Formal Paper #2: Rough Draft

November 24, 2012

Dear Dad,

Let’s face it, our family dynamics have changed drastically since my siblings and I were born. The family I was once used to now seems strange and unrealistic. When I was born, you worked full-time to support your stay-at-home wife and growing family. Over the years, Mom went from housewife to part-time work and now to a full-time supervisor position. Not only this, but Mom relishes in both the freedom and responsibilities of work. You, on the other hand, cannot wait that last year to retire and I know how you long to switch to part-time work or even become a stay-at-home husband. I don’t blame you Dad, and believe it or not, you’re not the only one. America has been experiencing a new trend, heightened by the recent Great Recession, of men losing their jobs and unable to find stable work while women climb the ladder of success despite the country’s financial situation and are now finding themselves on top. For the most part, history has exhibited the theme of patriarchy all over the world. What if this traditional male dominance is not what is best for society in general or specifically the family unit? Women are starting to wear the pants more and more in this society, and I don’t think this is merely a random phenomenon; women’s dominance in society is necessary – women can no longer stay in the kitchen if our species is going to thrive on this planet.

Biologically, the idea of a successful matriarchal society is not a new idea. Consider our closest relatives genetically: chimpanzees. There are two species of chimpanzees, the common chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and the bonobo chimpanzee (Pan paniscus).  Humans evolved from one species of chimps 4-6 million years ago and the one species split into two roughly one million years ago. Unfortunately knowledge of the social behaviors of chimps 4-6 million years ago is not accessible, but there is still a lot to learn from their modern day counterparts. Both species show huge a maternal influence in society. In common chimps, although there is an alpha male, he is chosen by the females in the community. His status in the community is only valuable for mating purposes and the female chimps are dominant over the rest of the society, such as the resources. In bonobo chimpanzees, the community is completely matriarchal – the female chimps have total control over the community. If the species we once descended from and share about 94% of our DNA with has found extreme success in a matriarchal based society, why would humans be any different? How did we become a patriarchal society in the first place? According to Darwin’s theory of natural selection, if we want to keep evolving as a species, we must be able to adapt many types of changes: physical, geographical, physiological, and especially social. In American society today, we must adapt to the change in gender dominance once again.

Women seem to be rising to a place of dominance in American society in several aspects. This is extremely impressive considering that women received the right to vote in this country a mere 92 years ago. In American 2 and 4 year universities, women make up 58% of enrolled students. Not only this, but more women tend to drop out less, have a higher GPA, graduate with honors, and pursue even further education than men. FIND QUOTE Statistics also show that today women make up 46% of the labor force in America whereas in 1900, fewer than 20% of women worked outside of the home. According to a New York Times article written by Hanna Rosin, “Of the 15 categories projected to grow the fastest by 2016 — among them sales, teaching, accounting, custodial services and customer service — 12 are dominated by women.” She goes on to explain that even though these may not be the most desirable or well-paid positions, they are the most stable and consistent fields of work today. Very physical trade type work, like construction, is out and more maternal based fields, like teaching and nursing, are in. It is also true that women only make 77.5 cents to every dollar a man makes, but this gap has been reduced substantially and only continues to shrink.

On the other hand, this scenario is not experienced worldwide. As Salam explains “while North American and Western European men broadly – if not always happily – adapt to the new egalitarian order, their counterparts in the emerging giants of East and South Asia, not to mention Russia, all places where women often still face brutal domestic oppression, may be headed for even more exaggerated gender inequality” (634). Salam explains that although Western developed nations tend to have a more open mind towards drastic social changes in gender roles, this is not true for the entire world. Countries like China and those of the Middle East are still very much male-dominated and a gender role switch will not occur easily, or possibly not even at all. Considering population, United Nations statistics show that in China there are 93 women to 100 men. Even more surprisingly, in Qatar there are only 32 women per 100 men and in Bahrain there are a mere 60 women per 100 men, both countries in the Middle East. On the other hand, both the United States and the United Kingdom have 103 women per 100 men in their national population. This trend is also seen in the percent of educated men and women in Western nations versus those in the more male dominated societies. In many of these strict patriarchal countries, removing men from society seems very unrealistic.

