Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

5-24-2019

Archetypes and Gender Norms: An Autoethnography

Maria Angelina Fernandez

Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, mfernandez100594@laleadership.org
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 1

Senior Capstone ℅ 2019

This Autoethnography is written to explain how women are viewed in a patriarchal society and

our roles in society.

Keywords: ​repression, self identity, disgrace, archetypes, cultural view and patriarchal

Acknowledgements

This Autoethnography is dedicated to the strong women who continue to stand for us all.
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 2

Archetypes and Gender Norms: An Autoethnography

Maria Angelina Fernandez
Los Angeles Leadership Academy HS, Los Angeles, California, USA

Abstract

This Autoethnography will explain how women are viewed in a patriarchal society, how human

nature of women are viewed in certain cultures and how are women oppressed the social ladder.

What is the role of women and why are women discriminated by men in a patriarchal society?

Catharine A. MacKinnon an ​American radical feminist legal scholar, she was also a Professor

of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor

of Law at Harvard Law School, ​Robert Loo & Karran Thorpe co-authors of ​ “Attitudes toward

Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20 years”​,​ Jans B. Wager the coordinator of

Cinema Studies and a professor at Utah Valley University, ​Alice H. Eagly & Steffen, V. J

co-authors of “Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women and men into social

roles,’’ ​Journal of Personality and Social Psychology​, ​a blog by ​Jennifer Ellis ​a PhD in

Geography and has spent many years researching climate change, global food security and

alternative energy and her hobbies of writing and blogging, and second to last is ​L​aura Joh

Rowland, an author of detective/mystery novels, she was born into a family of Chinese and

Korean immigrants, Rowland grew up in Michigan and was educated at the ​University of

Michigan​, where she graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology and a Masters in Public Health, she

lived through a natural disaster in 2005 in her second home in New Orleans which

unfortunately, was destroyed now she lives in New York City, and using a meme by ​Aurora
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 3

Glimmer​ to showcase the verbal confrontation of Spike and Starlight Glimmer.Finally, I will

also use an image of ​The Shogun’s Daughter​ to showcase the historical fiction novel and

showcase the traditional role of women in the Japanese culture.Women’s role and how we are

viewed by men in ​the three main patriarchal societies America, Japan and Western Canada. ​In

order for women to be respected, regarded as leaders and hard workers the men must change our

social roles of inferiority and objects of sexual attraction and men must start to see us as humans

not as property. The only way for women to be treated as humans is for the gender norms and

social latter to change by the women being on top the social latter and the men beneath the

social latter or men could start treating us as equals.

​ The Incident

It was a warm summer in August and it was also my eight birthday my family and I went to

Mariana a high class restaurant in Long Beach. As we were heading to the restaurant we talked

about the how much I enjoyed listening to my great grandmother’s stories, before she passed

away five years earlier. Moving along, for my eight birthday I wore my yellow sunflower dress

with matching shoes and my hair was done in a ponytail, to insure the safety of the staff because

my hair was once as long as Rupaul's golden locks. My day seemed to be going normal, until

suddenly a married couple walked in the room was calm until the couple had began arguing

about where they would raise their family, since they could not compromise I went to talk to the

husband. Although, he was not too happy that I was intervening in their argument. Everything

became as dark as the mood of Ana’s husband Gregorio. As I walked towards their table and I
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 4

asked Ana Marie if I could try to resolve their dispute. She thought that I was so adorable and

decided to allow me to try to convince her husband Gregorio to consider the idea of living

where they feel most comfortable. Gregorio on the other hand was upset and like the crush of

thunder, he went towards the buffet table filled with utensils, he grabbed the knife and

attempted to almost cut Ana before he created a scene I shyly proclaimed, “Gregorio, sir I know

I should not intrude in your conversation but I want to know why would you hurt someone you

say you love and you are out celebrating your anniversary with?”

Figure 1: ​1087469-abuse,image macro,meme ​Aurora Glimmer​ 2016  

Once he calmed down he stood tall than with eyes like a lion about to pounce on top an injured

zebra; he said, “learn your place you bug-eyed, monstrous, freak!” As I walked back to my own

table, I saw that my parents were still having a conversation than as they finished their

conversation, they ushered the waiter to give us the check. I left home hungry for strawberry

cheesecake, but I was very satisfied knowing that Ana was fine. I did however feel a bit
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 5

miserable after hurting her and George's marriage but I was happy she was safe once again. As

time went on, I grew insecure and felt disgraced by the quarrel between me and Gregorio after a

few years but during the heat of the moment I felt as though,"it was better to be a freak than to

be a man with power.”

Analysis

This autoethnographic essay will discuss my role in an upper class community, the role of

women in a patriarchal society and finally, how men view the human nature of women.

