Bartky Summary

In the article, Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power, Sandra Lee Bartky talks about gender and sexuality in today’s society. Throughout the article she talks about the unrealistic scale women are constantly put on and compared to one another. Not only does this happen to women of all ages, but to men too. Women must be small-framed and graceful, and men must be muscular and tough. Beginning when we are students in school, we are trained to appear and act a certain way based on what society tells us.
In the first part of this article Sandra Bartky compares students in school to soldiers in drill. She describes the average day for a student, enclosed in a classroom, with their feet on the floor and sitting in an upright position. She next describes the duties of soldiers at drill. Both are strikingly similar in comparison. Yet one is a soldier training for battle, and one is a child getting an education. This idea of controlling people to act a certain way is not only apparent in school …show more content…
In class we talked about gender and social norms. In the article Constructing Normalcy by—, the author talks about how we are put into data and compared to one another based upon what is considered average or common. Anything outside of this bell curve is considered abnormal or wrong. Also, in the article We want them to be as heterosexual as possible-fathers talk about teens sexuality, the author talks about the fact that parents act a certain way to make sure their children come out to be what society views as “perfect.” All of these readings from class can relate to Sandra Bartky’s piece, because she is shining a light on the issues within our society. We are too judgmental and we view the slightest differences in people as abnormal or wrong. The idea that women are graceful and dependent on men while men are independent and breadwinners should be past us by