Change is occurring regarding gender roles in the United States whether Americans like it or not. Change is hard, scary, and frustrating, but it is also necessary for the evolution of our species. Men can fight the change all they want, but it is looking more and more like women are winning this battle. The other option is to adapt. Men would benefit greatly by pushing aside past male gender roles and male expectations in other areas of the world and consider what is going on in the world around them. Obviously, this is not even always necessarily true for all American men. There are many fields of work that men are generally more suited towards. A great example of this is math and science. Data explains that male high school students on average score higher on the math portion of the SAT test. These fields also still have a fairly large gap between men and women employed in the field. Not to say that women cannot find employment in these fields, but tendency shows that men thrive more in these areas. Men will never become completely obsolete in the workforce, but men need to consider how the gender dominance switch will affect them and their families personally. Adaptation is key. An open mind is key. The longer men fight society, the more dissatisfied they will become with both themselves and the world around them resulting in depression, substance abuse, violence, and so much more. To counter this, the sooner they adapt, the sooner they’ll be able to find their new place in society.

Dad, this step you are taking to adapt is extremely helpful for you and our family. This may be completely against what your father and grandfather would encourage or what other parts of the world are doing, but it is what is best for you. Acceptance and adaptation will allow our species to continue and evolve rather than destroying itself. You’re making history!

Yours always,

Melissa

Annotated Bibliography #2

Rosen, Hanna. “Who Wears the Pants in This Economy?” The New York Times. Ilena Silverman. 30 Aug. 2012. 18 Nov. 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/magazine/who-wears-the-pants-in-this-economy.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

This article, written by Hanna Rosen, a senior editor at The Atlantic and at Slate as well as the co-founder of DoubleX blog, was published by The New York Times on August 30, 2012. This article is adapted from Rosen’s book “The End of Men: And the Rise of Women”.  The central theme of this article describes the rate of adaptation of men and women within the current economic crisis, exploiting evidence from an in depth look into Alexander City, Alabama to argue that women are emerging on top of the workforce. Although this article is written specifically about one town, this trend is becoming apparent all over the country and is important for Americans, especially American families, to consider.  Rosen’s article is written very objectively, extensively covering both female and male perspectives to this social change.

Shteir, Rachel. “Breadwomen: ‘The Richer Sex,’ by Liza Mundy.” The New York Times. The New York Times. 13 April 2012. 18 Nov. 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/books/review/the-richer-sex-by-liza-mundy.html?pagewanted=all

In this piece, writer Rachel Shteir reviews Liza Mundy’s book “The Richer Sex” for The New York Times on April 13, 2012. Shteir picks apart Mundy’s arguments as well as explains her own perspectives on the subject at hand: the switch in gender roles in America, specifically regarding dominance in the workforce. Mundy argues her case by supplying many statistics varying from explaining the decreasing wage gap between men and women, the amount of women currently graduating with bachelor’s degrees, and the amount of marriages versus the amount of women under 30 years old having children without a male counterpart. Rather than exhibiting the objectiveness that the previous article employed, this review and the book itself seem very focus on the woman’s perspective and even biased towards women. Shteir also criticizes this book explaining that many of the conclusions Mundy claims are far-fetched and not supported by her data, questioning her credibility.

Dickler, Jessica. "Stay-at-home dads: More men choosing kids over career." CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 30 Apr. 2012. Web. 18 Nov. 2012. <http://money.cnn.com/2012/04/30/pf/stay-at-home-dad/index.htm>.

The article “Stay-at-home dads: More men choosing kids over career”, written by journalist Jessica Dickler, was published by CNN Money on April 30, 2012. Like the other articles, Dickler uses a plethora of statistics and data to back up her central argument: gender roles are changing in both the household and the workforce bringing women into a more dominant position in society. Like Rosen, Dickler takes an unbiased approach towards viewing the social implications for both males and females concerning both the home and the workplace.  This article also explored the idea that this social change, although felt nationally, is not for every family. Overall, this essay is very forward and concise, but could explore the topic more in detail.

Proposal #2

               History has shown that traditional gender roles put women in the kitchen, taking care of the kids, and not having anything to do with the real world or work force. On the other hand, men traditionally are the “bread winners” in the family dynamic. In the last 100 years and up to present day women have made huge leaps and bounds towards equality with their male counterparts. But what if tradition had it all backwards? What if women are actually more suited for the business world and men are more capable of being the stay at home parent? What if that is what true equality looks like in America and even the world? Everyone is affected by this subject because we all our subjected to some form of gender standards every day. More specifically, this paper is aimed at the generation just now graduating from college, starting their careers, starting their families, and deciding what their future really will look like. This subject is very important for the future generations as well because they will be growing up in a family dynamic that is very different from the traditional views of 100+ years ago.  America’s idea of the family unit is changing, and I would even argue that women are becoming the more dominant, “bread winning” partner while men are beginning to stay home more. Gender stereotypes aside, this may even be the more natural place for both people.

