26 Chapter Family Roles and Gender Roles > AtBue for or againt the proposition that those who ral against the new ime Tigres ate merely practicing a form of disguised ethnie prejudice 4 Nike an essay in which you show three specific examples hor’ cartream NEerigan Popular culture that challenge traditional family velves, Been ‘@ explain each value and how itis being challenged. * The Female Body Margaret Atwood he complexities of language, and her subjects Benes genting. fom the personal tthe glabl tn te falling esay fom Good Bones (1852), Ato uces a lvely, unconventional syle to aldose soto the rn, ctted othe subject of “The Female Body." Kring how sell you ‘have writen on this tapi... this enpecous lop Letter from the Michigan Quarterly Review J rahize i's a hot topic. But oly one? Look around, there's a wide + range. Take my own, for instance, i Set uP in the morning, My topic fels like hel. sprinkle it with water, brash Parts oft rub it with towels, powder it, add lubricie: Tog the fuel wapke fay £O2S my topic, my topical topic. my controversial fis my capacious sa eaany LImPINE topic, my nearsighted topic, my topic with Lack problems, hy badly behaved topic, my vulgar topic, my outragecns topi ny topic that is out of the question and anyway stilfcan Blood. hese Winter boots, scutting along the sidewalk a if twwere Meg end Peak. hunting for what's out there, an avocado, an alderman’ adjective, lungry as ever + aun basic Female Body comes with the following accessories: gat rs zone ttl cide cme al baie some te Mery Wise? 208 ting, vel kid glove, fishnet stockings, ficken bandeau, Men Widow, sseepers, choker barrttes bangles, beads lorgnette, feather bos, basi black, compact, Lyera stretch one-piece with ‘modesty panel, designer Peignoir, flannel nightie, lace teddy, bed, herd. > lit Female Body is made of transparent plastic and lights up when you 5 Plugit in You press a button to iluminate the dieses systems. The circulatory Atwood /The Female Body 27 stem red, forthe heart and arteries, purple forthe veins; the respiratory sys- fem is blue; the lymphatic system is yellow: the digestive system ig green, with her and Kidneys in aqua, The nerves are done in orange and the brain is pink ‘The skeleton, as you might expect, is white. The reproductive system is optional, and can be removed. It comes with or without a miniature embryo. Parental judgment can thereby be exercised. We do not wish to frighten or offend. 4 Ht said, [wont have one of those things in the house. It gives a young, Birla false notion of beauty, not to mention anatomy. Ifa real woman wee bul, Bke that she'd fall on her face. She said, If we don’t let her have one like all the other girls she'll feel sin- Bled out. It'll become an issue. She'll long for one and she'll long to turn into ‘one, Repression breeds sublimation. You know that He ‘said, It's not just the pointy plastic tits, it’s the wardrobes. The Wardrobes and that stupid male doll, what's his name, the one with the under. ‘wear glued on. She said, Better to get it over with when she's young. He said, All right, but don’t let me see it She came whizzing down the stairs, thrown like a dart. She was stark naked. Her hair had been chopped off, her head was turned back to front, she tras missing some toes and she'd been tattooed all over her body with purple ink in a scrollwork design. She hit the potted azalea, trembled there for a mo. ‘ment like a botched angel, and fel He said, I guess we're safe. The Female Body has many uses. It’s been used as a door knocker, a bottle opener, as a clock with a ticking belly, as something to hold up lamp. Shales, asa nutcracker, just squeeze the brass legs together and out comes your nut. Tt bears torches, lifts victorious wreaths, grows copper wings and raises aloft ring of neon stars; whole buildings rest on its marble heads It sells cars, beer, shaving lotion, cigarettes, hard liquor; it sells diet plans and diamonds, and desire in tiny crystal bottles. Is this the face that launched {housand products? You bet itis, but don’t get any funny big ideas, honey, that smileis a dime a dozen, It does not merely sell, it is sold. Money flows into this country or that {Quntsy flies in, practically crawls in, suitful after suitfl, lured by all those hair less presteen legs. Listen, you want to reduce the national debt, don’t you? ‘Aren't you patriotic? That's the spirit. That's my girl She's a natural resource, a renewable one luckily, because those things wear ut so quickly. They don't make ‘em like they used to. Shodldy goods. 