Talking Points VII – Orenstein

This piece was about gender equality. The Argument which is made is that more teachers need to induct the role of women in history and their importance, along with their contributions, there’s a feeling of marginalization in the view of women. Boys as well as men tend to feel a resentment towards teachers who try to make women look important and prominent in history, but it’s an idea that men and boys will feel like their dominate roles are being over looked. Throughout history and the teaching of history women are given a role of somewhat importance, but it is the male figure who is always the head and hero, their contributions to history are always worshipped and praised where as women’s roles are undermined. This idea then turns women and girls of the present into nothing more than that image that is presented to them. If a young girl’s hero is a figure in history that is a woman but isn’t shown much importance than they too will find themselves following the same road. Being a house wife and an enforcement of ideas from home, cultural backgrounds, history, pop culture, music, etc. tends to place women in a role that has been followed for generations. If a woman speaks out about these injustices she labeled and degraded with words and slurs. Whenever there is an uprising or speaking out of injustices and inequalities of women they are quickly insulted and put down, keeping them marginalized.


My favorite piece about this article was the presentations and the student who was playing Etta James. Firstly the costume aspect was ignored completely by James, the student playing Etta, which isn’t surprising, women will dawn the dress of boys and are insulted, called “tom boys” but men dressing as women no matter what their sexual orientation is laughed at, ridiculed, and called a series of degrading names. This is a one example of an attack of sexual identification, which goes back to Carlson and the idea of protection of the gay community, how highly valued being straight, as a male, is. Students would laugh at James who was performing an Etta James song, as he lip synced to the music male students giggled and laughed. The teacher addressed this issue and the boys apologized, but the idea that it was a laughing matter and a mockery to a woman, who personally I feel is one of the best singers of her time, makes the case for the lack of interest, care, or importance to the great Etta James, which I find insulting…but as a male it wouldn’t affect me as a much, as she is not a part of my dominating gender.


Our discussion in class talked about this idea of undermining women as well. We talked about the roles in the classroom and when conversations are occurring. It was said that men tend to be the more vocally outrageous, voicing their opinions without a full in depth approach of critical thinking while women will wait patiently to make their case, but will at some point, be interrupted or ignored by the bullish vocalization of men. I totally agree with this, as I am sure I have interrupted people plenty of times, but unfortunately this is how I was trained to be as a male. I was taught to be loud, assertive, and voice an opinion because if you do not you will never be heard and you will never be taken into consideration…


Interestingly enough, growing up in a home without a father this was taught to me by my mother, a woman who worked two jobs to support me and older brother when we were younger. I suppose I would have been taught this without her influence if I grow up in a nuclear family, but through what I had been shown through media, history, pop culture, etc. but because I was taught it from my mother, a woman who is a part of that ignored gender, I tend to understand the importance of female roles in history and in the establishment of a society, but yet, even in college I see that males are still considered the upmost importance of history and women are talked about in their shadows.