Marked Women Essay

487 Words2 Pages
Journal #2 In Deborah Tannen’s essay, “Marked Women,” she talks about the different “marks” place on men and women based on the clothes they wear, what they say, what they do, what accomplishments they have, what pitfalls they’ve had, and what situation they’re in now. Society places these “marks” on men and women not consciously but definitely. I’m sure that the majority of people have a very prominent memory of being “marked” in their life, whether it be positive or negative. These “marks” can stay with up for a minute, an hour, a day, and possibly our lives. Before we can discuss the “marks” of men and women, we must discuss the gender role. Sometimes we must ask ourselves, “What is gender?” Girls are taught by their family members and peers to act in feminine ways. As the child grows, it learns that certain expressions of its personality are appropriate to its sexual label, while others are not. Although times have changed, stereotypical images and ideas of women can still be found. For instance, women are known to be more intuitive, emotional, and submissive. Boys are taught to act in a more masculine manner. Stereotypical images of men are characterized as being bread-winners, tough-guys, strong, chivalrous, and serious. But sadly, where I reside, there’s a certain racial marks and gender marks are simultaneously placed on people. Where I live, marks are placed on young African-American males. We are marked with expectations to fail, expectations to harm, and expectations to end up in jail. These marks do not come from racists or sexists. They come from members of all races, genders, and ethnicities. But nothing hurts more to be placed with one of these hurtful marks. In a situation that occurred with me over a year ago, I was involved in an incident where I was at the wrong place at the wrong time and I didn’t make the judgment to leave the situation
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