Tomboy

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Blog Post 3

            Words and phrases are contagious and sometimes hurtful. One word that many people have heard and used over the years is Tomboy.  This word describes a gender role change in reference to a female having more masculine oriented traits. Society controls what is considered masculine and what is considered feminine, “A second element of the cultural structure defines, regulates, and controls the acceptable modes of reaching out for these goals” (Merton 1985).  

Tomboy is a word that has been used since about 1550 and at that time described a rude, boisterous boy. Later the meaning of the word changed to bold or immodest girl in 1592. Tomboy is a word described as a girl who acts like a spirited boy and with this description I believe that it has a lot in common with the differential association theory, “ Criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication” (Cressey 1977). Now a tomboy isn’t necessarily a criminal but they are females that play a different gender role that is learned from interactions with a male figure. A tomboy is that girl who isn’t “girly” enough or the one who dresses like a boy by wearing pants and more masculine clothing. A female having more masculine traits is one who commonly has an interest in sports or physical activities. Also, it is believed that a female who has an increased interest in science and technology are commonly called tomboys as well.

This word is followed with a stigma of being lesbian or having the assumption of wanting to be a male. Now many believe that being a tomboy is a phase that many young women go through. All young girls will try to change their gender role in curiosity. “The crucial distinctions is between shaming that is reintegrative and shaming that is disintegrative (stigmatization)” (Braithwaite 1989).  The stigma of being lesbian is placed on females who don’t grow out of this young phase. I can personally understand this idea because I’m a firefighter, where I work in a male dominated profession.

The underlying social construction of Tomboy can be formed from many things. The most common description is a girl who acts like a boy in regards to schooling atmosphere.  Another perspective is a girl trying to live up to her father’s expectations or father issues. Being a daughter from a male dominated household or trying to hold the roles of both the daughter and the son, which are to help those unfulfilled expectations for the father. “The best place to see reintegrative shaming at work is in loving families…” (Braithwaite 1989) Now gender roles are looked at and handled differently for tomboys. “Gender scholar Judith 'Jack' Halberstam has claimed that while the defying of gender roles is often tolerated in young girls, older girls and adolescents who display masculine traits are often repressed and punished” (unknown 2012).

Many theories have been provided to answer why young females go through a tomboy phase but to sum them up, most focus on a female who spends most of her childhood/adolescence in an environment where a male predominates.  She doesn’t have a strong female role model to influence her to be girlier.


The film below is a trailer of Tomboy(2011). A french film that is about a girl who plays a more masculine role in society. She not only has short hair but she plays all the sports with the boys. Skins vs shirts and even cuts up her bathing suit to be more like the guys. Another thing this young girl does is tell her friends that she is a boy.


The third film is about how to be a proper tomboy. It shows the rules and advice on how to become a true tomboy. I found that it was interesting film that points out masculine traits and things that make most females uncomfortable.   

Word Count: 612

Citations:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/tomboy

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070628225916AAS2IZ6

Murderball

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Film Review 2

Murderball

A documentary film that focuses on the lives of disabled individuals that can do just as much as an able bodied person or even more. This film compares the social roles that individuals play in the Paralympics. It follows the United States rugby team winnings and defeats vs. Canada.  Quad-rugby was originally called murderball and this is a sport that is played with custom-built wheelchairs. The film covers three main individuals and their life stories about how they became disabled. It also covers many different stories about Team America.

By not only using the personal testimonies of individuals but also showing the viewer the game and each persons amazing story. This film argued the social view of a disabled person and how the able-bodied society portrays them. Society feels that being disabled is the worst thing that can ever happen. The individuals in this film show that they love how they are and hate that others feel the need to judge. An example of this would be a statement from Mark Zupan, “Fucking hit me, I’ll hit you back.” Equal opportunity is not given to disabled individuals and there is absolutely no reason why it can’t be given. This film covers most questions that people have towards disabled individuals. One of the most common questions asked was if they could have sexual intercourse. They took the myth that disabled individuals can’t have sex and went into detail explaining that they can still have intercourse.

Murderball relates to the course in many ways. The film talks about how being different against our social norms is okay. Talking about deviant bodies and how they are portrayed in an able-body society vs. disabled society. Many disabled individuals spoke about how they disliked people looking at them and treating them differently. “Disability can serve as a master status and can carry with it a stigma” (Taylor 2000).  This stigma not only discredits a person’s moral character but the individual is rejected by society.

Now what is so convincing about Murderball was the emotional affects that individuals have from being judge and dehumanized. Not everyone in a wheelchair wants to walk. The film talked about how disabled individuals are viewed as helpless, but in fact they are not and they do not want to be pitied.

One thing the film touched on was the stories of people Zupan spoke to in the hospital. I think it would be very interesting to hear how these people felt in the first year compared to there fifth year being a quadriplegics. To hear their story and relentless optimism they must have. Also, is it easier for a child to adapt or how life is affected for females. 

Citation: 

Taylor, "You're Not a Retard, You're Just Wise." February 2000

Film Review

Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She

A documentary film that focuses on the lives of transgender and intersex people not just in America, but around the world. This film compared the social roles and views of transgender and intersex people. With different out comes, it truly opens your eyes to a world of judgment and beauty that have been force in society . The stigma that has been placed on the intersex and transgender community and as individuals can sometimes lead to violent experiences that are done from others or ones self.  This film shows and speaks about personal experiences in their day to day survival, worries, and stories.

 By using personal testimony of individuals, not only from the transgender and intersex community, as well as testimony of individuals that have ties to the community. The film covers the emotional damage that has been caused by gender assignment which classifies an individual as one sex when the internal organs/wiring is truly different. This film also covers the violent attacks that this community fears because they are different and goes against the social "norm".

