Gender Roles (Feb. 8)

On Twilight Vs Hunger Games, Noah Berlatsky does not compare the franchise’s success nor their aspects but their female lead’s way of being. Both movie franchises happen to have a female lead protagonist but their way of being differs quite drastically. Katniss from The Hunger Games, is quite a tomboy while Bella happens to be ‘stereotypically girly’ as Berlatsky stated. Upon describing both female leads, Berlatsky came across on pointing out that people will tend to find the tomboy aspect from Katniss as more attractive and appealing to one. The idea of being an independent, brave girl who constantly fights and hunts people down for survivor is more enchanting than a girly girl who really has nothing going for herself and according to Berlatsky is pretty much useless. It seems that the idea that the author is trying to convey is that the typical stereotypical male characteristics seem to be more engaging than those of a female. Only to later state, “they might understand each other’s desires and each other’s strength,” which to me, it seems that he is saying that at the end of the day there is no right or wrong way of being. Everyone has their own preference and it should not be guilted. On the other hand, The Egg and the Sperm by Emily Martin talks about how they get the stereotypical gender cultural norm treatment and how it should stop being a thing. The sperm is often seen as fierce because it penetrates the egg, while the egg tends to be called weak and wasteful which ties in with Berlatsky’s part of the argument. “Waking up such metaphors by becoming aware of their implications, will rob them of their power to naturalize our social conventions about gender,” Society tends to add gender roles into almost anything, which for Martin is not a necessity.

Wants between men and women

In reading “The egg and the sperm” by Emily Martin and “Twilight vs. Hunger Games” by Noah Berlatsky I think that both authors want to show the ways why and how we see gender roles. In Berlatskys’ article he talks about the main characters from each movie and how they are portrayed. In Twilight Bella’s character is classified as “girly” and helpless she is clumsy and can’t do anything to save herself. He also mentions that all she thinks about are they boys in her life and marriage. Throughout the books, she is deemed useless and as Berlatsky said in his article “an utter mess.” In The Hunger Games the main character Katniss is the complete opposite of Bella she kills to save her life and the life of people she cares about. She wasn’t as worried about boys as Bella was even though there were guys who liked her. Berlatsky later goes on to say that Bella becomes a powerful being to save her life and the life of people she wants to protect. Katniss goes on to pick Peeta because she wanted someone who was the opposite of her someone that was kind and someone who was domestic. The two switch roles between being feminine and masculine but both movies and stories show how both are needed at some point. In Martins’  “The egg and the sperm” she talks about the effects of society and science make the reproductive organs of both male and female seem totally distant from each other. She talks about how in textbooks the male reproductive organs are seen as being more valuable than that of the woman’s. She goes on to give us information about how in other texts the female process of making eggs is just not depicted with much enthusiasm as that of the making of sperm. In all Martin is trying to say that society’s view on the reproductive systems of both men and women the males will be seen as more important than that of the females because of the stereotypical view that society has imposed. Both authors want to show that women have a major part to play in society too that women can be seen as “girly” but that they also can be brute and independent. Both articles want us readers to know that women play a big part in society and that women are just as important as men.

February 8th, 2017: Gender Roles

This week's articles written by Noah Berlatsky and Emily Martin provide the readers with a closer look at how our cultural views toward gender roles affect society. After analyzing these readings, I believe the goal of both Berlatsky and Martin is not to simply express their personal opinions towards the ideal desires of men and women, but rather to show the readers that their outlooks on men and women are severely effected by cultural norms and that we should looked past them while we shape our own wants. Martin's "The Egg and the Sperm" highlights the extent of cultural stereotypes in society by showing how its presence in the biological study of gender shows that gender bias exists even at the cellular level. Analyzing reproductive research from several different scientists and time frames, Martin points out the powerful and dominant descriptions of the sperm versus the weak and wasteful descriptions of the egg. This goes to show that gender stereotypes are something that is constantly being etched into our minds, and it serves as a call for the readers to have an open mind about the gender identity of themselves and others and leave the cultural bias out of it. I think Martin disagrees with the typical binary view of gender that limits people to act one way or the other; instead she thinks it should be approached with more individualism. Berlatsky's article, on the other hand, describes gender roles in a different manner by analyzing the femininity of two protagonist from two incredibly popular book series, but the overall idea of his article serves a similar purpose as Martin's study. Bella Swan from the "Twilight" saga and Katniss Everdeen from "The Hunger Games" trilogy have almost polar opposite characteristics from each other in regards to femininity. Bella is portrayed as the typical girl, requiring constant attention from dominant male forces, while Katniss, on the other hand, is viewed as strong power figure that must work her hardest to survive. While highlighting these obvious differences in the protagonists' personalities, Berlatsky also shows how these characters are acclaimed and criticized by critics and fans. It's pointed out that Katniss and her masculinity receives better critical acclaim then boring Bella due to society's negative view on the female gender role. The author then takes a closer look at these characters, however, and starts to bring light to the fact that they actually might be more similar than it's commonly believed. They both have different desires and strengths, and although their methods of achieving their goals might be different, they do share some similar characteristics as females. I think the author's overall purpose is to show their individual desires, and show the readers that judging their personalities based on stereotypical views of the female gender role isn't the way to go. The world tends to put these characters in the female category when forming opinions towards them; the category that classifies every female as a feminine figure. Like Martin's study, Berlatsky's article gives the reader the idea to view people of both sexes with more individualism. These readings show that people's wants and personalities are crafted on their own and aren't based on the physical organs that define our sex. People should want what they truly desire, rather than what society tells them they need.

