Through Simone DeBeauvoir’s The Second Sex and Dorothy Smith’s The Everyday World as Problematic, both of these writings integrate the roles and expectations of women in situations of their development, sexual intercourse and the exclusion of women from the dominant culture of men. In the development of American society and its capitalistic economy, the function and success of the American economy partially depended on the collective notion that women were inherently inferior. For women, this has created limited access to opportunities and societal resources. As this clip from Mona Lisa Smiles, portrays a captivating speech from a woman regarding her class of white, female students, she directly confronts this group of young women on the
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As Simone DeBeauvoir’s writing of The Second Sex, can be applied to this specific scene in Mona Lisa Smiles, reveals a pattern of conformity that women have been subject to adopt throughout history. No individual is born with the knowledge of what it means to be a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ in a given society, but people develop and adopt the perceptions and expectations placed around these social roles over time. In turn, individuals begin to exhibit certain behaviors, mannerisms and actions that correlate with appropriate forms of behavior for their given gender. In the developmental stage of girls as young children, “the absence of a penis will play an important role in the little girls’ destiny, even if she does not really envy those who possess one” as this particular age is when differences among genders are emphasized (DeBeauvoir, 393.) These differences and behaviors become well known to children through their childhood activities and the meanings that are ultimately tied to those activities. Through sports activities, young boys are often quickly taught to be aggressive and taught not to exhibit any form of weakness such as crying, that could possibly be deemed as a feminine attribute. In contrast, young girls are taught to adopt feminine characteristics through …show more content…
This author explains how ruling relations are a part of everyday life within American society: as ruling relations are presented through various images in American society in the form of media, advertisement, etc. These images establish a matrix of domination and functions in a way of stimulating a capitalist economy and maintaining social roles of men and women in an organized society. Through ruling relations, “women have been largely excluded from the work of producing the forms of thought and the images and symbols in which thought is expressed and ordered” (Smith, 18.) The author goes on to explain that these forms of thought are controlled by those in leadership positions as they compose the ruling relations of American society. This has had a major influence women who have have had access to the “largely domestic zone of women’s magazines, television programs, women’s novels, poetry, soap operas, and the like...The universe of ideas, images, and themes... have been either produced by men or controlled by them” as women become a part of this male universe on terms that are established primarily by men (Smith, 19.) These processes have been learned throughout history as this has impacted nearly all aspects of life for women: what is considered an acceptable career for women, the standard of beauty that women must
As Simone DeBeauvoir’s writing of The Second Sex, can be applied to this specific scene in Mona Lisa Smiles, reveals a pattern of conformity that women have been subject to adopt throughout history. No individual is born with the knowledge of what it means to be a ‘man’ or a ‘woman’ in a given society, but people develop and adopt the perceptions and expectations placed around these social roles over time. In turn, individuals begin to exhibit certain behaviors, mannerisms and actions that correlate with appropriate forms of behavior for their given gender. In the developmental stage of girls as young children, “the absence of a penis will play an important role in the little girls’ destiny, even if she does not really envy those who possess one” as this particular age is when differences among genders are emphasized (DeBeauvoir, 393.) These differences and behaviors become well known to children through their childhood activities and the meanings that are ultimately tied to those activities. Through sports activities, young boys are often quickly taught to be aggressive and taught not to exhibit any form of weakness such as crying, that could possibly be deemed as a feminine attribute. In contrast, young girls are taught to adopt feminine characteristics through …show more content…
This author explains how ruling relations are a part of everyday life within American society: as ruling relations are presented through various images in American society in the form of media, advertisement, etc. These images establish a matrix of domination and functions in a way of stimulating a capitalist economy and maintaining social roles of men and women in an organized society. Through ruling relations, “women have been largely excluded from the work of producing the forms of thought and the images and symbols in which thought is expressed and ordered” (Smith, 18.) The author goes on to explain that these forms of thought are controlled by those in leadership positions as they compose the ruling relations of American society. This has had a major influence women who have have had access to the “largely domestic zone of women’s magazines, television programs, women’s novels, poetry, soap operas, and the like...The universe of ideas, images, and themes... have been either produced by men or controlled by them” as women become a part of this male universe on terms that are established primarily by men (Smith, 19.) These processes have been learned throughout history as this has impacted nearly all aspects of life for women: what is considered an acceptable career for women, the standard of beauty that women must