Abdou

Mariam Abdou
Professor Corri Ditch
English 113A
6 November 2014
Gender in the Past and the Present
For American society, gender is constructed through some certain guidelines that both
men and women have to follow according to their sex, which they have to act and behave
accordingly so that they can be considered as normal society members; this is known as gender
performance. During the 1950s, gender roles were different than today. Today women play
important roles in society that cant be denied by anyone. Van Heusens tie ads are showing the
huge difference between men and women during the 1950s. Moreover its trying to deliver a
message to the people that its a mans world not womens, and that they have the priority in this
world. In the picture, it shows a woman serving her husband, while he is lying down
comfortably. Today, things arent quite the same as it used to be in the past; women are more
independent and self-confident than they used to be back then. On the other hand, most men,
who are open-minded and believe in gender equality, are accepting the progress. With the
support of media, men used to feel dominant over women and women used to feel subordinate to
men, but today there is progress in gender equality that has been made and needs to continue.
During the 1950s, a womans ideal job was to be a housewife, take care of her house by
serving her husband and children. The author said, Feminine characteristics are thought to be
intrinsic to the female facility for childbirth and breastfeeding (Devor 40). Women are expected

Abdou

to be dependent, weak, and inferior to men according to the gender stereotypes that are socially
constructed by American society; taking biology as an excuse to support their attributions and
stereotypes. The author concluded, Hence it is popularly believed that the social position of
females is biologically mandated to be intertwined with the care of children and a natural
dependency on men for the maintenance of mother-child units (Devor 40). Women didnt have
the power or the ability to speak up at that time to defend their rights because they were meant to
be weak and have no self-confidence. There was this idea that men are taking over the world in
terms of education, jobs and priorities. In the ad, it shows a pretty woman kneeling down while
serving food to her husband, who is lying down comfortably, with a smile on her face which
explains how women used to be subordinate and inferior to men; thats where she belongs in this
world according to mens assumptions at the time. Another author once said, Women in the
1950s served as subjects and often passive objects in the construction of images of
femininity(Barker & Ellsworth 970). American society created ideal images of women of being
dependent and usable in order to set up social standards for everybody to consider and follow.
During the 1950s, men were expected to work and support the family financially.
According to male gender roles, men are expected to be independent, powerful, superior and
privileged. The author wrote, Such an alternative conception of gender roles captures the
hierarchical and competitive masculine thirst for power (Devor 39). In this ad, the audiences are
men because it says that its a mans world twice. The font is in a bold green color and pretty
clear to get mens attention. Its trying to convince men that by wearing this brand of tie, they
possess the world, while women are there to carry out mens needs and demands. In this ad, there
is a man propped up on pillows; getting all his needs done by his housewife, which shows how
superior and privileged he is by looking down at her. Jackson Katz said in a video, To be a real

Abdou

man, you have to show the world only certain parts of yourself that the dominant culture has
defined as manly(ChallengingMedia, tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in
Masculinity). Moreover, the man is wearing a shirt with a tie on, which may mean that he just
came back from work, showing that his ideal job is well valued. Men were thought to be the only
ones who were too strong and independent to handle big and hard responsibilities; assuming that
women were too weak to do so. Since 1950s till today, most men are still following these false
social constructed assumptions in order to be called a real man.
Today, People can see that a progress has been made in terms of gender equality, where
sex doesnt matter as much. Women have bigger advances in American society than before; they
proved that they can handle big responsibilities. Most open-minded men, who believe and
understand gender equality respect womens roles, independence and responsibilities that they
have for being both a housewife and a working woman. There is more gender equality than there
was before; women today have the ability to hold big positions in the government such as Hilary
Clinton. Caren said, Hillary Clinton is an example in shining a global spotlight on womens
rights (Kristof). Womens voices used to not be heard at all, but now things have progressed
and most women are able speak up and set up movements such as Women's Rights Movement in
the U.S. Women also have the ability to get their education done and graduate from colleges;
unlike before. Women proved their significance by making a great change that favored everyone.
As society creates gender performances differently for every time period, people need to learn
from the past and understand what gender equality means in order to move forward and have
social improvements.
In order to keep this progress up, stating what needs to be changed is not enough to
reestablish and adjust social construction of gender roles in American society. Instead, action