Blog Post February 8th: What do the authors want us to want?

After reading and analyzing Emily Martin’s, “The Egg and Sperm”, I felt that it was very clear that what Martin desired was to inform the reader of the unequal way the female reproductive system is presented in biology, and in turn make men and women want their respective systems presented equally. At the end of the reading Martin states that “Waking up such metaphors, by becoming aware of when we are projecting cultural imagery onto what we study, will improve our ability to investigate and understand nature. Waking up such metaphors by becoming aware of their implications will rob them of their power to naturalize our social conventions about gender.” (1009). It is here Martin clearly lays out her desires. She wants to convince the reader that no matter female or male we should all want equality, and act to help reach it collectively no matter how small the topic. Noah Berlatsky’s article on the other hand was not so straight forward. He begins his article by explaining that when “Comparing Twilight and The Hunger Games, it's easy to see why second-wave feminists, and adults in general, find a girly teen so much less attractive than a tomboyish one.” Pointing out Bella’s flaws and Katniss’ strengths. Only later to ask the question, “And yet, for all the critical accolades...is masculinity really categorically better and more feminist than femininity?” Leaving the reader to question his true purpose as an author. However, I felt that by the end of the article his purpose was clear. Berlatsky simply wants his readers to want what they want. His conclusion is not one that calls to action, or motivates. He simply says that, “Masculinity and femininity isn't a duel to the death.” meaning that we should all believe as we want to believe while at the same time understanding the way that others view the same topic, something I felt refreshed to read.

Gender Roles and Stereotypes (Feb. 8th Blog)

In Emily Martin’s article “The Egg and the Sperm”, it is clear that she is frustrated with just how big of an impact social stereotypes play on even the intricate and exact nature of science, “In the course of my research I realized that the picture of the egg and the sperm drawn in popular as well as scientific accounts of reproductive biology relies on stereotypes central to our cultural definitions of male and female.” She begins by saying that most scientists refer to female menstruation with words that have negative connotations like “ceasing”, “expelling” and “losing”, as if the female reproductive organs are wasteful during the menstrual cycle, whereas sperm are described as “remarkable” and have “sheer magnitude” despite the millions of sperm that go unused every day.  Martin goes on to mention how throughout the history of reproductive science, scientist have almost always referred to the sperm as the aggressor that can be given most of the credit for human reproduction, deeming the sperm as the “rescuer”. Despite new research showing that sperm does not have as great a mechanical force as previously thought and that the egg plays a more active role because of its surface being specifically made for trapping sperm, sperm continues to get the majority of the credit and even worse, the egg is suddenly portrayed as “disturbingly aggressive”. All of Martin’s various observations continue to prove that no matter what science says, society has continued to devalue the importance of the female’s reproductive role and idolize the male’s reproductive role because of a cultural habit of stereotyping gender roles. “At the very least, the imagery keeps alive some of the hoariest old stereotypes about weak damsels in distress and their strong male rescuers.” In Noah Berlatsky’s “’Twilight’ vs. ‘Hunger Games’: Why Do So Many Grown-Ups Hate Bella” he takes a different approach to gender roles by comparing two very different characters: Katniss and Bella. He explains that people prefer Katniss because her “extremely competent”, “focused”, “responsible” and “tomboyish” attitude is viewed as more valuable than Bella’s “helpless”, “passive”, “girly girl” nature. The author seems to find it odd that so many people prefer Katniss, a killing machine teenager, over a more normal and more feminine teen Bella. “Masculinity and femininity isn’t a dual to the death”. It is through this statement that the reader is able to tell that Berlatsky believes that gender roles don’t have to be unrelated with one held above the other, but instead can intermingle.

Feb 8th blog

The author’s main goal of “The Egg and the Sperm” was to “shine a bright light on the gender stereotypes hidden within the scientific language of biology”, bringing the misogynistic word choice hidden in science to our attention as the readers. Throughout the reading she highlights ever description of the female egg that has a negative connotation or examples that rely on the male counter part to flourish and then examines how in contrast sperm is described with higher regards and given value. Emily Martin also takes the time to explain how the scientific imagery used to depict the functions of each gender is illustrated in a biased manner, such as with the statement “the imagery keeps alive some of the hoariest oldest stereotypes about weak damsels in distress and their strong male rescuers”. All of the examinations are done to help support her belief that men and women should both want less stereotypical language and gender bias imagery in biological discussion such as of the egg and sperm. A belief that would make science a gender neutral study with less “personality” functions. Martin even begins her counter argument paragraph with the rhetorical question “Can we envision a less stereotypical view?” when disusing an alternate view on the egg and sperm relationship to each other. Throughout her writing, the author is trying to show us how even without our complete knowledge; we as a society manage to create gender stereotypes in multiple aspects of our world, such as in science. In “Twilight vs. Hunger Games” the author takes the time to compare and contrast why we as people are first more attracted to the tomboyish character of Katniss as a protagonist instead of the fragile character of Bella. This being stated, Noah Berlatsky elaborates that though both Bella and Katniss are of opposing feminine character traits that does not mean they are completely separate. He calls for an accepting and understanding of both characters with his statement “Masculinity and femininity isn't a duel to the death”, exhibiting his belief that we should view gender as not a set binaries that one must choose from but instead a scale or spectrum where we may fall between.