Week 2: Backgrounds and Perspectives

This week our class had two required readings: "Doing Gender" by Candace West & Don H. Zimmerman and "Undoing Gender" by Francine M. Deutsch. While both readings displayed a variety of interesting information, there are two parts I will be discussing in detail.

In the first reading, "Doing Gender" the authors explained the way they taught to differentiate between sex and gender in the late 60s, early 70s. I found this on page 125, and the definitions are as follows:

Sex: What was ascribed by biology: Anatomy, hormones, and physiology.

Gender: An achieved status: That which is constructed through physiological, cultural, and social means.

With that being said, the first issue was the discussion of gender roles in the article "Doing Gender."The authors articulated that it is uncommon to see individuals in occupations that aren't meant for their particular gender, such as a female doctor, or a male nurse. Sure these are uncommon, but are they wrong? Does the occurrence of something relate to whether or not it's the norm? Are norms created because of this? In reality, human beings can go to school and become whatever they wish to be... Regardless of their sex or gender. For example, if a female is interested in cars, she can become an auto-mechanic if she so desired. Personally, I don't understand what the big deal is. Typically your job is something you do for approximately 30 or 40 years, wouldn't you want it to be something you're interested in? Does it really matter what other people think of you? After all, it's YOUR job... NOT theirs.

During our discussion in class, a student brought up the fact that it is extremely rare to see a male dental hygienist assisting the dentist. Prior to this class, I had never thought about that before. All of my dental hygienists have always been women, but I never thought twice about it.

The second issue I had with the readings this week came from the second article "Undoing Gender." On page 108, the author stated that men do less housework because their greater income gives them the power to opt out of it. Excuse me? Does being the breadwinner give you the power to be the boss in otherwise what is supposed to be an equal give and take relationship? Thinking of that makes me consider becoming a brain surgeon so I don't have to do any household chores when I get married.

However, clearly this is not the case because many families deviate from the norm in the sense that men do the housework, while women fix things around the home. In addition, men and women who live on their own are then required to do both the pink and the blue jobs.

In my house, my mom irons my dad's work shirts and my dad is mostly in charge of cutting the lawn during the summer. He also shovels the driveway in the winter, and my mom cooks dinner a lot of the time. With that being said, my parents help each other complete almost every task, which is what should happen in every family environment. Chores are chores for a reason, and it shouldn't matter whose doing them as long as they are completed at the end of the day. Sometimes we need to pay more attention to the big picture, rather than the small details of whose holding the paintbrush.