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Bechdel," Fun Home" 

The book Fun Home was quite an interesting read, I found it to be enlightening in a sense since I believe we can all conform to the fact that it is what our parents do, or makes us do that creates the person we are today. The book by Bechdel talks about the author's relationship with her father, who as it would seem was a perfectionist and held an authoritarian rule over his family, he was strict and wanted to have the perfect family. He wanted to maintain his appearance, and we later find out one of the reasons was because he was a closeted homosexual. The author also talks about her relationship with her father, who maintained quite the grip on his daughter and would criticise her, according to the author her personality was the complete opposite of her father, mainly being like Butch and Nelly. One was a perfectionist, maintained his appearance and was strict, while the other could care less and was more carefree, whilst wearing clothes that matched her outward personality.  She was more like Icarus because, despite her father's warnings, she still chose to fly closer to the sun.  It would seem that one of the reasons that her father was wound up so tight, was his desire to fit into the gender norms of society, anything else would risk exposing his closeted homosexuality. His strict personality and controlling tendency in a way was perhaps a way to help his daughter from going down the same path like him. Later in the story, it was stated that he either died from an accident or by suicide being hit by a car. Bechdel thought it was the latter. The story ended with an ironic twist because it seemed that Bechdel never wanted to be the same as her father and considered herself to be the complete opposite, however not only was she gay, but it seemed that she followed the same path as her father in the end, however with major differences being in that she came out as being a lesbian and that she was still alive. The story was itself one ironic twist and the ending helped us understand why Bechdel was the person she became today and why she chose to write about her life and father. 

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Preciado," Technogender" from Testo Junkie 

In this article, Preciado starts off by stating about the technologies of gender, which as it turns out has given us and produced our current understanding of the physical sex that each male and female possess. This has, in turn, made us categorize certain topics within subcategories, in which there is talk about the Female and Male bodies, which in turn feeds into our understanding of sex being binary and most often deliberate about the chromosomal understanding of someone's genetics.while we may have an understanding of the bodies genetics and what makes us male and female, the understanding of gender and what it means has also changed with the passage of time, which now includes the identities of a person, rather than their physical traits. With the new technologies that our new understanding of sexual reproduction, women no longer have to worry about becoming pregnant, while engaging in sexual activity since the pill has been made. And since our current understanding of gender and identity has changed, there will always be a new way or something new that helps us give a definition or help determine someone's gender because the term has the term is ever so changing as time passes. Since there is always a new way to define or determine gender and the term constantly changes, we should accept our new understanding of what gender is. And help others come to terms with their identities as well.

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Bayton," Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History" from The New Disability History

In this article, Bayton explained and informed us about the history of inequality upon the disabled. Interestingly the definition that we had for disability in the past shifted towards our modern understanding of the term. It was, in short, a term that described someone who was less of a man and anyone with a physical or mental handicap was seen as less of a person and thus they were discriminated against. Many of the simplest jobs, were given to people with a better or apparently more capable body, even if the person has a slight illness or permanent yet small problem, they still had issues or faced discrimination.This form of discrimination also was also aimed towards women and other minority groups, not just those who were physically or mentally disabled during the time because they were seen as inferior or physically inept as they didn't fit what we normalize as the term of Hegemonic masculinity. Even though the years have passed and inequality has been lifted, many people still face discrimination in some form or another and we should do our best to end this form of treatment.

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" Household Labor and the Routine Production of Gender" Scott Coltrane

The author presents a report analyzing different couples on the way they take care of their children. The report/research conducted primarily focused on the child care being given between husband and wife. Most of the time a majority of time spent giving child care is given by the women because of the stereotypical mother is natural at child care especially towards infants. However most couples did try hard to maintain equal footing in giving childcare, while a majority of women do take a literal motherload of childcare into their hands, many of the fathers have or were attempting to maintain an equal amount of child care while also balancing their work and activities.  I believe that overall, to ensure a happy family and parental relationship with their children, parents should fall into it naturally rather than feeling as if they must take care of the child to be truly happy.