6. One and one equals another one. Pleasure in the female is not a re- ‘Sérement, Pair-bonding is stronger in geese. We're not talking about love, ‘we're talking about biology. That's how we all got here, dat Snails do it ditterent. They her mm Bhrndire ceney AO tt IN thPAeSe28 ‘Chepters Family Roles and Gender Roles F pinch Female Body contains a female brain. Handy. Makes things work, 1» isk pins in tand you get amazing results. Od poplar songs: Short sien Bad dreams jAnyuny: each of these brains has two halves, They're joined together bya se {hick cord; neural pathways flow from one to the other, sparkles ofoleicrs formation washing to and fro. Like light on waves. Like a conversation Ha does a woman know? She listens. She listens in, ‘he male brain, now, that's diferent matter Only a thin connection. Space 1» erate time over there, music and arithmetic in their own sealed coma, iments, The right brain doesn’t know what the left brain is doing. Good lor at Wngtouh for hitting the target when you pull the tigger. What's the target? Who's the target? Who cares? What matters i hitting it That's the nale hoon, for you. Objective This is why men are so sad, why they feel so cut of, why they think of themselves as orphans cast adrift, footloose and stringless in the deep vein What void? she asks. What are you talking about? The void of the universe fg says, and she says Oh and looks out the window and tis to get handle oa but i's no use, there's too much going on, too many rustingern the leaves tog many voices, so she says, Would you like a cheese sandwich, a piece a! kere cup of tea? And he grinds his teeth because she doesn't understand, ond ware Garo not just alone but Alone, lost inthe dark, lost inthe skull, searching for the other half the twin who could complete him, ‘Then it comes to him: he's lost the Female Body! Look, it shines in the 2 Bloom, far ahead a vision of wholeness, ripenes, ike a giant melon like am apy Pl, like a metaphor for “breast” ina bad sex novel it shines likea balloon ibe foggy noon, 2 watery moon, shimmering in its egg of light Catch it. Put tin a pumpkin, ina high tower, ina compound, ina chamber, » ina house, n a room, Quick, stick a leash on it, lock, a chain, some pain, sete it down, soit ean never get away from you again, COMPREHENSION 4: Why do you think this essay was written? Justify your response. 3 Lst the different ways in which Atwood views the female body. 3: What distinction does Atwood make between male and female brains? RHETORIC 1. What Is the tone of Atwood's essay? Supply concrete evidence from her writing, 2. Does the essay contain a thesis? Is it stated or implied? oer following words in section 2: ic, bandeau, Merry Widow, wep- ers. Why do the words bed and head also appear in this list? 4 Mow dose Atwood’s use of details and metaphors strengthen her points in the essay? Cite specific examples. “Therowx/eing a Man 219 5: Whats the object being described in section 4? How does its inclusion help underscore Atwood’s point? 6 Why did Atwood choose this particular way to organize her essay? What does it tll the reader about her attitude toward the subject? 7. Isthe tone ofthe final paragraph similar to that ofthe rest ofthe essay? Pro- vide evidence from the writing and explain, WRITING 1. Using a style similar to Atwood’s serie a brit essay in which you deseibe tne female bran, the male brain, or the male Bou 2: Iman argumentative essay, eonsier the role played by secspectic toys in reinforcing sexual stereotyping in cliliren. Use Atwood's tay weal fou personal experience ss support 2. krlyoethe wy nich sox a the feral bogy have been used in cle and advertising * Being a Man Paul Theroux Paul Theroux (b. 1941) has explored the effets of colonialism on Americas and Europeans-efets that he experienced firsthand sa tencer in Malawi, Ugende, ‘a Singapore—in books such as Saint Jack (1973) ard The Consul's File (1977), Theroux’ other fictional works include The Mosquito Coast (1982), O-Zone (1366), a Chicago Loop (1990) addition, he hs written a munber of travel books, eneng Liem The Great Railway Bazaar (1978) and The Ode Patagonian Pxprese (1979 4h the following essay fron Suncise with Seamonsters (1985), Theroux explares the meaning of masculinity and its relation to writing There is a pathetic sentence in the chapter “Fetishism” in Dr. Norman. Cameron's book Personality Development and Psychopathology. It goes, “Fetishists are nearly always men; and their commonest fetish is a woman's shoe.” can not read that sentence without thinking that itis just one more awful thing about being a man—and perhaps itis an important thing to know about us, Thave always disliked being a man. The whole idea of manhood in Amer- {cas pitiful, m my opinion, This version of masculinity is a lite like having to eat an ill-fitting coat for one's entire life (by contrast, {imagine femininity to be an oppressive sense of nakedness). Even the expression "Be a man!” strakes ‘me as insulting and abusive, It means: Be stupid, be unfeeling, obedient, sol, dierly, and stop thinking. Man, means “manly"—how can one think about men220 ‘Chapters Family Roles and Gender Roles Wiihout considering the terible ambition of manliness? And yet it i part of aed omar fe. Ibis. a hideous and crippling i; it not only insists on difference an Gonnives at superiority, tis also by its very nature destructive eae ally damaging and socially harmful 1 eYouth who is subverted, as most are, into believing in the masculine ‘Rents ellectively separated from women and he spends thesest ot ie ewe rele rte rile and a nuisance. Of course, there isa female version of this