Introduction

I will be discussing the cultural view of women in a patriarchal society and how gender

inequality creates the repression of women and the erasure of female identity in the American

Japanese and Western Canadian culture. In the essay, I will now define the four major concepts

of the topic of the autoethnographic essay. First is a patriarchal society which is when men hold

primary power and predominate roles in political leadership, moral authority, social privilege

and have control over property. Some patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that

property and titles are inherited by the male lineage, in the cultural view women are inferior

goods that are traded and then discarded by their new“owners”. Moreover, the idea of

repression is ​the action of subduing someone or something by force. Continuing, the third idea

of gender inequality is defined by Americans as having feminine and masculine traits well

inequality is when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically through

norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along the lines of socially defined categories
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 6

of people. Lastly, is the female identity which is defined as the female characteristics, a last

name sometimes their full name, their inheritance and their bodies.

Study of Focus

From the incident the essay will now discuss the study of focus which is how are women

viewed by men and how men view our human nature in a patriarchal society, the articles that

will be used are written by ​Catharine A. ​MacKinnon an American radical feminist legal scholar,

the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School and the

James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, Robert Loo & Karran

Thorpe co-authors​ of ​ “Attitudes toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20

years”, Jans B. Wager the coordinator of Cinema Studies and a professor at Utah Valley

University, Alice H. Eagly & Steffen, V. J co-authors of “Gender stereotypes stem from the

distribution of women and men into social roles,’’ ​Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology​. Now to further discuss the topic, the autoethnography will explain how gender

inequality creates the repression of women and the erasure of female identity using a blog by

Jennifer Ellis, whom earned a PhD in Geography and has spent many years researching climate

change, global food security and alternative energy and her hobbies are writing and blogging.

Laura Joh Rowland a detective/mystery author and she is the daughter of Chinese and Korean

immigrants, Her family raised her in Michigan and she was educated at the ​University of

Michigan​, where she graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology and a Masters in Public Health, she

lived through a natural disaster in 2005, in New Orleans when ​Hurricane Katrina​ nearly
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 7

destroyed her second home, she now lives in New York City and finally the essay will use a

meme by ​Aurora Glimmer​, the meme will further explain, the horrific treatment of myself in

my own community. The research concept is that upon examining the cultural view of women

in a patriarchal society it is clear that gender inequality creates, the repression of women and

erasure of female identity.

Cultural View

After discussing a personal experience with discrimination, the essay will now discuss the

cultural view of women in a patriarchal society which is the role of inferiority and begin an

object of attraction. To further explain, how women in a patriarchal society are thought as

inferior to men and are viewed as objects of attraction, this essay will use works by Catharine

A. MacKinnon, an American radical feminist legal scholar, Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law

at the University of Michigan Law School and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law

at Harvard Law School and Laura Joh Rowland, an author of detective/mystery novels and the

daughter of Chinese and Korean immigrants, Rowland grew up in Michigan and was educated

at the ​University of Michigan​, where she graduated with a B.S. in Microbiology and a Masters

in Public Health, she lived through a natural disaster in 2005 when ​Hurricane Katrina​ nearly

destroyed her house in New Orleans, and now lives in New York City. In Rowland’s book, ​The

Shogun's Daughter,​ The Shogun states,“I prayed I would father a male child. I hoped princess

Tsuruhime would ahh, produce a grandson who would at least be my direct descendant. Well,

that hope is gone. Thank the gods I didn't need her anymore,” (Rowland, 2013, para.7-8).

Rowland states, that women are used as objects of attraction and are treated as goods, rather
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 8

than as people because princess Tsuruhime very ill but her father is still more worried as to

whom would become the next Shogun and how will the new Shogun affect the legacy he left.

This is a form of patriarchy because women in the Asian/Japanese culture are traded to strangers

to marry in order to give birth to male successor of the Shogun if not someone else may take the

title because women like princess Tsuruhime couldn’t take the title directly because in the

Asian/Japanese culture women are not allowed to rule they must obey the orders of men.

Continuing, the idea of how a cultural view defines a woman's role in a patriarchal society the

essay further explain using MacKinnon’s article, “Sexual Harassment of working Women: A

Case of Sex Discrimination,” MacKinnon says that others within America view sexual

harassment as a customary dynamic that reinforces and expresses women’s role as inferior to

men within the labor force. Women will only be seen as an object of attraction but if she does

not obey she will be treated as a slave rather than as a human-being. In a cultural view women

in a patriarchal society have been viewed as the objects of attraction, as property and as inferior

human-beings to their male counterparts.

