Last weekend my brother and his friends decided to have a small gathering, a so called kickback. It was going to take place in the backyard of my boyfriend’s house. His backyard is spacious and closed off from the rest of the property. There was a keg, tables set up for beer pong, and chairs for people to sit. It was a small gathering, close friends and friends of friends only. The crowd was mixed with both males and females. I was going to behave like one of the boys tonight. I invited Jasmine, one of my friends so that she can be my observer. The norm that I decided to break was to partake in drinking that males normally do, i.e. beer pong and a keg stand. I consider this breaking a gender norm because it is a competition between the males.
…show more content…
It takes a lot of courage to go up to a group of people, let alone a group of guys as a female. I had to assert myself into their plans which I was ignored. I felt nervous become I knew it was going to backlash on me as well, I knew people would talk about my behavior. I felt awkward, when I went back to sit because chit chit kind of stopped. Having unequal teams (males’ vs females) gave our table much more attention than two male teams or two female teams playing together. Having extra eyes on me put pressure on Jasmine and I to prove ourselves that we can be one of the boys too. Plus, the males we were playing against would make snarky comments to distract us, when they clearly did not do that when playing against males. The sanctions mainly came from others, looks that were given to me, comments that were said. I had to “control” myself. I felt a little ashamed, only because my boyfriend was one of the males who gave me an odd look of disapproval. At the end of the night, the sanctions of others were what controlled me. I did not want to behave in that manner, although it was fun to prove myself to the boys, no one else seemed to appreciate that behavior or congratulate me for winning against the males. But they way women are socialized also played a huge role. Woman should just sit and look pretty and I clearly did not obey that which lead to stares and snarky comments by both males and females. There is a double …show more content…
One concept is the socialization of gender. There are gender differences in the way people interact. Status determines who may interact with whom and how to respond to people. There are set practices, actions and modes of interaction that mark gender differences. As stated by Sapiro, “many of them are markers that typically flow from the way status differences are expressed in a given society. Men are expected to be dominant in social interaction” (86). I was in the mists of it all. I did not follow this gender norm since I approached a male dominated circle. It was shocking for the males and for me to have actually done so. I even noticed how everyone divided upon themselves. All the females were in the same general area isolated from the males, sitting in their own individual groups. While the males were standing around by the tables and drinks. Since childhood boys and girls are taught these differences and it carries out until adulthood. These ideas are so strong that they have been carried from one generation to the next, years after years. This assignment clarified the perseverance of the gender norms that society has set upon
It takes a lot of courage to go up to a group of people, let alone a group of guys as a female. I had to assert myself into their plans which I was ignored. I felt nervous become I knew it was going to backlash on me as well, I knew people would talk about my behavior. I felt awkward, when I went back to sit because chit chit kind of stopped. Having unequal teams (males’ vs females) gave our table much more attention than two male teams or two female teams playing together. Having extra eyes on me put pressure on Jasmine and I to prove ourselves that we can be one of the boys too. Plus, the males we were playing against would make snarky comments to distract us, when they clearly did not do that when playing against males. The sanctions mainly came from others, looks that were given to me, comments that were said. I had to “control” myself. I felt a little ashamed, only because my boyfriend was one of the males who gave me an odd look of disapproval. At the end of the night, the sanctions of others were what controlled me. I did not want to behave in that manner, although it was fun to prove myself to the boys, no one else seemed to appreciate that behavior or congratulate me for winning against the males. But they way women are socialized also played a huge role. Woman should just sit and look pretty and I clearly did not obey that which lead to stares and snarky comments by both males and females. There is a double …show more content…
One concept is the socialization of gender. There are gender differences in the way people interact. Status determines who may interact with whom and how to respond to people. There are set practices, actions and modes of interaction that mark gender differences. As stated by Sapiro, “many of them are markers that typically flow from the way status differences are expressed in a given society. Men are expected to be dominant in social interaction” (86). I was in the mists of it all. I did not follow this gender norm since I approached a male dominated circle. It was shocking for the males and for me to have actually done so. I even noticed how everyone divided upon themselves. All the females were in the same general area isolated from the males, sitting in their own individual groups. While the males were standing around by the tables and drinks. Since childhood boys and girls are taught these differences and it carries out until adulthood. These ideas are so strong that they have been carried from one generation to the next, years after years. This assignment clarified the perseverance of the gender norms that society has set upon