Free Essay

Culter and Gender

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Submitted By kimmycakes
Words 841
Pages 4
Running Head: MASCULINE VS. FEMININE

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Women all over continually complain about how men do not show their emotions; however, when they finally do, these women are in for a rude awakening. A man’s emotions are often times confusing and sometimes contradictory. People have the preconceived notion that men simply do not have feelings. This is far from the case. The problem is in the fact that women believe men should feel things the way they do. The truth is that men have a much harder time processing these feelings. Men are taught from an early age that they need to be strong, confident and stoic. They begin to equate emotions with weakness. Societal expectations have “taught” men not to display any emotions. This becomes a huge problem in relationships because men suppress their feelings since they tend not to have socially acceptable emotional outlets. They do not want to seem “emasculated” for caring about someone or something on a deeper level. It is very obvious that men and women differ in the way they each express their emotions, but the difference is how they outwardly express and react to them. Scientifically, it has been proven that men tend to use the left side of their brain, which is where reasoning lies, whereas women tend to use the right side of their brain, which is attributed to emotion. This is what gives women the greater ability to comprehend people and express their emotions more efficiently. Culture determines gender roles and what is masculine and feminine (). Gender roles are the way people act, what they do and say, to express being a girl or a boy, a woman or a man. These characteristics are shaped by society. Gender roles vary greatly from one culture to the next, from one ethnic group to the next, and from one social class to another. But every culture has gender roles — they all have expectations for the way women and men, girls and boys, should dress, behave, and look. Children learn gender roles from an early age — from their parents and family, their religion, and their culture, as well as the outside world, including television, magazines, and other media. As children grow,

Running Head: MASCULINE VS. FEMININE

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they adopt behaviors that are rewarded by love and praise. They stop or hide behaviors that are ridiculed, shamed, or punished. This happens early in life. By age three, children have usually learned to prefer toys and clothes that are “appropriate” to their gender. Essentially, the masculine side comes from a place of strength. Strength is at the top end of the scale, whereas weakness is at the bottom end. You develop the strength of the masculine side by having a deep belief in the value of your own life. The thing that is most important in determining the strength of the masculine side, is the value that you, at a deep level, place on yourself. This is a value you know within yourself that you have really and truly earned. It could be thought of as a sort of self esteem. Placing a high value on yourself affects your whole being and helps you feel strong and confident in operating your life. The masculine side also includes the ability to take risks when appropriate, to be decisive when necessary, and to focus or concentrate in order to get something done. the feminine side comes from a place of goodness. Here, goodness is at the top end of the scale, whereas badness or evil is at the bottom end. you develop the goodness of the feminine side by having a deep belief in the value of the life of others. if you have too much goodness for the amount of strength you have, then you can do harm to yourself, because you tend to "give it all away". You happily let people operate their own life without interference from you, but when asked, you are also willing to help by supporting, cooperating, and giving advice. People feel comfortable with you because you give of who you are without pushing yourself on others. If you have a strong feminine side, people also feel comfortable being around you because there is no selfishness for them to detect.The feminine side also includes having enthusiasm and zest for life, and recognizing what things are worth getting enthusiastic about. And it includes having the persistence and tenacity to stay with things to the end, while still knowing when to give up on something if your energy is better used elsewhere. In addition, the feminine

Running Head: MASCULINE VS. FEMININE

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side also includes being kind, compassionate, patient, responsive to the needs of others, and it includes knowing how much energy you can put into each of these without hurting yourself by draining your own energy. If you have a weak feminine side, you place a low value on others, and you are not a giving person. Instead, you are selfish and greedy, and tend to keep yourself closed off from people.

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