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Pascoe, “‘Dude, you’re a fag’: adolescent masculinity and the fag discourse” from Men’s 

lives. 

The author of this article showed us her finding on what she defined a FAG as. In our society, it is usually a derogatory term that is thrown around because of how someone's masculinity is viewed. It was generally an insult towards white males. However in the sense that I knew or phrasing that I have heard been needlessly thrown around, I thought the word was an insult towards a male of calling them homo or gay.  In our society, we generally conceptualize or have a general idea on what to do or not to do in order for someone to not question your sexuality. That is males have to be completely macho and pose a dominant form in order to be a real male and that a male cannot feminize or act homo in any way. Simple things such as eating, dancing, hand gestures can apparently come off as homo or wrong in a group filled with guys where they would insult you and call you gay, faggot etc because of something that they have deemed as homo. I believe that this is a messed up way of thinking and everyone should be able to act the way that they want without fear of being judged.

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Rogers et al., “Masculinities among African American Men”

The stereotypical white man's masculinity doesn't fit the defined definition towards an African American males case. This article describes that over the course of American history, African Americans have been oppressed and faced a difficult reality. Because of their tragic history, many African American males have to prove their leadership values, family ties, masculinity, and face who they are. They have to face the reality of who they truly are and represent their past in order to maintain who they are. however, in a short reality, many African American males try to fit into what is considered the social norm of masculinity. They generally want to be accepted by everyone and sometimes sees this as a way to fitting in with how they want society to view them. You should never have to face the values of being someone other than yourself because of that, in short, is who you are and what you have become. It shouldn't matter what is socially acceptable because you should put yourself facing reality and yourself.

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Bird, “Welcome to the Men's Club: Homosociality and the Maintenance of Hegemonic Masculinity”

Like the previous two articles by kivil and Donaldson, this article written by Sharon bird expresses how men are faced with the issue of maintaining a front that gives off an air of dominance and machismo. Basically confirming them towards the hegemonic masculinity stereotype. In an everyday outing surrounded by both women and other men, a guy would act quite indifferently and choose to show off a different persona from what we would normally expect. However when placed in a situation or outing in which the group consisted of just males, well then that's quite a different story because in this case, they would essentially try to one-up each other to prove their masculinity. This is a result of homosociality and it can create quite a different air amongst a group. Because society has again placed this stereotypical idea of male masculinity, most guys act quite differently within a set group of people.

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Donaldson, “What is Hegemonic Masculinity?” 

Hegemonic masculinity is manhood in its most basic form and explains men's dominant place in society while justifying the subordination of women in society and explains other ways of being marginalized as a man. In Donaldson's article, he explains how many jobs are being open to females and increasing, while some jobs are on the decline for men. Certain positions are more often than not offered to a woman because many men are not up to the task.however, many people, especially men fall under the assumption that they don't like change and will go out of their way to change things for their benefit. Men who fall under the classification of hegemonic masculinity tend to be more problematic because they want to portray what the ideal man should be dominant, macho, and strong. However in today's society, men aren't holding those values because many are holding onto other values, so this stereotype is only placed on the view males who don't have their heads on straight. Men don't have to follow this stereotype because they are free to choose who they want to be.

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Kivel, “The Act-like-a-man box” from Men’s lives

Due to the constant pressure placed upon us from a young age, we are taught what it means to be a stereotypical male. Strong, Dominant, and macho are how we should be. This is where the Act-like-man-box- comes into play, its where many young males are pressured into becoming the ideal male and not be feminine. Because young males have a certain image to uphold to maintain face they fall into the pressure placed on them.  If we don't follow the rules we would be ridiculed and embarrassed by other males because of this stereotypical image of masculinity we have to uphold.This stereotype does not have a place in society today because so many males have the ability to choose and are free to be who they want.