This film began with a young female named Gwen. She was murdered because she was transgender. One sentence that stood out to me was from Gwen's mother, "Hate kills and it killed my daughter." Gwen was murdered and hid in a forest late one October evening. Three men drove deep into a forest to hide her body after someone announced her secret of being transgender. Gwen had sexual interaction with two individuals that this party. They kicked and punch her and later on they placed her in a shallow grave and pushed her body down with heavy rocks. People feel that their identity has been threatened when they find out about a transgender individual. This tragic story shows the stigma about how not only being transgender but even the partner of a transgender individual they end with violent outcomes.

Middle Sexes relates to this course in many ways. The construction of deviance is society’s way to form an "other" section. The film talks about how people are different and how they are treated because of being born against such social norms. The film spoke about not only Gwen but a boy named Noah. Noah's father feels he didn't choose to be a girl, "It would be a relief if Noah's hormones kicked in and he stopped liking girl stuff." Fausto-Sterling spoke about how intersex children are squeezed into the two prevailing sexual categories. Also, speaking about how society feels that an intersex child would grow up as a "freak in loneliness and frustration."

Now, what is so convincing about Middle Sexes was emotional affects on the people that support the transgender and intersex individuals? Noah's mother and Step-father truly cared about allowing him to grow up how he chose. Noah likes girl things and he knows he's different but he doesn't go as far to call himself a "she/her/female/girl." Noah is not alone because people transition for many reasons, "It's not who you want to be with but who you are." Fausto-Sterling found that 4 percent of births are intersex. This means out of 6000 people about 240 are intersex individuals. It is society that hates variations because biology simply loves variations. It is a religious sacrifice to become a Hesra but now society looks at these individuals as "different." Forced to have only two options: Doing business or begging.

The one thing that film touched on was on how society feels about being transgender or intersex is from the results of an individual having a mental disorder. I feel that if people took this course they could see how this couldn't be true. Who would choose to be have a 50 percent chance that someone will kill them or they will kill themselves. This video we watched for class can show you that society needs to rethink gender and sexual orientation.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/51kQQuVpKxQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Film Review: Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She

A de

Deviant or Not

Part: 1

Who is the deviant person in your social group? Our primary aim is to discover how some social structures exert a definite pressure upon certain persons in the society to engage in nonconforming rather than conforming conduct (Merton 21). When society seeks to discover whom an individual is they look at the individual’s goals, purposes, and interests. Does the individual have a conformist behavior or are they different/deviant? I am a conformist in some ways and deviant in others.

The Control Theory talks about goals and how different choices an individual makes can affect them; getting an education, building up a business, and acquiring a reputation for virtue (Hirschi).  This theory talks about how the individuals need to weigh the risk vs. benefit and consider the cost at which the label of being deviant can affect their future. Choosing a reserved profession I am held to a high standard. Personal safety, protecting someone’s life, property, and the environment are the goals and standards that I will be held to for the rest of my life.

At first I considered myself as exception or the default.  One reason why I’m not the default is because I’m a woman. I’m not the average female. I have never thought that I was going to grow up, meet the man of my dreams, have babies and settle down.  This “American Dream” isn’t something that has ever been in my cards. Every little boy wanted to be either a cop or a fireman when they grow up. By choosing not only one of the most physical but completive careers one can enter. Being a firefighter for over four years now, I have entered a male dominant career, which in tradition has violated the norms.

My middle class household taught me how to have the drive for success in school and life. By growing up in a household with a stay at home mother I was brought up in a stable environment. The Differential Association Theory talks about how an individuals learning environment has an extreme affect on their outcome in life. Is a deviant only a criminal? Criminal behavior is not inherited but instead is something learned. Either from participation or imitation it is an act that is considered breaking the rules. Sutherland and Cressey talk about the principle of differential association. In their theory it focuses on how a criminal’s behavior is learned and how the range of intensity is dependant on multiple interactions in the criminals life. This theory can relate by explaining why I’m not a criminal. Behavior is learned meaning someone in an individual’s life must teach them such behavior. The person’s associations are determined in a general context of social organization (Sutherland & Cressey).

Part Two:

My social experiment for this assignment was really hard for me to complete because I have a uniform required profession. Choosing to act out in a deviant way by wearing make-up, jewelry, or even taking my hair out of a ponytail is against the rules and are all thought of as a forbidden act. Thinking out of the box I decided to take the issue that I have always been interested in. The experiment started off with my fiancé and I going dinner at a fancy restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings. Now, this restaurant has almost every wall surface covered with a TV. They are the ESPN update for Vancouver. Sitting in the bar watching pro-bowl and enjoying our food. I sent him off to socialize and have “guy talk”.  He had two sentences to say in each conversation, “ What sport is the super bowl? It’s baseball right?”  Everyone he spoke to at first laughed thinking it was a joke. Then the puzzled look came which was followed by shock and an almost immediate end to the conversation. Each person, female or male, judged him very quickly. It spread around the bar very quickly as well, which brought the eye glares and snickers. When he came back to sit next me we both received odd looks.

Many people asked where he was from or if he was from this country. When they found that he was born and raised here in Vancouver we found that they were even more stunned. They asked if he lived under a rock, was home schooled, and if he even owned a TV.

My fiancé had his masculinity questioned. He said that people made him feel a little silly about asking them those questions but after seeing people’s reactions he found it interesting. Was he instantly labeled?

We hold many labels but am I deviant or not is the question.

Word Count: 776