The Riddle Sociological Analysis

Delvin Burgos
Ms. Nicole Díaz
Sociology
08 October 2016
Sociological Analysis on Genders, The Riddle
The subject matter of genders and what they encompass, their characteristics, conflicts, and roles is very much a popular subject matter these days, especially in the Internet. Some people want to destroy age-old precepts of genders and their qualities, while some other folk insist on preserving them. In the old fairy tale by The Brothers Grimm, The Riddle, we can see examples of how these different gender constructs are perceived. Of course, this fairy tale is very old and thus the authors’ perceptions of genders reflects society’s perceptions of genders back in those times. In this essay I will provide a sociological analysis of The Riddle,
This seems like any other old fairy tale, so the gender perceptions behind most of it are basically hidden to the naked eye. Before we can go on any further to explain in depth these gender perceptions, we must first identify the basic male and female archetypes as seen through the eyes of traditional gender perception. How do we characterize what is male? Let us remember that, unlike a person’s sex, a person’s gender is not identified by his or her genitals. Gender refers to masculinity and femininity, which are both dualistic energies present all throughout the universe in the processes of creation, not just men and women. In fact, all men and women have both genders present in them, psychologically. 20th century psychologist Carl Jung identified this phenomenon by terming what are known as the anima and the animus. The anima refers to the female counterpart of a man’s personality, within the man himself. The animus refers to the male counterpart of a woman’s personality, within the woman. This phenomenon is also seen in the philosophies of the ancient world, such as Hermeticism. In the Kybalion of Hermes Trismegistus, one of the Hermetic principles of the universe is the presence of both genders everywhere: "Gender is in everything; everything has its Masculine and Feminine Principles; Gender manifests on all planes" (Trismegistus 40). Therefore, we can observe that gender is not
Let us first look at the wonderful world of atoms and subatomic particles. In science, it is accepted that an atom is composed of corpuscles, electrons, or ions revolving around each other and vibrating at a high intensity and degree. The formation of the atom is due to the clustering of negative corpuscles around a positive one. The positive corpuscles exert a certain influence upon the negative corpuscles, causing the negative corpuscles to assume certain combinations to “generate” an atom. Observing the principle of gender in the formation of atoms, one can identify the masculine with “positive” and the feminine with “negative”. Therefore, what is masculine may be classified as that which is exerting, imposing, etc. By these traditional terms, someone who is masculine is someone who holds great influence upon others, who knows no fear, is strong, and is clever. It should be to no surprise, especially after reading The Riddle, that masculinity is often portrayed as a classical hero who gets past all the obstacles in the story. Masculinity’s counterpart, femininity, is obviously portrayed in the corresponding opposite manner. What is feminine, by traditional terms, is equated to that which is vulnerable, easily influenced, weak, malleable, not rigid. Femininity is often portrayed as an aid to the obstacle-overcoming male hero, or sometimes even as the obstacle itself. Now that we hold a basic