Eureka Moment

I was watching television and I notices two snicker commercials that are related to the perception of gender. The commercials are humorous, but are issues that relates to the expectations of masculine and feminine from previous chapters. A male acting feminine is portrayed by the women characters consisting of Aretha Franklin and Betty White. I have seen both commercials many times, but didn't understand the meaning, until I took this course.

One commercial starts with three men in a car and Aretha Franklin. The commercial starts with Aretha Franklin complaining about the heat. The other guys are teasing Aretha Franklin, because they say she is acting like a diva. Aretha Franklin turns into a guy, after he eats a snicker bar. He doesn't complain about the heat. The commercial is the media influence of the concept of four men traveling and one of the men is complaining according to the stereotype of masculinity he is acting feminine, which the commercial compares him to a woman. The other snicker commercial is a group of guys playing football. The commercial has Betty White playing in a football game with guys. The commercial imply the guy is playing like an old lady, because he doesn't have a snicker bar. He needs a snicker bar to be a real man, instead of an old lady.

The commercial has the snicker bar as the symbol (a man snack) or to feel like a man. The commercial feeds of the stereotype of all women are divas and complains. I find this not to be true, but society influence stereotype. A person can complain without having to be characterize of having feminine qualities. In the commercials, each of the men is teased by the other men for complaining. Males learned in preschool of the acceptable behaviors in a male social group. Men complete and they are aggressive in sports anything else is perceive as being less than a man. Will the images of the masculine male change or stay the same in commercials?

Eureka Moment 4

The media has influences how male athlete should be identified as being masculine. This weekend at the World Cup Soccer Tournament in South Africa the media is telling the English goalie to take the criticisms as a man for making a mistake. The goalie made a mistake that tied the game between the US and England. The game ended with a tied between the two countries. The English coach is supporting his goalie at a press conference and the coach is offering support to his player, but the coach is now seen as weak. The coach took a feminine approach to an unfortunately incident in the game. The press took a different approach by criticizing the player and the coach. The English media portrays the goalie as weak and he should be taken of the starting line-up for the next game or the rest of the tournament. A similar incident occurred with a Cameroon player. The player "manhood" is being criticized, because he is complaining to the world media for the unfair reporting of his bad attitude. The vibe from the media he is not acting like a man. An ESPN announcer said the player should take the criticisms "like a man." Would the announcer said this to a woman soccer player for expressing her emotions? Is this a double standard in the world culture, relating to how male athletes are to be masculine at all times? They are superhuman without emotions or feelings. The stereotype is engrained in our culture as far as a successful male athlete. The perception is they are the image of masculinity and they have to live up to the cultural image of masculinity at all times.

Eureka Moment 3

Men and women can have lifelong friendship without having sex. I went to a wedding last weekend and noticed the normal sexes for the best man and the maiden of honor was the opposite at a traditional wedding. The best man was the best friend of the groom who was a woman and the maiden of honor was a man. Most traditional wedding has a man as the best man and the woman as the maiden of honor. The groom and the bride decided to have their best friends standing beside them, when they getting married.The only changed i notice was the best friends didn't hold hand, while coming down the aisle, because the best woman had the rings in her hands. She was wearing a dress and the only appropriate place for the wedding rings was in her hand. The label on the wedding party table was "best person" instead by their sex. It was a different type of wedding. This is different from the societal norm of wedding parties. The changes was accepted by the younger generation, but the older generation wasn't happy of the ideal. The older people didn't approve of changing the norms at a traditional wedding.I was surprise at this concept at the beginning of the wedding, but I made adjustment.

Eureka Moment 2

At my job last week, two women I work with had different views on the stereotypes of masculine and feminine jobs. The two women are separated by forties years and two different generational ideology. The older woman is in her sixties and she has the old perceptions of male and female jobs. She believes a man should do the heavy lifting and a woman should do the lighter work. She has a heavy cart loaded with supplies she calls the "man cart", because the cart is heavy to push. During shop class, she expect me to push the cart, because I am male without asking me first. The other woman is in her early twenties has a different perception and she believes the job is equal between the two sexes. She was taught by her mother that a woman can do any job a man can do when they put their mind to it. I think it is interesting the difference between the two philosophies with women from different generations. The younger woman makes it a point of pushing the cart from time to time to model a behavior of equality to the students in the classroom. I am surprise the debate is still happening in the modern workplace.

Eureka moment #1

Last weekend, I was getting a haircut at the barbershop, when I noticed a situation occurring between a father, son, and daughter. The situation was noticeable to everyone in the room. The boy was around eleven years old and he was getting a haircut. After getting his haircut, the father gives both children a reward for their good behavior at the barbershop that was candy bars. He allowed his daughter to make the first selections. The boy starting crying, because his sister selected the candy bars he wanted. The father rush the boy into a corner and asked the reason he was crying then the father started to get upset at him for not acting like a boy. The father was embarrassed by his son showing feminine characteristics in front of other males. I would have done the same thing, if I had a son crying in a men's barber shop. Is it, because I was taught that men don't cry in front of other men and especially a girl? I left the barber shop thinking maybe the boy needs to be toughening up before he is picked by other boys in school.