I went to a park with my family to celebrate my father-in-laws 62nd birthday. There was about the same amount of adults as there where children at this park as well as the same ratio in female and male. As it turned out, the weather was good with plenty of sunshine which brought out a lot of people. This observation was unexpected, but I found this to be a great place to observe male and female interaction.
As my family walked up to the party I notice that my husband is doing the manly work my carrying the cooler. The same went for his brother and my father-in-law they too carried the supplies for the picnic. My sister-in-laws husband was at work so when she showed up the men went and assisted her with her supplies. The women carried the children or a toy for each child to the picnic. The men quickly got into the cooler and grabbed a beer, gathered in a circle and began talking about the NBA play offs. The women started getting the table ready and getting the food out and ready to be eaten. One women family member complemented the other about a new hairdo and another complimented the other on a shirt they were wearing. Each family member slipped into their gender role. Women concerned about the children and preparing food for the family. And men were doing the labor kind of work by carrying all the supplies. Being the men did the labor work, they in turn got to take a break and enjoy a cold beer. As the time went on my family mingled with other genders, but only briefly. One of the major interactions was that one of us played football with the men. During the football one of the men pulled a muscle in his neck, but continued to play. After the game of catch the man could hardly move his neck and his mother pulled out the tender card and massaged his neck in the park.
The children immediately started playing with each other. The boys played with each other gathering sticks and started out with a sword fight. The girls sat in a circle talking about something and then proceed to pick dandelions. The children continued to play with children of their own gender and they even invited other same gender children at the park to play with each other. There was a group of boys running around jumping and kicking. And then there was a bigger group of girls picking flowers and swinging.
In society men are suppose to be thinkers, boisterous, aggressive, independent, provide for the family and be strong be. Women on the other hand are to have feelings, be timid and passive, connect with each other and be tender (Brown, A.). Is was clear that this was happening in my observations. The men were the strong carrying items and they were strong playing football. The women where tender and made connections with each other right away by complementing each other on the way they looked
In 1994, Judith Lober described in relation to gender "everyone does gender without thinking about it". This starts at birth. Blue blankets and blue clothes are given to male babies. Pink blankets and pink cloths are give to female babies. As they get older trucks are given to male children and babies are given to female children. It is a cycle that is revolving. Male and female have a set norm and expectation society has created for them. I believe my observations today this was true. At a young age girls learn to be nice, passive toward each other and have feelings. It was apparent in the little girls and you could see that is stayed with the adult’s women. The way each gender interacted remained the same from young children to adulthood
This was a fun activity. Looking at the event with the mind set of gender was eye opening. Everything we have learned in class about gender is right on point. I do not even think about gender, I am one who goes with the societal norms and expectations. Clearly the norms and expectations society creates for each gender will remain.
References
Shaw,
S., & Lee, J. (2012).Women's Voices, Feminist
Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings. (5th ed.).
New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
Brown,
A. (n.d). Gender analysis-mini lecture.
Retrieved from: http://moodle.augsburg.edu/moodle2012/mod/page/view.php?id=75366
Congratulations on your step father turning 62! Its funny how people do gender without even realizing it. It not made obvious until you learn about it, and once you do everywhere you go your always critiquing thing or looking for ways people “do” gender. For instance, you mentioned how the guys carried all the bags and the women cared for the children. Also the fact that the women complimented each other on hair or clothes; which they probably spent a good amount of time on. These kinds of things are important to women and the way they do gender. This may be different from a man, who in your example pulled a muscle in his neck and continued playing, which for some women me be crazy. To the guy it may be painful, but they are taught to man up and deal with it.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stuck out to me the most was the children playing with each other, the boys and the girls played separately from each other in the beginning. Just as the adults were doing. The men were playing basketball and the women sat at the table conversating. In this case you guys were role-modeling gender.
I had a professor that told us in her family when a baby was born her and her husband would bring the baby a tonka truck; no matter what the sex. This was their way of eliminating the barriers that society puts on gender.
Gender norms and expectations are very interesting to look at in everyday situations. Even with driving to the park. Most the time the male will drive. The men carry the heavy items like the cooler most the time without even being asked to. When my brothers were growing up I can remember my mom telling them to go help carry things when we were having a gathering. This simple request over time just came as a norm and my brothers no longer had to be told to go help carry things. It became an expectation.
ReplyDeleteThe young kids divided up perfectly and started playing games that fit within their gender. I think that when a male finds out that his wife is going to have a baby, he immediately thinks about the fun manly activities that he will get to do such as football and often the wife has to remind him that their son might not like sports, but most likely the father will try to get the son involved at a young age. Often we hear stories about how a young boy will like playing with a doll and how this can actually be a positive influence.
Gender roles are certainly seen in every day activities like a family celebration in the park.
Your blog was enjoyable to read. A lot of these gender identifying roles we take for granted or don’t really think about as you stated. Our text reminded the readers that gender is in our culture and is embedded. What is masculine and feminine in one culture may not mean the same in another.
ReplyDeleteYour picnic sounded like a regular family gathering where everyone fell into their roles. The children playing with each other, boys with boys and girls with girls as doting moms looked on and the men were otherwise occupied. They did do what they considered their part by carrying the coolers and such. In America men generally cook too when there’s grilling work to be done.
Gender roles do seem to be changing. As more women work childcare and other duties are being reassigned. I remember form my childhood that since we had five girls in our family, the chores were distributed among all. My dad wasn’t the handiest guy around so my mother was the fix-it person at our house. She had been raised on a farm.
Lois Shaler