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What I'Ve Learned from Men

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Submitted By superchipmunk
Words 682
Pages 3
Ebony Grant
4 May 2013
English 1101: Analytical/ Exploratory Essay

In the essay “What I’ve Learned From Men”, (The Student’s Book Of College English, 185-88.n.d.), Barbara Ehrenreich suggests that women could “learn how to get tough from men”. She also asserts that women are “just too damn ladylike”. Throughout this essay, Ehrenreich speaks of occasions where women should change learned behavior patterns such as, “keeping everything nice” even when they are dealing with persons who are belligerent and/ or bad mannered, or putting on an “on-cue smile” to hide anger. During research for this topic, Ehrenreich cites work from feminist psychiatrist Jean Baker Miller, which supports her claim. The psychiatrist describes instances where when women in the workforce are asked to speak of their achievements, they tend to “bury their success in self-depreciation”, by saying things like “I don’t know how it happened…I guess I was just lucky”, whereas male counterparts have no issues with accepting being confident and intelligent. While reading this essay, I found myself taking a neutral position. I can definitely recall moments during my life where I would be smiling on the outside, but upset on the inside, just because I thought it would be too mannish to show anger. I also thought of a time when I had been promoted and had to give a speech. During my speech, I simply said “…thank you for all of the support I received…” rather than mentioning all the long nights I had stayed up studying, or all the hard work and effort I had put toward being promoted. It seemed to me, that if I were to mention my efforts I would seem cocky, not confident. But to counter Ehrenreich’s claim, I can also recall times when keeping “everything nice” helped to calm potentially volatile situations. In short, I think that women are loving nurturers and it might be hard to find a balance

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