Sex and Gender in America.

Please, please. Everyone have a seat. We have a heavy hour ahead of us and I am not in the mood to keep you all in check. So do me a favor and manage yourselves for the day.

Over the weekend, I was able to grade all your papers. I’m in a bit of a generous mood, so be prepared for a large dose of verbal criticism. While there were a few of you who had a basic understanding of what I asked you to consider when you wrote your essay, I was shocked by how many of you didn’t.

All of you in here, especially those of you in your third and fourth years of college, should have a strong grasp as to what is required of you to succeed in achieving your degree. This is not high school, ladies and gentleman. As much as you wish it could be.

Julie, could you please come take these from me and hand them back to their syndicated author? Thank you, Julie.

Now I am going to begin writing all kinds of nonsense on the board, but it’s important, so you’d best pay attention and take notes.

Welcome to Sociology 203, the study of Sex and Gender in America. I wanted to remind you of this, in case you’d forgotten exactly what it was you were going to school four days out of the week for the last five weeks.

Recently, I asked you to write a paper explaining, thoroughly, the stereotypes of the gender opposite of yourself. Girls, you would write about the male stereotype and Guys, you would write about the female stereotype. To me, that sounds like a pretty easy thing to do. I suggested you research history, to even go as far back as Adam and Eve, in hopes to gain support for your paper.

What I received from the majority of you were sob stories of how that guy or girl broke your heart and stole the best years of your life. This was not what I wanted. Why did you make me sit two days straight through the most tediously written break-up stories man has ever known? How could you do that to me? You all owe me a good weekend.

Except for two of you. One of you is in this class, the other is in my afternoon class. In my personal opinion, you two would be perfect together and I hope you meet someday.

Allow me to demonstrate one of the lines from one of your assignments that left me feeling woozy. The person who wrote this line, I would like for you to stand up when you recognize it. If you do not stand, I will fail you. And the sentence reads, “After my personal experience, which ended only three months ago, I believe women earn their stereotype for being air-headed and materialistic.”

I ask the culprit to stand. There you are, Mr. Sanders! How are you this morning, sir?

I’m alright.

Very good. I just wondered why you felt this was the most ideal conclusion you could come up with in two week’s of research?

I’ve dated a lot of women, Professor Tenay, and—

And what has that got to do with America or history or women, Mr. Sanders? What does your limited amount of experience with the poor women you’ve dated have to do with the way that they are, the way they are perceived, and the way they are treated in American culture?

If you think I didn’t research, you’re wrong.

But is that apparent in your essay? Because as far as I can tell, it isn’t. If dating women has given you such a grand understanding of them that can only lead me to believe that the reason they are the way they are is because they dated you. But the truth of the world, Mr. Sanders, is that you have not dated every woman in America and therefore could not possibly know what each one of them is like. So in conclusion, I must believe that your understanding of woman is basically nil and you did no real research at all. You may sit down, Mr. Sanders.

I have another sample to share with you, this comes from a lady in the class and it reads, “Men think they own the world and all the women in it. I am glad that so many women in America are choosing to put their careers ahead of marriage these days. Men are so inflated by their own egos, it is no wonder they are always looking down at women.” Please, Miss Peterson, I’d like to know more.

Please don’t pick on me, Professor.

Don’t worry, Miss Peterson. By picking on you, I am picking on every girl in the class.

Fine.

Miss Peterson, I am very curious… Have you ever known a man who didn’t have an inflated ego?

Yes.

That’s interesting. Because I have known many women who have inflated egos and many women who don’t.

Oh, really?

Yes, really! Does it surprise you?

Well…

Please explain to me, and to the rest of the class, why you seem to believe that men are the only ones in America with large egos? Why are women exempt of this rule?

They’re not exempt. It’s just not as common for women to be full of themselves.

There is no support for that in your paper.

That’s because you told us it had to be about the opposite of our own gender.

Spare me, Miss Peterson. If you mentioned the subject of women in an essay about men, I would not fail you. Without women, there would be no men. You may have a seat.

I have one last bit to read to you and this is the one I feel the saddest about. It is sad because after this, you may never look at him or treat him the same way. Surely, he will receive many glares in the hallways after this and he does not deserve it. I hope he will forgive me. I am pleased with his essay and can truthfully say it was a few brief minutes during my weekend when I enjoyed myself. So I must thank him afterwards. Please pay attention to this brilliant piece of composition.

“In March of 2002, magazine reporter Anne Baker asked a young girl native to Japan what she thought American women were like and she answered, ‘They are very beautiful and sparkly.’ As a young American man, I believe I would say the same thing. The female stereotype is complex and cannot be entirely determined, as I feel that all women are different, intriguing, and special. They are cynical and they are romantic, but mostly, I believe women are independent and determined. History has proven they are both—women fought for their right to vote in the 40s and Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, refused to give up her seat to a white man in 1955. As much as society would like to force them all into a box (a box with curves) and make them into a more simplified form, I believe the stereotypical American woman would not allow for it. She is much too smart for that.”

Will you please stand up, Mr. Claeys?

I guess so.

I must applaud you for your wonderful work.

That’s okay. It’s no big deal.

To be perfectly honest, I did not expect this from you. You are always so quiet in class. I would think that someone with this type of voice would be sharing it audibly all the time.

Just because someone talks a lot doesn’t mean they have a lot to say.

Touché. Well, sir, I believe you earned your “A” fair and square. There was one other who did as well as you, but she is in my next class. Perhaps the two of you would like to get together and discuss the meanings of things.

I doubt that would be a valuable use of either of our time.

You are not that type?

No, Professor Taney. I just ask questions. In my head.

Perhaps you will invite us all into your head more often in the following weeks of class. The rest of your classmates could learn something from you, Mr. Claeys.

I doubt that.

Actually… So do I. But perhaps they will surprise me. Class is dismissed. Mr. Claeys, may I have a word?

Sure.

I apologize for putting you on the spot like that, but I was so disappointed by the rest of the students, I wanted to show them exactly what impresses me.

No, it’s fine. I don’t really know anyone at school, so if they hate me more than they did before, I wouldn’t really notice.

Does that bother you?

What?

Not knowing anyone here or having anyone to socialize with?

I prefer it. Besides, the majority of the students here are only interested in partying and I have friends I see outside of school.

Ah, well… We must do what we must.

I guess so.

Well, thank you. For the effort you’ve put forth and for letting me use you as a superb example.

It’s no problem.

See you tomorrow?

Most likely.

Until then.

Goodbye, Professor.

Goodbye, Mr. Claeys.


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