Gender: Gender Role and Life Essay

Submitted By kelly_illingworth
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Illingworth1
Kelly Illingworth
English 101
Mr. Planes
March 7, 2014

Who’s Shoes?

Everyone in society wants to believe that their life is hard, much harder than the next persons because this makes us feel tough. This makes us feel like we have worked hard to be where we are and that we are strong people. Does one gender or race really have it harder than another? Clearly there is not a form of measurement we can use to answer this question, but if you asked me I would tell you no, there is not one gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or religion (as a whole) that has it "harder" than another. Most everyone has things about their lives that are great. Most importantly everyone has something about their life that is not so great. We all have burdens, things we do not get to change or choose but just deal with for the rest of our lives. Sure you could say that one person’s burdens are worse than another’s, but I guess we would not really know unless we live in that persons shoes. So what life would you pick if you got to choose?
Referring to reincarnation, if I had the choice of who to come back as, I would choose a heterosexual male. Society has cookie cutter molds for how they think women should be. They are held at higher standards and are pressured into being “perfect.” According to Pavica Sheldon, “Up to 88% of women wish to lose weight, as compared to only 33% of men who are unsatisfied with their bodies. The average American woman is 5’4’’ and 140 pounds, whereas the average female model portrayed in the media is 5’11’’ and 120 pounds.” I would like to experience life through the eyes of a man because I want to know what it’s like without the pressures of being “perfect.” I want to see the friends I would make and how people would treat me. Are there societal pressures in the life of a man? I know on one side of the spectrum people treat me a certain way; would that change if I was a guy?
When I wake up in the morning I sometimes spend hours doing my makeup and hair, most guys I know spend maybe ten minutes on their hair. I also believe that experiencing both genders would be enlightening. In the mythological Greek story of Tiresias this man is traveling and stumbles on a pair of snakes mating. He hits the snakes with his stick to make them stop but the goddess Hera was upset; she loved and was an advocate of sex - even for animals. His punishment was swift and extremely cruel - the worst thing in the world a man could imagine. He was changed into a woman, mentally and physically. A couple of years later, after seeing the snakes again, and this time allowing them to have their pleasure, his curse was lifted and he resumed his original form. Just when you think that it’s over, Tiresias gets pulled into a disagreement between Hera and Zeus. Gods are arguing over who has the most pleasure during sex - the man or the woman? They asked Tiresias because he is the only one who had known what it was actually like in both of the two sexual roles. His response was, “On a scale of ten, she gets nine parts of the pleasure to his one.” Hera was enraged, and she instantly struck Tiresias blind. Zeus couldn't do anything to stop her but instead he did
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