Gender can be seen as a connection between a person 's physical appearance and sense of self as a male or female, gender identity, which help to shape and enforce expectations for each gender within a community. Specifically in The Citadel, a military style institution, where there is a strong belief that Citadel men represent true masculinity, which is why the cadets try to hold themselves above anyone who expresses weakness or any qualities linked to femininity. In the 1994 article “The Naked Citadel” American journalist Susan Faludi looks at how the presence of women at the Citadel would limit the freedom the cadets have from larger society 's restrictions and expectations of masculinity. Faludi also goes in depth with the negative and intense
…show more content…
In her essay “Illness as Metaphor” Susan Sontag, an American writer, argues that metaphors surrounding illnesses like cancer or tuberculosis (TB) only serve to increase patient suffering by muddling the real meaning of having an illness with fantasies to cover up what is thought to be an undesirable attribute in a group of people. Similarly men at The Citadel use metaphors to change how women are viewed to ensure that they are seen as a threat that needs to be kept distant so that undesired feminine qualities do not enter the institution. In the essay “The Mega Marketing of Depression in Japan” by Ethan Watters, an American journalist, details the efforts of the Western drug company GlaxoSmithKline made in order to introduce new understandings of depression and sadness in order to enter the SSRI market in Japan. Japanese psychiatry and popular belief only acknowledged depression as a rare illness that can easily be …show more content…
By instilling the idea that women are inferior compared to men, the meaning of being a woman or showing femininity is distorted. Especially when femininity is compared to a contaminating illness that poses a threat to whoever and wherever it is exposed to. Many times “one culture can reshape how a population in another culture categorizes a given set of symptoms, replace their explanatory model, and redraw the line demarcating normal behaviors and internal states from those considered pathological” (Watters 519). The Citadel has a created its own culture based on masculinity that is completely separate from everyone outside its walls which will not allow women due to the drastic changes that will follow the acceptance. The Citadels long held belief of masculinity over everything else shows how the metaphors of gender identity further the vision of women as a threat that will only work against the all-male policy once they are allowed in the institution. The mentality that femininity should not be present in The Citadel ended up backfiring on some cadets themselves. Just how one cadet “said he was falsely accused of having a sexual encounter with a male janitor, recalled a year of isolation - cadets refused to sit next to him in the mess hall or in classes - and terror: incessant threatening phone calls and death threats”
In her essay “Illness as Metaphor” Susan Sontag, an American writer, argues that metaphors surrounding illnesses like cancer or tuberculosis (TB) only serve to increase patient suffering by muddling the real meaning of having an illness with fantasies to cover up what is thought to be an undesirable attribute in a group of people. Similarly men at The Citadel use metaphors to change how women are viewed to ensure that they are seen as a threat that needs to be kept distant so that undesired feminine qualities do not enter the institution. In the essay “The Mega Marketing of Depression in Japan” by Ethan Watters, an American journalist, details the efforts of the Western drug company GlaxoSmithKline made in order to introduce new understandings of depression and sadness in order to enter the SSRI market in Japan. Japanese psychiatry and popular belief only acknowledged depression as a rare illness that can easily be …show more content…
By instilling the idea that women are inferior compared to men, the meaning of being a woman or showing femininity is distorted. Especially when femininity is compared to a contaminating illness that poses a threat to whoever and wherever it is exposed to. Many times “one culture can reshape how a population in another culture categorizes a given set of symptoms, replace their explanatory model, and redraw the line demarcating normal behaviors and internal states from those considered pathological” (Watters 519). The Citadel has a created its own culture based on masculinity that is completely separate from everyone outside its walls which will not allow women due to the drastic changes that will follow the acceptance. The Citadels long held belief of masculinity over everything else shows how the metaphors of gender identity further the vision of women as a threat that will only work against the all-male policy once they are allowed in the institution. The mentality that femininity should not be present in The Citadel ended up backfiring on some cadets themselves. Just how one cadet “said he was falsely accused of having a sexual encounter with a male janitor, recalled a year of isolation - cadets refused to sit next to him in the mess hall or in classes - and terror: incessant threatening phone calls and death threats”