Grant Parker

Professor Mia Eaker

ENGL 1102
4 May 2014
Authors Statement
My hope for the Multi Genre project was to explain to people especially males
that not everyone is the same and that masculinity does not make a man. I hoped to
capture the audience with three interesting genre pieces each explaining the issue in a
different way. The project is set up in a special way, first the magazine cover introduces
the audience to the issue and imposes a few questions, next the audience can read the
advice column within the magazine, finally the audience can read a journal entry by the
young man who initially asked for advice. The repetend I chose for the project was dont
strive to fit in. I chose this saying for the project because I feel the audience I am trying
to connect to is at a point in their lives where fitting in seems very important to them. The
audience I was trying to target was middle school teens particularly young men. Young
men are particularly persecuted by their peers if they do not meet all the social norms
therefore I felt they need to be told not to strive to fit in more than their female
counterparts. My research helped develop my perspective when I read about men feeling
the need to put on a masculine show in order to attract a mate.
My first genre piece is a magazine cover for Gossip Weekly. I used the magazine
cover to draw the attention of a younger audience. The cover asks questions that are later
answered in my later genre pieces. The cover features a picture of a happy couple and
with the question is the sexy stud right for you? and the statement why youll be
happy with a less masculine man in order to grab the audiences attention and make them
want to pick up the magazine and find out more. The article I read by William Ickes
discussed stereotypical gender roles in relationships, which inspired this genre piece.
The next genre piece I did was an advice column in which I respond to requests
by young men on how to deal with being bullied for not adhering to prescribed gender
roles. An advice column allows people to seek help without embarrassing themselves.
This is important to my target audience because many middles school students are
looking for help but are too intimidated or embarrassed to ask for it. This particularly
helps the audience because it allows readers to see that they are not the only ones having
issues and that maybe they share the same issues with someone. This genre piece was
inspired by the source Masculinity and Femininity, which taught me about how society
defines gender roles from a young age and enforces them throughout life.
My next genre piece is a journal entry in which the writer describes his daily
hardship at school with his male peers. Generally a journal entries only audience would
be that of the author himself. A journal entry allows one to reflect on their problems and
think of a solution. A journal entry is a great place for young teens to express their
emotions without persecution. I was hoping that when the audience saw the published
journal entry they would see the hardships that their peers go through and not feel alone.





Works Cited Page
Ickes, William. "Traditional Gender Roles: Do They Make, and Then Break, Our
Relationships?" Journal of Social Issues. 49.3 (1993): 71-85. Print

Gender Roles: Images of Masculinity and Femininity

Griffiths, Scott, Stuart B. Murray, and Stephen Touyz. "Extending The
Masculinity Hypothesis: An Investigation Of Gender Role Conformity, Body
Dissatisfaction, And Disordered Eating In Young Heterosexual Men." Psychology Of
Men & Masculinity (2014): PsycINFO. Web. 11 Apr. 2014