Dean Thomas English 215
What is the impact of the gender roles that society creates and enforces? This unit is
about Gender and how everyone around you including yourself perceive what makes a man or
a woman. The two references I am going to be making are from “There is no unmarked woman”
by Deborah Tannen and the second one is “Being a Man”, by Paul Theroux. The connection that
brings these two stories together is about being judged from a man or woman’s’ point of view.
When people decide to judge each other based off of gender roles it is usually connected to
power. Which is basically being better than that person with one gender the male being
dominant.
In the story Being a Man the author sounds like he is disgusted with being a man, and
there is a lot of stereotypes which include the typical feeling the need to be manly. That every
man has to be masculine and being a man means your manly. Just the whole point of acting
manly puts woman down in a negative way because it “denies woman the natural friendship of
women” (Theroux). Being a man means being superior, and having no emotions. To not care to
much about anything and to never worry of overthink like a female would. By Nature, it would be
very harmful to even think with feelings and would be harmful. Just being a man, we could also
act like a soldier, be obedient/respectful or even act stupid at times. This plays into the role that
Feminist give men because the word masculine has to do with the presence of men. Woman
need men as much as woman needs a man. Being a woman is to act like a lady and take
advantage of a man being a seducer and witness to everything they do.
The author mentions how men would go to camps in the early to late teen hood if they
