dating, bullying, homophobia and sexual assault ("Call for Men by Tony Porter" n.d). The Call to Men mission is to: create a world where boys and men will be respectful and loving towards women and girls will be safe and valued. Men are allowed to have a voice through incorporations of conversations in manhood. They are encouraged to understand that they can talk about healthy masculinity and notice when they are domestic violence and harassing women sexually.

From the readings, "Mona Lisa Smiles" and Ted Talk, "A Call to Men", I can conclude that most people and educators tend to assume that males and females are different. Individuals see a person's sex as the predictors of their interests and abilities and believe that if a person is a girl or a boy, then their character is already defined. This is a wrong assumption since through knowing a person's sex; we can tell a lot about their biology but very little about their other nature. Knowing that a person is female does not tell us of their abilities and knowing that a person is male does not define their goodness in math. Sex, interests and emotional aspects are not the ideal predictors of our academic skills. The reality is, girls and boys are more alike than they are varied. It makes a little difference to girls and boys whether it is a woman or a man that teaches them since it is the quality of the teaching that matters and not the gender of the woman. The gender of the teacher has no differences in the way they treat boys and girls. Is and n earlier days, when omen were producers and food gatherers, some societies had women gaining high status as cultivators and were even glorified as goddesses. The 20th century sees significant deities of the European culture being women.

Conclusion

Researchers have concluded that anything is a stereotype if it features individuals as a member of a particular group. If it describes girls and boys on how they should be. It is also a stereotype if any books, toys of tools are prescribed explicitly for boys and girls. Women are not weak. It is just that there are a lot of some unfinished businesses in the history of humans that do not empower women to be able to stand up for themselves. Women in various professions and backgrounds often may find themselves being perceived as weak, despite how hard they fight against the stereotype. It is through this that we notice how hard it is to treat men and women equally.

Works Cited

"A Call for Men by Tony Porter." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2019.

"Watch Mona Lisa Smile (2003) Full Movie on FMovies.to." FMovies | Watch Movies Online Free on FMovies.to. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Apr. 2019.