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Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex”

In this article, Crenshaw describes that

The concept of intersectionality isn't a theoretical idea but rather it is a depiction in the multiple ways that oppression is experienced by people. Especially among the Latino and African American minority groups within the united states.  Crenshaw uses this analogy and refers to a traffic intersection or crossroad to help establish her claim.she argues that many black women are subject to being discriminated against, which often does not fit within the legal categories of either racism or sexism but rather a combination of both. However, our legal system has defined sexism generally in the terms of an unspoken reference to the injustices confronted by all women in the united states, no matter their ethnicity. They define racism as a prejudice towards Black men, women and other people of color. Due to this many black women are then faced with being legally “invisible” and without legal help. However, Crenshaw also brings up some employment discrimination based lawsuits in order to depict and show how many black women complaints often fall within the cracks precisely because they are discriminated against as both women and as Blacks. Crenshaw brings up a case known as DeGraffenreid v. General Motors which was filed by five Black women in 1976, it also demonstrates exactly this point quite vividly.  In which the court refused to recognize what was occurring because the women brought out how they were apparently discriminated because of their sex and race and in time ruled against them. Crenshaw observes of this ruling that “providing legal relief only when Black women show that their claims are based on race or on sex is analogous to calling an ambulance for the victim only after the driver responsible for the injuries is identified.” because of this ruling many women still faced unjust actions against them because they were black women.

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Friedan, “The Problem That Has No Name” from Feminine Mystique

This book begins with an introductory description of a problem which  Friedan called "the problem that has no name". this article explains the widespread unhappiness and unease that many women faced in the 1950s and early 1960s. This article discusses the lives of many housewives from around the United States who were quite unhappy with their lives despite living in material comfort and having children and married to their husbands. During this time period the era known as the baby boom era erupted across the united states and it was after world war two. While many of the males went ahead to fight in the war, many women also participated by gaining jobs such as secretaries, ship and tank builders etc. After the war many of the men made the women go back to their normal everyday lives as housewives. However many women felt empty and wanted something more to fill them because of the experiences that they had during the war and after. Advertisements were declaring what was big during that time and what household items were trending at the time. But after many women understood that they could so something more than being a housewife they started to think about what they could do for themselves. Because many women were drawn out or imaged to being a housewife, Friedan questioned the women's magazine, women's education system and many of the advertisers for creating this widespread image of women. The damaging effects induced by this image was that it narrowed women into the domestic area and caused many women to lose their own identities.

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De Beauvoir, “Introduction: Woman as other” from The Second Sex 

In this article de Beauvoir explains women as other and explains about the oppression that many African Americans, jews etc faced. However, she explains how Women’s oppression differs from these other forms of oppression because there is really no historical point of reference as to why or where it started.and there isn't any economic insurance that holds its worth for this. In short, women are oppressed because they are women, and tend to often have much more in common with their male counterparts than they do with other women.her aim in the first portion of the book is to explore why women are oppressed, why they are ‘the second sex’. Is it because they are females and their biological systems are different from males or is it a consequence in determining their roles as mothers. After examining and rejecting purely biological, psychoanalytic and economic explanations, de Beauvoir turns to ontology. Which means  ‘the study of being’. De Beauvoir’s explanation for why women are oppressed is based on a woman being or doing what it means to exist as a woman. Many young girls are taught on what is the ideal women in society or rather for a man. Mainly being passive and subservient to their husbands. A woman is a free being mystified into believing she is confined to particular roles, thus limiting freedom. Using existentialist language, de Beauvoir says that woman has been defined as Other. This is used to maintain the oppression of women as this idea is then passed down from generation to generation. She also uses the concepts of ‘immanence’ and ‘transcendence’ to further explain women’s situation. Immanence is stagnation within a situation, while transcendence is reaching out into the future, through projects that open up freedom. Although every human being is both immanent and transcendent, many social ideas have caused people to be stuck in one and have much more limited freedom. This happens in every case of oppression.As men work on important projects that reach into the future, men occupy the sphere of transcendence, while women ’s oppression pushes them to immanence, to a point that causes women to be unaware that they have freedom or a free choice. De Beauvoir refers to the start of the menstrual flow as a reminder to a girl of her immanence. Menstruation is a monthly reminder of her attachment to the body as a servant to the species via reproduction. This apparently marks women as ‘natural’, as opposed to being free. Women are subject to this bloody cycle of their bodies in a way that men are not because they don't understand what it means to face this issue. In truth de Beauvoir understood why women were subjected to the oppression lead by males and saw a way in how they can escape being just the other as men refer it to. That is to escape the thought that they don't have free choice, and envelope the idea that they are women who have the ability to change things.

