Sexism And Masculinity In Nellie's One World Two

The reading through this term had mention many types of discrimination and the ones that stood out the most to be was “Nellie” the short story from “One World Two” which showed us how sexism and masculinity plays a part in many people lives and how it affects them. Sexism by definition is discrimination by members of one sex against the other, especially by men against women, but we cannot overlook that in this day and age we have same sex relations and in those relations abuse sometimes happen. Sexism is founded on the theory that one sex is superior. It looks at women as inferior intellectually, psychologically and physically to men. In “Nellie” the doctor thought he was different from his other friends that beat their wives because he thought
his wife slow and could not understand sarcasm. The doctor choose Nellie because he thought that she was the calmest and most obedient of all the women he dated. His abuse started as verbal abuse when “he called back the cable TV people to say that his wife was special and suffered from senile dementia, and so of course they should not, under any circumstances, consider what she said, especially when it came to contracts”. (Barbara pg 159) I felt that this should have been a warning sign to Nellie, so when finally he shoved her and she fell and hit her head it was not surprising. Physical violence is sometimes caused by a sexist man who feels as though their wives are property and they own them.
The doctor was the type of man that felt that women should kept in check. Basically, there are plenty of other reasons men abuse their wives, but this is the most widespread reason among them. In addition, sexist men are influenced by many things that happen in society, one very simple foundation is that of the father. The father can often, unconsciously and sometimes intentionally plant the seed of sexism in a receptive young mind. The media, also plays a very large part in sexism because they show women at home cooking, cleaning, and taking care of children. As well some sexist belief is sometimes good for women. Since, most sexist men believe that women shouldn't work or pay for things. This belief would be perfect for a woman with low self- esteem, because she could stay at home and just have to do
chores. In society, masculinity has always been a topic that has been debated over and over by many.
Even now many do not have an exact way to describe what masculinity is, and are we able to assign a explanation to such a one-sided term. Basically, everyone has their own ideas on what makes as person masculine? Masculine traits are not men not crying when they get hurt to being rough when they are playing. The process of what it means to be a man begins with the first stages of infancy. When young men were asked what it meant to be male, most replied that you had to be strong, athletic and a stud. If you did not have those characteristics, you were be called soft and gay. When I was growing up I use to cry all the time and my dad always use to tell me boys don’t cry and my mom would say leave him alone because it’s good to show emotions. Now when I am older I rarely cry, but if I have to I would, so basically I think it fine for a man to cry unlike what our society
thinks. In our society today heteronormativity is putting people into two genders (male and female) with is a natural part of life. It assumes that heterosexuality is wrong and that marriage and sex is only right between people of opposite sexes. Many believe if they socialize with gay people that everyone would think they are gay because of association. I was bought up by parents and family that thought me that you treat everyone with respect and never judge a person because of their preference. I must admit that sometimes people reaction to gay people makes me sometimes want to not mix with gay people. In the patriarchy social system it enforces the idea of male dominance over women. This should not be the case because women work as hard as or harder than men but they are not rewarded the same. It is very true that our world is dominated by men and the American culture is very homophobic and misogynistic. Gay people are discriminated against, because of their sexual preference and women are seen as weak and needy. If we allow everyone to live the life style that they choose and treat women equally then our society would be a safer and happier place to live. Life is too short for all the discrimination and hate that we experience at some time or the other in life. If we allow and accept everyone for who they are we would live in a society that accepts that men, women or people of different sexual orientations were all born equal until society decides what the right is and wrong in life.
In conclusion we need to live, love and laugh and not allow our social beliefs to dominate our actions towards each other.