Gender Roles

What exactly defines a man? What defines a woman? The author of the blog Forever in Hell discusses the traditional roles of men and women with her post titled Traditional Gender Roles and You. In her post she discusses the sheer ridiculousness of the idea that men and women are defined by what they enjoy doing:

Based on my love of home repair, video games and football, am I not a woman? What about my hubby? He loves video games and football, but he's a great decorator, enjoys cooking and asks for directions-is he less of a man? ... In case you're having trouble with this one- no. I am a woman. my hubby is a man.

She also provides a response to another blog titled Self Evident Truths. One of the posts on this blog titled Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity talked about the idea that there are no masculine men in the world.

There have always been roles that have been considered masculine and those that have been considered feminine. Is it right to say that what activities we like to do or what we happen to be good at determines whether or not we are masculine or feminine? Absolutely not. "It's silly to suppose that simply because we have the freedom to reject traditional gender roles that I am not feminine and my husband is not masculine." (Traditional Gender Roles and You). I have plenty of friends that do not follow typical gender roles. I have one female friend that loves shop for clothes and make up but at the same time she loves working on cars and playing sports. I have a guy friend that loves style and cooking but he knows nothing about sports. My female friend does not feel like any less of a woman and my guy friend is just as manly as the next guy. Even I do not follow the traditional roles that I am supposed to follow. I hate cooking and I am no good at cleaning but at the same time I am much better at fixing things than most of my guy friends. The idea that I can not consider myself female due to the fact that I like typically male things is just ridiculous.

I loved when the author of Traditional Gender Roles and You decided to respond to the post of one of her fellow bloggers. The author of the post Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity stated that there are no real masculine men in the world anymore. Some of the things he said defined a "manly man" really did not make any sense. Luckily, the author of Traditional Gender Roles and You was ready with a witty response.

Cotton is the only material I'll wear. seriously? you're such a manly man that you check the tags on all garments before you buy them... I never ask for directions when I'm with my wife (gotta keep up the image) so rudeness makes your d*ck bigger? really, this poor woman is forced to follow you in willful lostness for no good reason? get a GPS.

Some of the other aspects that he believes make a truly masculine man are: scratching at awkward times and places, grunting, burping, shooting really big handguns. How does that possibly make you a man, that just makes you disgusting (and for your information, there are women that are just as disgusting). The author of Traditional Gender Roles and You was completely right in mocking the author of Feminists, Men, and Lost Masculinity. He never actually gave a good reason on why he believes that true masculinity is gone.

Femininity and masculinity should not be defined by what roles we follow. What determines our true gender identity is what we see ourselves as. Since I consider myself feminine, then I am feminine. Then again, if a man wants to consider his self feminine then that is his prerogative. We can only define ourselves and what we believe makes a man and a woman.

The Perfect Hispanic

In my English class, we started talking about diversity. We began the discussion by reading "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid (a how-to on being the perfect girl). I decided (mostly because it was assigned to me by my teacher)to write a poem in the same style as Kincaid's poem. However, instead of writing about being the perfect girl I decided to write about being the perfect Hispanic. Being a Colombian/ Puerto Rican mix, I know that not all Hispanic people act this way but I am also aware of the fact that many other people perceive us in the way I describe in my poem. It is not fair at times but what can you do, life is not fair.


This is how your hair should curl; always dress provocatively; this is how fast you should speak when you get really excited; this is how tough you should talk so nobody messes with you; you must give everyone an attitude; this is how you speak in Spanish para que nadie sepa que estas hablando de ellos; this is how you steal another woman's man; this is how you dance to salsa; this is how you should dance to merengue; always listen to music; this is how loud you should talk when trying to speak over your Dominican best friend; this is the type of slang you use to represent your home country; never use the slang from another person's country, they won’t stop rubbing it in your face; you must always add ito at the end of all of your words (for example, regalame un poquitico de cafe por favorsito) that is how all true Colombians talk; scream at the top of your lungs to speak to the person sitting next to you like the Dominicans; where a sombrero like the Mexicans; this is how much rice you eat on a daily basis; never eat any bland food; never become a vegetarian or else you’re going to starve; never sit down at a party because everyone will make fun of you; always watch about 10 telenovelas in a row; you must always watch Laura (female Jerry Springer) every night and laugh like crazy when your friends imitate the insane guests on the show;this is how heavy your accent should be when trying to speak English; always love your home country; always get mad when someone calls you Mexican when you’re clearly not; never go to sleep early because there is always a party; you must always stay up really late getting drunk with your friends and family; always get mad when someone insinuates you are illegal; always get along with everyone who speaks Spanish; always spend time with your family especially on the holidays; always be really dramatic even when you don’t have to be (it’s more fun that way); the most important rule of all… never be afraid to speak your mind.