Difference in Gender Role Trauma and that of Growing Up

MarkBen Paulino
6 September 2011
RD1

Difference in Gender Role Trauma and that of Growing Up

“Between adolescence and menopause, women experience trauma in adjusting to their gender roles. (Mary Pipher)” The statement has been over emphasized by the word trauma, which portrays growing up as difficult and damaging to women. Mary Pipher portrays the negativities that occur during a females change from adolescence to adulthood and blames societal norms of gender. Growing up in general poses obstacles and life changing events, yes some may be difficult and even traumatic, but what teenager doesn’t go through it. In several of the readings we see a similarity – gender roles have changed through time, but none infer any relationship between growth and gender role. [THESIS] Mary Pipher uses the word gender role loosely as I believe that these traumatic events are not from being of a certain gender, but from the cause of growing up and receiving life lessons. Without these traumatic events, or growing experiences, people would be complacent and lack variation, people will forever be ingenuous. [THESIS]

Mary Pipher states that once females reach adulthood they become stronger. Don’t we want them to incur strength; especially the women who are seen as weak compared to men. Mental growth requires obstacles to better ones self as they are lessons to be learned. Without mistakes or hardships none will learn to overcome especially in the years of adulthood when parents are no longer there to hold ones hand. Pipher uses the story Ophelia as an example of the destructive forces that affect a young women and how as a girl they are happy and free. There is a big difference between a girl and a young woman – the aid of parents. As a girl, one has the protection and financial support of parents and as one ages one must learn to fend for oneself, to become one’s own support. Becoming one’s own support is difficult for any gender – trying to find a job, putting food on the table, and interacting with peers. It is best for one to learn these lessons while an adolescent to early prepare one for the future. It is not the gender that causes traumatic events, but the process of becoming an adult.

The reading of Stephen S. Hall states that the stress that men face are increasing and its trajectory may reach the level of women. Society is changing and so are the people in it, thus trying to find a solution to this trauma effect of gender role or of growing up is close to impossible. In Kay S. Hymowitz’s reading we see that the age in which men reach a mature attitude has increased – labeled as SYM (Single Young Men). SYM’s are in this state due to the lack of responsibility – mortgages, wives, childcare bills – they have little or no growing experiences and faced no trauma. If females were sheltered from these experiences or events they would follow the same path of these SYM and have a lengthened age range of child-like mentality. Without these traumatic events (or experiences), people, such as women, would not seek to better themselves to increase their rate of gaining a college degree, obtaining high level jobs, or learning to use a .38 special revolver to protect themselves. Women and Men face obstacles that come with growing.

Children, boy or girl, both grow and seem to distant themselves from parents not wanting their hands to be held or being kissed. Teens change the way they are to fit into a certain clique – dressing in black and wearing berets for drama club, becoming bubbly for cheerleading, and so on. In Stephen S. Hall’s reading he implies that it is not only teen-age girls that question who they are, but teen-age boys too. Scott Russell Sanders’ reading negates the fact that because of gender women face more traumatic experiences while growing, when in fact it is due to class (rich vs poor and in between). Sanders was baffled when a woman accused him of having the world’s pleasure because of his gender, as he had nothing and could only get into college through persistence and hard work.

Yes, some of Mary Pipher statements such as that relating to appearance relates to gender role. However, many of Pipher’s statements have a closer correlation to the act of growing up. In conclusion, Mary Pipher has not made a clear distinction between trauma that is caused due to gender and trauma that is caused due to growing up. Pipher also fails to realize the strength and individualism that occurs because of these events.
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I believe that Alison Matsumoto’s statement “I believe that gender role trauma is the product of the feminist movement”, is a false statement. Alison’s statement should have been reversed as gender role trauma is the reason for the feminist movement. Wikipedia states that the purpose of the feminist movement is to bring equal rights to women, to be able to have the same voting rights, pay, job opportunities, and many other privileges that men have. By breaking this barrier of inequality the feminist movement will reduce the clear distinction and possibly eliminate gender roles. By eliminating gender role, people will judge on ones aptitude. Wikipedia also states that feminists are proponents of using gender-inclusive language, such as “humanity” instead of “mankind”. As can be seen, feminist are not trying to distinguish the societal roles of man from woman, but that the distinguishing factor between male and female is their biological function.

Works Cited
Goshgarian, Gary, and Kathleen Krueger. Dialogues: an Argument Rhetoric and Reader. Boston: Pearson/Longman, 2011. Print.