Abdou

needs to be taken from both, men and women. Jackson Katz said in a video, Girls and women
have to show that they are looking for more in men than bad boy posturing(ChallengingMedia,
tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity). So today, women have to show that
they value men who dont blindly follow guidelines that have a good outward appearance by not
being controllable all the time. Instead, women should value men who respect all their rights and
roles in society in terms of their freedom of speech, independence and respect. Jackson Katz said
in a video, We need to break the monopoly of the media system that weve been looking at
where mostly rich white man dedicate to the whole society the kinds of images and stories of
manhood that is around us(ChallengingMedia, tough Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in
Masculinity). Media frames mens minds to act and behave in a manly way assuming that thats
how it supposed to be. Empowering yourself, Jackson said in her speech at Princeton,
doesnt have to mean rejecting motherhood, or eliminating the nurturing or feminine aspects of
who you are. (Slaughter 22). Women who have a good job and try to balance between home
and work shouldnt be looked at as manly and unfeminine. Instead, they should be rewarded for
trying to fulfil both positions; being a mother and a working woman at the same time. Of course
there are still women who want to be just a housewife, where she dedicates most of her time for
her husband and kids. On the other hand, there are women who want to just be working women
to prove she can bring in the money just like her male counterpart.
Even though some progress has been made in the American society, gender inequality
still can be found when some people still blindly follow the gender norms that are constructed by
the society; they dont believe in the equality of men and women in their activities. Equality for
women has a sense of regression because they are still getting labeled in their work fields; they
can be called bossy or they can be of less value than men. The author once described, The status

Abdou

of women is lesser esteem than the status of man(Lorber 29). Moreover, a problem that
began with teenagers who consume 10 hours and 54 minutes of media per day. As Jean
Kilbourne said in a video, Girls get the message from very early on that what the most
important is how they look, that their value and their worth depends on that while boys get the
message that thats what is important about girls(Anthony M, Miss Representation Extended
Trailer). Girls grow up knowing the idea that they have to be in a great shape; which gives them
the desire to implant and enhance certain parts of their bodies. On the other hand, boys grow up
knowing that thats how they value girls even till they grow up. This mentality stays with the
teenagers who soon become working adults. Another author said, As we move through our
lives, society demands different gender performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes
us differently for conformity to, or digression from, social norms(Devor 35). Period of a certain
time with certain circumstances, beliefs and traditions can affect gender equality progress. Every
time period is different from another; American culture may get ascended or descended by the
social standards that are being created by its people at that period of time.
As a result, gender performance today has a lot of similarities from back then during the
1950s. Even after some gender progress has been made in the society, still there are a lot of
problems that the society cant solve, and a lot of gaps that it is failing to fill up because of the
rooted concepts that society has placed in the first place. Although Americans have progressed
towards gender equality in many factors comparing to before, they still are regressive in other
factors. People should accept equality between men and women. Judging others should be from
the lens of talents, experiences and qualifications instead of judging from the lens of socially
constructed gender norms. People should not let media frame their decisions and judgments.

Abdou
Work Cited
Cant Have, Why Women Still. "By Anne-Marie Slaughter." Atlantic Monthly (2012).
Jennifer L. Barker & Kirstin Ellsworth (2011) Introduction: Women Inventing the
1950s,Women's Studies: An inter-disciplinary journal, 40:8. 969-973.
Lorber, Judith. "Night To His Day": The Social Construction Of Gender. Composing Gender.
Rachael Groner & John F. OHara. Bedford/St. Martin. Boston/New York. 2009. Print.
Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members Of The Society: The Social Meanings Of Gender.
Composing Gender. Rachael Groner & John F. OHara. Boston. Bedford/St. Martin's.
2009. Print
Kamp, Caren. What Hillary Clinton Did for Women (and Men) Everywhere. The Story
Exchange. The Story Exchange, n.d. Web. 6 Nov 2014.
Katz, Jackson. Tough guise. Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 4 Oct 2006. Web. 6 Nov
2014.
Kilbourne, Jean. Miss Representation. Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 13 Oct 2011.
Web. 6 Nov 2014.
The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 2 Dec 2014
Ousborne, Jeff. Critical Reading And Writing Bedford/St. Martin's; First Edition. 2014. Print.