ma) stort begins with mothers encouraging lille girls to say (to athe actulis) “Do you like my new dress?” In a sense, tle gris ove traditionally isso Free an aiat is also why there is no manliness without inadefuecy Pecause it denies men the natural friendship of women, Jr is very hard to imagine any concept of manliness that does not belittle Say the apt basins very early. Atan age when I wanted to meet girls let's Fed mane eacheroUs years of thirteen to sixteen was told to take Gps sport, ae te Thea it join the Boy Scouts, and I was urged not to rend se macy cag fhe 12908 aud if You asked too many questions sbout sex you were nen Pree bays Camp. of course: the nightmare. Nothing is more unretant ce Pespanike thana boy's camp, bus ifit were not for them we would hove ta Blog Fodges, no pool rooms, no boxing matches, no Marines spat Pettinps no sports as we know them. Everyone is aware of how few in Dall tence, the athletes who behave like gentlemen. Just as high school meee Paul eaches vou how to be a poor loses, the manly attitude tons Sports moral depen seme than a recipe for creating bad marriages, ocial eta spe Cebenerates, sadists, latent rapists, and just plain loste Tregard high soneeh sorts asa drug far worse than marijuana, and ils the renee near average tennis champion, say, isa pathetic ont Any objective study would find the quest for manliness essentially right isa eeamne Cowardly, neurotic, and fueled largely by a fear of wemee te {Salso certainly philistine. There is no book-hater likes Litge League coach, But [iGeed all the creative arts are obnoxious to the manly idea because at their best the arts are pursued by uncompetitive and essentially solitary people. It Fakes It very hard for a creative youngster, for any bov whe expresses the de. see cealome seems tobe saying that thee is something wtont vine Jt ought to be clear by nov that I ave something sf we objection to the the United Soo e9 ER. t doesnot surprise me that when the Prodents is bein States has his customary weekend olf he reso He cowboy—it ‘Rboth a measure of his insecurity and his willingness to please. In many ways, ‘Therour/ Being & Man 21 many Years 1 found it impossible to admit to myself that J wanted to be a Tier. I was my guilty secret, because being a writer was incompatible with being a man. Tt at people who might deny thst hat ig Decne the Ameren Writes, typically, has been so at pains to prove his manliness that we have come {o see iterariness and manliness as mind qualities. But first there was » feos chet Get was nota manly profession—indeed, not a profession at all (he pa sdox in American letters is that it has always been easier for a woman te vive ins for a man to be published.) Growing up, [had thought of sports as waste, feland humiliating, and the idea of manliness was a bore. My wanting to be: Somme A ute was nota flight fom that oppressive role-playing, but I uickly Sav; at it was at odds with it. Everything in stereotyped manliness goes Seni! the life ofthe mind. The Hemingway personality is too tedious t& go inte here, and in any case his exertions are well known, but certainly it was toe sali itis aberrant behavior was examined by feminists in the 190s that any trae writer dared question the pugnacity in Hemingway's fiction. All the bulk {isting ond arm wrestling and elephant shooting diminished Hemingway oe Sites at itis consistent witha prevailing attitude in American writing. one cannot be a male writer without first proving that one is a man {tis normal in America fora man tobe dismissive or even somewhat apolo- BSetic about being a write. Various factors make it easier. There is » heartinese about journalism that makes it acceptable—journalism is the manliest foun or American writing and, therefore, the profession the most inclepencent-minded omen seek (yes, i is an illusion, but that is my point). tion writing is Saunt with a kind of dispirited faiture and is only manly when it prodices srealth—money is masculinity. So is drinking, Being a drunkard is avotler ac, Fence fi misplaced, of manliness. The American male writer is traditionally Proud of his heavy drinking. But we are also a very literal-minded people. A Puan Proves his manhood in America in old-fashioned ways, He kills hore like Hemingway: or he hunts ducks, like Nathaniel West, or he makes proneeec, Jeaats ike, “A man should carry enough knife to defer himself with,” ws James Jones once said toa Lifeinterviewer, Or he says he can drink you under the abe pune ity drunken Willism Faulkner loved to mount a horse and go fox Shnting: and Jack Kerouac roistred up and down Manhattan ina lumtesock shirt (and spent every night of The Subteraneans with his mother in Oceeey Saad tee are familiar withthe lengths to which Norman Mailers preparce, ix bre endearing way, to prove that he s just as much a monster as the next man, When the novelist John Irving was revealed as a wrestler people took him Sense XY Serious writer, and even a bubble reputation like Eee (Love Story) RRRTE was enhanced by the news that he ran the marathon in a eapectatig time, How surprised we