Etaryan 1 Gregor Etaryan John Kubler English 114A 15 October 2013 2.3: Power Relations of Males vs.

Females In the early years females were portrayed as the ones who stayed in the household while the males were out doing the real work. Society shapes our minds with all the advertisements and it has gotten worse over the years with all the emerging technology. During the 50s many ads portrayed women in the kitchen while the male was outside doing some type of manly work such as working on a car. Ads like that have shaped all of us in a way that we do not even realize it and we all accept it as being natural, because that is what society accepts. In this era of new up comings the gender roles of both women and men have changed and in some cases have switched around. The biggest reason in which females have been able to switch roles in some cases is because they have gotten more rights, which lead them to have their own voice and take control of their own life and not needing a man to make decisions for them. Some males in some cases have become less of a man, because they are the ones acting more feminine that some females. The major factor that led to this is the media and the way society portrays both men and women. In the media most women are portrayed as young and beautiful and the men falling for the women and doing anything for them. The uprising rate of technology has changed the way we interact with one another and in some sense it has shielded us from communicating face to face. This has led to many people in the society to hid behind the screen and that is why the roles have changed in some cases, because men have been acting manly online, but in reality they cannot stand up for what they

Etaryan 2 have said. A couple that I had interviewed about power relations stated that one of their partners spends an awful amount of time on their phone and takes away the face to face communication. Even when people go out in todays society they still use their phones and not even communicate while sitting right in front of one another. The couple that I had interviewed shared a lot of their points about their relationship and it surprised me. In this relationship I had observed that the female was more in control and the male not so much. When asked about how they spend their quality time together they usually enjoy going to each others houses just to be together. I noticed the small things meant a lot to them rather than the big things. The male was the one who had engaged the relationship, but the female was the one who had taken over. The couple had fairly similar views as to gender powers, but from observing them the female was the one who believed that females are more empowering, because she was the one empowering their relationship. When asked about who was the more dominant one in the relationship they both hesitated for a second and looked at each other and the female stated, I am the one who is more dominant. To my surprise when I asked the male how he felt about it he agreed with the female in saying she was more dominant. He felt that there might be a few things he is more dominant in, but for the most part she was the most dominant. When the ad was shown to them the female automatically said the female was the powerful ne, because she was being held high while the male disagreed. He believed that since there were two males in the picture the males were more dominant. It was interesting to see how their views were, because they differed when comparing their own relationship and the ad. Building a strong relationship for the couple meant putting in effort into making time to see each other and keep the relationship going. There has to be equal effort into wanting to keep

Etaryan 3 the relationship going. They do not have as much time to see each other so the effort they put into making little time to see each other is what is keeping them together, because they know in the end it will be worth it. Relationships consist of two people loving one another and being able to understand each other. In todays society the media has shaped our minds into what relationships are supposed to be and how its supposed to be so we all get a sense of who should be the more dominant one. Over the years it has obviously changed and is still going to change. The couple that was interviewed showed that society has changed and women can be dominant in various things as well and men arent the only dominant ones. The roles in society have changed for some and will still keep on evolving and changing, but each individual must decide for themselves as to how they see and act towards the gender dominance in their relations.

Etaryan 4 Observations The couple that I had observed was my co-worker and her boyfriend. I had never met the boyfriend and one day they invited me to go eat lunch with them with y other co-worker and I took the time to step back and observe them. I saw that they were holding hands, but the female was the one who was guiding the way. In a way she was pulling his hand as to which direction to walk. During the actual interview I also realized that the female was the one answering most of the questions and the male was not so eager as to persuade me to think otherwise. The female was most dominant and the male did not care much that she was and he was going along with the flow of things which I believe is wrong, because the male should be the more dominant one.

Etaryan 5 Interview 1. What City do you live in? Ans. The couple both lives in Los Angeles in North Hollywood. They live not too far from each other. 2. How much time do you spend together? Ans. The female stated, We try to spend as much time with each other when we can, but we do not see each other as much as we would want. They do not see each other Monday- Wednesday, because their work and school schedules are different things and have no time to see each other. Thursday-Sunday they try to make as much time as they can to see each other, but dont always work out. We wish that are schedules matched so we could spend our free time together, but its not that easy 3. Where do you usually go for a romantic night out or just to have fun on weekends? Ans. The male stated, We usually do not go out as much, but if we do I like taking her to do things she tells me she wishes she could have done, such as going to the beach at night. He likes being spontaneous with the things he does with her, but most of the time they just like going to each others houses to hang out with one another and spend the night away with one another. 4. Who seemed to be more interested in hooking up in the beginning of your relationship? Ans. The female believed that the partner was more interested, but I looked at the male while she was answering and he was disagreeing with her, but he didnt say anything. She believed the male started talking to her, because he wanted to have sex with her and it just turned into a deeper relationship as they got to know one another.

Etaryan 6 5. Who made the first move and what interested you to agree to go out with one another? Ans. They were both in the same class during their freshman year in school and the male implied that he would come up with any type of reason to talk to her or say something to her. One day there professor put them in the same group and they both got to know each other from that point on. The male was the one that made the first move and they both agreed upon that. The female stated, What really got me interested in him that made me decide to go out with him is the way he made me feel when I was with him. He made me laugh and I would always have a good time with him and from that I decided I wanted to go out with him when he finally asked me. I also thought his dumbness was cute and all the little mistakes he made as weird as that sounds. 6. Should female trackers be allowed to race with the men in the Olympics? Ans. When I had asked this question the couple looked at me with surprise, because it was so off topic as to the previous questions. I then further explained the situation of male and female dominance. The female and the male both agreed that a female should not be able to compete in the Olympics against men, because they believed that the men are more trained and fit than women. 7. Do you agree with the US militaries decision to let women participate with the men in the armys combat forces? Ans. The couple was a little in between for this question, because they thought women might get easily killed, but then they thought that we always need more soldiers so why not agree with it. The male as more towards the side of not agreeing with it, but can still

Etaryan 7 understand his partners side. The female was more leaning towards the side of letting women fight and agreeing with the US military decision. 8. What makes true love possible in your relationship in todays modern society? Ans. The female said that she believed what made their relationship still going and possible is the effort that they both put to keep the relationship alive. With their busy schedules it might be hard seeing one another at times, but they know they do their best to see each other. The male said that sometimes when they are together the female likes to spend a lot of time on her phone and they do not interact as much, but he tries to set her phone aside. 9. Who do you think is the most dominant one in the relationship? Ans. The female answered she was the more dominant one and the male also agreed with that. The male said he might be dominant in some things, but for the most part he agreed that the female is more dominant. 10. In this Ad picture who do you believe is most dominant? Ans. The female answered that the female in the picture is more dominant one because she is being held up by the male. The male answered that the males in the ad are more dominant, because there is 2 of them.