Repression

From the cultural view of a woman’s role in society, the topic will now explain the repression

women face in a patriarchal society and their roles in the Film Industry. Gender inequality

creates, the repression of women in a patriarchal society. To further explain, I will use works by

Robert Loo, Karran Thorpe “Attitudes toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20

years’’ and Jans Wager “Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in Film Noir and the

Weimar Street Film.” In the article, Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in Film

Noir and the Weimar Street Film by Jans Wager (1999); Wager states, the role of women in the
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 9

film industry is as the manipulative, sexy and beautiful femme fatale that lures men into

threatening situations but by the end of the film the femme fatale is subdued herself either by

marrying the protagonist or by death. This represents repression in a patriarchal society because

the women are only seen the archetype of the seductive, manipulative, sexy femme fatale rather

than as hard working leaders in the Film Industry and in society. In the article,“Attitudes toward

Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20 years’’ by Robert Loo and Karran Thorpe

(1998); Robert Loo and Karran Thorpe state, “Finally, the utility of the Attitudes towards

Women Scale (AWS) after some 20 odd years is challenged.” Loo and Thorpe proclaim, “In

many parts of the world, attitudes towards women’s roles in society have been changing due to

the laws regarding women and the educational system among other significant factors changing

from the 1970s to the 1990s as women are now allowed to be as educated as their male

counterparts due to laws changing,” (Loo & Thorpe, 1998, para.4) Loo & Thorpe’s article

“Attitudes toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20 years’’ is a form of

repression because women are not given equal opportunities as men within the education

system.

Self Identity

Continuing, the essay previously explained the repression of women now it will discuss the self

identity of women in a patriarchal society, gender inequality creates, the erasure of female

identity in a patriarchal society, further explanation of gender inequality creating, the erasure of

female identity in a patriarchal society will be discussed using Jennifer Ellis's blog.

Ellis describes in her blog, “Female Character Archetypes,” (2015) common female archetypes,

she explains, "the nurturer, the good wife and the martyr are the people tied up in caring for
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 10

others particularly children, sacrificing self to help others, a second common stereotypical

archetype is the seductress and the femme fatale, she is described as the sexually driven and

attractive; she can also be manipulative. The final example of a stereotypical female archetype

is the maiden, the troubled teen, the waif, the damsel in distress, the princess and the victim

which is described as a childlike woman who lets others handle the details of life; often in

danger and in need of rescue.”(p.1)

Ellis (2015) explains, the three common female archetypes that are used to obliterate self

identity and discriminate women in a patriarchal society, are used to constrain our women into a

single characteristic although they could fit into many different characteristics.

Opinion

The first time I was disgraced was when a stranger called me a freak which is similar to how

Tsuruhime was treated by her father after she became ill, she was forgotten but also she was

disgraced when her father worried more about his morality rather than worrying about the short

time he has left with his 27 year old daughter. I agree with the examining of the cultural view of

women in a patriarchal society it is clear that gender inequality creates, the repression of women

and the erasure of female identity. The identity of oneself is not easily taken unless we allow

ourselves to have our entire sleeves recreated and mistreated by others due to our true selves.

Conclusion

Upon the examining the cultural view of women in a patriarchal society it is clear that gender

inequality creates, the repression of women and the erasure of female identity. Many women in

a patriarchal society are still treated similarly today, women are the minority of the household

and the workforce. After examining the works of Alice H. Eagly & Steffen, V. J, Robert Loo &
Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 11

Karran Thorpe, Jennifer Ellis, Catharine A. MacKinnon, Laura Joh Rowland and ​Aurora

Glimmer​ it is clear that the cultural view of women in a patriarchal society and gender

inequality create the repression of women and the erasure of female identity in the American

Japanese and Western Canadian culture. In order for women to be respected, regarded as leaders

and hard workers the men must change our social roles of inferiority and objects of sexual

attraction and men must start to see us as humans not as property. The only way for women to

be treated as humans is for the gender norms and social latter to change by the women being on

top the social latter and the men beneath the social latter or men could start treating us as equals.

Figure 2​: The Shogun’s Daughter Laura Joh Rowland 2013

Archetypes and Gender Norms Fernandez​ 12

References

​Eagly, A. H., & Steffen, V. J. (1984). “Gender stereotypes stem from the distribution of women

and men into social roles,’’ ​Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.46.4.735

​“Female Character Archetypes” by Jennifer Ellis, (2015)

http://jenniferellis.ca/blog/2015/4/1/female-character-archetypes-and-strong-female-characters

Figure 1: ​1087469-abuse image macro meme, ​Aurora Glimmer​, Date Published 2016, Date

Retrieved May 14, 2019,​ ​https://derpibooru.org

“Attitudes toward Women's Roles in Society: A Replication after 20 years’’ by Robert Loo and

Karran Thorpe, (1998)​ ​https://link.springer.com/

“Sexual Harassment of working Women: A Case of Sex Discrimination,” by Catharine A.

MacKinnon, (1997).

The Shogun's Daughter,​ by Laura Joh Rowland, (2013)

Figure 2: ​The Shogun’s Daughter,​ Laura Joh Rowland, Date Published 2013

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17286828-the-shogun-s-daughter

“Dangerous Dames: Women and Representation in Film Noir and the Weimar Street Film” by

Jans Wager, (1999)