Sacoya Pedersen

English 1050
Essay Two
08/03/2014
Essay Two: Diversity Issue Reflection
Gender Roles
Every single individual has a different point of view, especially when it comes to
diversity issues. One of the biggest diversity issues that appear in todays society
across the entire country is the difference between gender roles. To some of society
there is no difference between the two genders, its simply just words. Now, to other
parts of society each gender plays a largely different role in life. The relationship
between men and women has a profound affect on society in every way, as we are the
society.
After reading several different readings and through the weekly discussions, I
was able to learn about several diverse topics. Gender roles was one of the biggest
ones I saw within the readings we were assigned. The weekly discussions allowed me
to see others points of view and this is how I was able to analyze written and visual
genres. In the Week 4 discussion is when I was really able to see how big of an effect
that gender roles have on society is tremendous. It affects our daily lives such as
school, marriage, and even our body when it comes to our spirituality.
The sense of connection between something so much larger than just ourselves
is very important as individuals are growing as a person and trying to find who they are.
We often judge somebody without consciously even thinking about it, especially when it
comes to gender. The biggest stereotype I see with this is someone who was is a man
and decides to be more feminine, vice versa. They often are stereotyped by society as
they are gay or lesbian just because of the way they dress, talk, or associate
themselves with.
Another common stereotypical classification that I often hear about from personal
experience is that woman are the ones to be stay at home mothers. There is no
difference between a man cooking and cleaning compared to a woman, besides the fact
that most mothers have that natural motherly instinct to care for the children. I rarely
ever hear about stay at home fathers and I often questioned why this was. Who is to
say whether its the man or woman who is to go to work? Staying at home with children
is just as much of job, except its 24/7 and you dont get paid.
One of the the things discussed in Week 4 was the Public Health Messages.
(219) In these public health messages images there was several images that were
portraying that woman were the ones to be carrying diseases, not the other way around.
While looking through those images I was in absolute shock that someone could ever
share these images, especially with the public. These were so dead wrong because
obviously STDs and other diseases can be transmitted both ways. This is just one of
the examples of gender roles stereotype that went on during World War II.
No one is to state whether someone is a man or woman, as there really is no
difference. The difference between the two gender roles is the amount of masculine and
feminism within the individual, but that is not what matters. In Women Boxers: The New
Warriors (211), these images are portraying that women can have strength and dignity,
that it is not just men. Dorthy Rigby makes a good statement in Week 4, July 7-11
about these images, We all are influenced by our culture, family and life experiences.
This is an obvious statement. Many of these women boxers have unusual strength, as
a result of adversity that has drawn them to their sport. Dorthy makes a very good
statement because it is true, women boxers do have an unusual strength, but that is
because they have worked hard for this. This is a classification that boxing is a man
sport, but this woman shows the world otherwise.
Gender roles in advertising is another stereotype that is still currently going on in
todays society. The relation between the genders role in advertising has raised quite
an awareness especially in images/commercials that have a sexual purpose to them.
One of the readings we spoke about was the Gender Roles (206-210.) This was quite
interesting to read about as it relates to the different genders, such as if the roles were
switched. One of the biggest things we talked about in our discussion was The Reebok
Ad and the Gucci Guilty ad.
My opinion was if the woman in the Reebok ad was looking at the camera it
would be a little too sexual for the ad. Most individual's can make a connection when the
person is looking at the camera especially in these ads when it comes to clothing/shoes.
I think if the guy was in the girls spot in the Gucci Guilty ad, the ad wouldn't have as big
of an impact. As for Gucci is mainly for women, not just intended for men. The way the
guy is kissing the girls face, it wouldn't be the same if it was the girl kissing the guys
face. I dont necessarily think these ads are intended to be a stereotype of gender roles,
but they most definitely are and nearly a majority of advertisements portray them.
James Clark in Week 4, July 7-11 discussion commented on my opinion on the
Reebok ad and stated, I concur with your idea that if the woman in the Reebok ad was
looking in the camera it would change its connection to the reader. I think its very
important for Reebok's advertisement that it only shows her body, because Reebok is
an athletic company whose products don't change someone's permanent self like bone
structure, but rather, they make the excess pieces sexy like the high fat content areas of
the body. This gave me a broader perspective, especially when he stated that Reebok
is an athletic company that doesnt change someones structure. I think thats very
important and a key part in why there is gender roles in advertisements.
After reading the assigned readings for Week 4, that is when I was able to see
how much gender role classification there really has been is in the past 50 years. It is
something that is continually going on and changing its forms. Gender roles is a
diversity issue that has typical stereotypes, but I dont believe all gender roles
stereotypes are necessarily meant to mean harm. Whether we consciously think about it
or not, there is still gender role discrimination and we are a part of it.







Works Cited
George, Trimbur. Women Boxers: The New Warriors. 211-214. Print
George, Trimbur. Gender Roles in Advertising. 206-210. Print.
George, Trimbur. Public Health Messages. 219-221. Print.
George, Diana, and John Trimbur. Reading Culture: Contexts for Critical Reading and
Writing.
Wolska, Malgorzata. "Gender Stereotypes in Mass Media." . N.p., 09 Jan. 2011. Web.
03 Aug. 2014. <http://krytyka.org/gender-stereotypes-in-mass-media-case-study-
analysis-of-the-gender-stereotyping-phenomenon-in-tv-commercials/>.