               The first method I will employ will be logos. I will use statistics and data to explain that men actually prefer to stay at home. I will also show that women tend to do better in school and are more likely complete higher education. I will also show data on the counterargument describing that there still is discrimination in the workforce towards women and men are still favored. The reader’s response would hopefully be to see the information and understand that a change is occurring in America regarding gender roles and equality, but it is also an extremely slow and hard process for all Americans.

                An appeal to the emotions is the second strategy I will apply. I will do this by explaining both the male and female perspectives to this gender change as well as their opinion of working. I will use articles such as “Bros Before Hos” by Michael Kimmel and “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid to elaborate on traditional gender roles and how the change in roles affect Americans. The reader’s response will be to understand both male and female gender roles, how they’ve changed, and what this means emotionally for everyone. I want the readers to understand how difficult this change is and how it affects Americans, especially the younger generations.

                The final method to explain my claim will be ethos. I will use the fact that I am in a younger generation and am currently experiencing different gender roles than my mother and even grandmother. The traditional ways of being a woman that I was taught as a kid are slowly becoming less of my identity and I am faced more opportunities than the prior generations of women have ever experienced. I hope the reader will understand my experiences and see how life for females and males have changed extremely in the last 100 years.

RA #3 Morgan

“From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos” was written by Joan Morgan, a writer and feminist, in 1999. This article explores how rap music has changed in the last few decades and what that means for the women involved – extreme prejudice and violence becoming more and more accepted and common. Morgan explains the urgency of her essay saying, “[w]e have come to a point in our history, however, when black-on-black love – a love that’s survived slavery, lynching, segregation, poverty, and racism – is in serious danger” (602). This serious danger is the increasing rate of violence between males of the African American community, as well as between males and females in the same community, which is exemplified by the increasing violence occurring in the lyrics of rap music. This article is aimed at many groups including feminists, the African American community (both to brothas and sistas), and America as a whole. Morgan claims that rap music is beautiful and powerful, but it also shows what’s really going on in the African American community: African American women are continuously degraded, abused, and objectified by their male counterparts due to a tremendous amount of pain these men are facing, but that cannot stop them from loving these hurting men and ending the vicious pain cycle.

Writer’s Strategy #1: Morgan uses the mode of compare and contrast in this article in describing the ongoing issue between male African Americans and the women in their lives. She does this mainly by expressing her findings from both a feminist and a “sista” perspective. An example of this would be in her introduction. Here she explains that because of her heritage, she adores hip-hop and rap, but because of her feminist views, she feels as though she cannot support it because of being continuously reduced to “tits and ass” (602). Because of this, the development of her points is clear, well rounded, relatable, and a really interesting duel personality.

Writer’s strategy #2: Another mode employed my Morgan is that of Aristotle’s Appeal of pathos. Because of Morgan’s close ties to the subject matter, this article is extremely emotionally driven – not to say that she does not use logos or ethos, because those are extremely present as well – and really helps her analysis of the heart of the matter. To clarify, this can been seen as she talks about Notorious B.I.G.’s life using phrases such as “divulged his inner hell” and even his own lyrics from “Everyday Struggle” revealing that he was “plagued with guilt, regret, and depression”, going on to explain the end result: his suicide (603). Morgan’s descriptions show the reality of what this community is experiencing in an extremely heart-wrenching manner.

Writer’s strategy #3: Cause and effect plays a very large role in this article as well. Morgan’s overall claim is a manifestation of cause and effect. The cause is men feeling pain. The effect is the pain is taken out on each other and women rather that dealing with the pain in a healthy matter. This causes more pain and even lives lost. Morgan’s argument is to stop the cycle of pain and instead let the causes effect in a way of producing love for these hurting individuals.

My response: I really enjoyed this article and I think Morgan made great points using many of the modes to support her ideas. The fact that she used both perspectives of feminist and sista in her article really helped me understand. Being a white girl from a wealthier portion of California, I have no experience when it comes to the African American community. I also don’t listen to rap so I had no idea things were so extreme in that culture. The great thing about this article is that her advice can really apply to everyone, not just the African American community. One argument that I do have comes from her explanation of “black-on-black love”. That love is what carried them through slavery, lynching, segregation, etc. From what I have learned in history, African American men have been severely abusing women since the slavery days as a result of feeling out of control, much like what is happening in rap music today. From my knowledge, abuse is not new to this culture; it has just taken a new form. Other than that, I thought this article was really intriguing.