Last night in my anthropology class discussion we were talking about gender roles in the sense of what men expect of women and women of men. Basically things we expect of the other gender. Everyone went around the table and said things like holding the door open, cooking, cleaning, fixing things, etc. You get the point. We were trying to define a "real" man. Well my turn came and my response was "it crosses gender lines when males use umbrellas. It has been raining a lot in Cornell and so there has been a plethora of boys carrying umbrellas while I trek past them in my raincoat and boots. This has been bothering me for awhile now, in my stubborn mind, why do guys need umbrellas? Girls need/use umbrellas. Of course, I was laughed at and ridiculed by giving this answer. There were also umbrella carrying boys in my discussion. I did not care because in the preceding comments I had convinced the class that it is unusual, dainty, childish and feminine to carry an umbrella. I won. I want to see guys hardcore into their boots and rain jackets...not umbrellas.
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I sorta agree but it may be because I also don't use umbrellas. And so in our minds, we're not using umbrellas and so boys shouldn't.
ReplyDeleteBut maybe we're just ludicrous for foregoing umbrellas for utilitarian, yet somewhat fickle, fashion choices. And maybe our myopia towards practicality should not unduly influence others' practicality.
And this is just ludicrous...time for bed!