Hofstadter's Person Paper On Purity Language Summary

Johnson defines a patriarchal society as being male-dominated when there is a clear power difference between men and women that is manifested in the way culture is shaped in the interests of men, and the women are treated as inferior. The male role is characterized by a monopoly of authority that holds them innately at a standard that is higher than that of a woman, thus labeling power as customarily male. Through the gendering of professions, this is demonstrated in the workforce. In nursing, a job that is inherently assumed to be female, nurses are secondary to doctors, a profession populated by males. In this position, they are paid less, treated as assistants to the doctors that make decisions, and are frequently sexualized in media with no questioning of the traditional image portrayal. A male identified society is one that values traits presumed masculine over those that are feminine, and applies it to the culture’s ideal image. The widespread use of male pronouns to refer to the population serves as a prime example. Hofstadter’s Person Paper on Purity Language makes this clear, as race is used to create analogy that reveals the …show more content…
This focus on men overshadows the role of women, as a woman must often be associated with a man in order to gain credibility for herself. In Susana and the Elders, the female protagonist is defined in the first sentence as “the wife of Joakim of Babylon” (Tauna, p. 1), therefore branding her as the property of a man. It is the husband’s title rather than her role itself that delineates her importance in the story. In addition, despite her being the main character, the plot is also focused around men. Susana’s submissiveness to her husband is rewarded as Daniel’s heroism spares her, but instead of the focus being on her wrongful accusation, the end result is directed towards Daniel’s “great reputation among the people” (Tauna, p.