would be if Joyce Carol Oates were revealed ate sums har thee dgan Didion active in pumping tron. “Lives in New York City with gk fitce children” isthe typical woman writer's biographical note, for ext ve22 Chapter 4 Family Roles and Gender ates There would be no point in saying any of this ifit were not generally acepted. that to be a man is somehow—even now in feministinfluenced Ameriee--a privilege. Iti on the contrary an unmerciful and punishing burden, Being 2 man is bad enough; being manly is appalling (in this sense, women’s lib as done much more for men than for women). It isthe sinister silliness of mere feshions and a clubby attitude in the arts It isthe subversion of good students It's the so-called Dress Code of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Boston, and itis the instiutionalized cheating in college sports, Its the most primitive insecutty, “And this is also why men often object to feminism, but are afraid to explain. why: of course women have a justified grievance, but most men believe. and with reason—that their lives are just as bad. COMPREHENSION 1. What does Theroux hate about being a man? 2. What does the writer mean by “the terrible ambition of manliness"? 3. According to Theroux, why are writing and manliness at odds? RHETORIC 1. What is ‘Theroux’s thesis? Where is it stated? 2. Explain Theroux's choice for an introductory paragraph, How does it help ‘set up the reader for what follows? What was the writer's intention? 3. Does the writer's example in paragraph 5 help validate the paragraph’s topic sentence? Why or why not? 4. Explain the reference to the L. L. Bean catalogue in paragraph 8, What con- nection is Theroux making between it and the American concept of mas. culinity? 5: Trace the sequence of ideas through the paragraphs in the essay. Do they follow a coherent pattern? How does the conclusion help unify the ideas presented? & What argumentative strategies docs Theroux employ inthis essay? WRITING 3° Write a definition essay on martiness, considering both the denotative and the connotative meanings of the word. Use support from Theroux’s work. ‘Aeroux states that being a man is “an unmerciful and punishing burden.” Write an argumentative essay in which you agree or disagree with this assessment. 2 Wiitean essay in which you pretend to be a member ofthe opposite sex for Julad Describe how your coneltions, behaviors, and perceptions cnight be different. Consider how others would respond to you ‘Agies/ Why Men Dot ast Sl Destruction a Hy of Lie 2s * Why Men Don’t Last: Self- Destruction as a Way of Life Natalie Angiér Natalie Angier (b. 1958) grew up in New York City and graduated from Barnard College in 1978. She has worked asa magazine staf writer for Discover and Time ant became a reporter for The New York Times in 1990. Her work es # Times scence correspondent led to « Pulitzer Prize in 1991. She is also a recipient ofthe Lewis ‘Thomas Aavard ond was one of only seven journalists to receive four stars the Fores Media Guide the rated $00 reporters. Site as alzo published ir the Atlantic, Parade, ‘Washington Monthly, and Reader's Digest, Her books in incuce The Beauty of the Beastly: New Views on the Nature of Life (1995) and Women: An Tntinvate ‘Geography (1599). n the folowing esay, first published in The New York Times (in 1899), Angier examines the biological, ace, and paychologial differences between sen and romen in order o explain Ue reason why there isa marked ference ine expectancy between the genders My father had great habits. Long before ficus trees met weight machines, he was a dogged exerciser. He did pushups and isometrics. He climbed rocks, He went for long, vigorous walks, He ate sparingly and avoided sweets and grease, He took such good care of his teeth that they looked fake. My father had terrible habits. He was chronically angry. He threw things ‘around the house and broke them. He didn't drink often, but when he did, he turned more violent than usual. He didn't go to doctors, even when we begged ‘im to. He let a big, ugly mole on his back grow bigger and bigger, and sohe died of malignant melanoma, a curable cancer, a SI. My father was areal man—so good.and so bad, He was also Everyman. Men by some measures take better care of themselves than women do and ace in better health. They are less likely to be fat, for example; they exercise more, and suffer from fewer chronic diseases like diabetes, osteoporosis and arthritis By standard measures, men have less than half the rate of depression seen in women, When men do feel depressed, they tend to seek distraction in an ac- tivity, which, many psychologists say, can be a more effective technique for dis- Pelling the mood than is a depressed woman’s tendency to turn inward and Tuminate. In the United States and many other industrialized nations, women areabout three times more likely than men to express suicidal thoughts or to at- tempt to kill themselves. ‘And yet... men don't last. They die off in greater numbers than women do at every stage of life, and thus their average life span is seven years shorter.