The Master Narrative In Stories By Sandra Bem's

Once an individual is born, a story begins. Each living day becomes a page. The turns in life become the plot. Each phase of life becomes a chapter. Until finally, the book is completed. Stories are in the surroundings, from living stories to entertaining stories to didactic stories. Most are raised listening to stories which teach about the outside world’s expectations. The stories inform humans from an early age of the rules of this world and teach one to survive in this world: the white man’s world. Such stories are called the master narrative. Michelle Espino, Ph.D. at University of Arizona, defines the master narrative as “stories woven by the dominant culture into the fabric of social structures as a means of garnering and maintaining …show more content…
Sandra Bem, a leading expert on sex stereotypes, is an example. Sandra made efforts “to free her son from traditional assumptions. At every opportunity, she emphasized that the only ‘real’ differences between the two sexes were anatomical and also encouraged his interest in ‘feminine’ toys and activities” (Egendorf). Instead of teaching her son how boys should act and aligning him with the gender roles taught by the master narrative, Bem made efforts to teach her son about equality. Bem tried to implant the idea that feminism is not inferior by encouraging his interests in what the society considers “feminine.” Often, feminism is devalued and therefore subjugated under masculinity, resulting in the society considering feminism as deviant with a need to suppress it. However, Bem’s example suggests that parents make efforts to teach the value of feminism so their children would not suppress feminism both in themselves and around them. If such efforts can be made, women who are caged with the gender roles would be freed to fly towards liberation and gender equality in what is now the white man’s