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Preciado, “The Pharmacopornographic Era” from Testo Junkie.

This article starts with someone's point of view on how the automobile industry and capitalism have expanded. It also explains how after world war two many people faced a new reality on how sex was conceptualized and had different ideas on what sex was. Many people also faced a revolution in their sexual identity, gender, identity, and sex causing a new transition that allowed them to be more open about their bodies, sex, and gender. With the introduction of the contraceptive pill and condoms allowed for many people to have safe sex without the fear of having a child by accident and helped increase peoples safety whilst in the act. Also, many scientists started to experiment with certain things such as pills or equipment that will make someone more aroused or maintain their arousal for a much longer period of time. There were many setbacks but also a success as well and it caused a huge influx of sex toys, lubricants etc to be created or rather industrialized. The introduction of Playboy magazine by Hugh Hefner was a dream come true for many red-blooded American males and caused people to have a place to turn to and stimulate their desires in a way to help them with things such as masturbation. Pornography was also a huge clandestine opportunity for many people, especially filmmakers and many of their films were among the most watched and most grossing movies ever. These films also helped to stimulate a person arousal and help in masturbation, a majority of these viewers were red-blooded males. Between the 60s all the way to now, the sexual revolution took place and caused many people to be open with their sexuality, desires, and image in a way that wasn't seen before during the 20th century.

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Martin, “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles”

In retrospect to what had been established in the article by Kessler which focused on intersectionality and how people view a child's sex as binary rather than other types. This article by Martin explains that binary process in which there are two sexes, male and female. It describes the differences between the sperm and the egg, additionally explaining how different each is between the two. Males are born with their reproductive organ known as the testes, which processes and creates millions of sperm cells every day. While women are born with their eggs around several million, however, most will never reach maturity and will disintegrate, while about around 500 or so will remain by the time may women reach their 50s. This article describes how men and women are meant to procreate in order to have a child, but also explains the women's body as if it were a machine meant to just pump out babies. It takes several years for a female's egg to undergo maturity, and also many of them have to suffer through the ongoing system of having their periods because the egg was not fertilized by a sperm cell. While males only manufacture without facing this particular problem. The sperm and egg cells go through a cycle in which the only one out of millions of sperm cells will penetrate the egg cell. This is mainly the concept in the creation of a baby, while science has created the process of romanticising this product of sex.  It is said that only through love should a child be procreated, however, this sometimes isn't true and science has romanticized this concept over a long period of time.

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Kessler “The Medical Construction of Gender;” 

This article explains the terminology of intersectionality. Many human babies are born with a specific genital classification that makes them either female with female genitals and males with male genitals. However, this is not always the case because many children are born with both sexual organs and they are coined as hermaphrodites. Doctors consider a normal child to be born with either male or female genitals without any issues as healthy While they ponder what to do with the child if it has a mixture of both. With the advancements of medicine, many doctors are now able to shape the child's genitals to make it more "Normal" with certain incisions or hormonal applications. The feminist movement has raised questions on the definition of what gender is and whether it should strictly be based on your sexual organs. Also now psychological theorist have brought out a new definition of what gender identity is because it is not as fluid, and changes over time. These three principles have brought out a different ideology on what intersectionality is and especially in the United States which it is a treatable condition that could be taken care of and resolved outwardly. A theory brought on by John money and two others in 1955 and established in 1972 explained that in order to establish a gender identity, a specific role must be assigned to the child while keeping them informed so as to make them not question who they are. Over time this theory was practiced however because many doctors still question intersectionality it was not as effective as it should have been. Many doctors focus on what the social order may do to the child and that they would be labeled as different, so they portrayed the idea that a specific gender should be assigned in which they would reconstruct the genitalia to make them either a male or female. Throughout the entirety of this issue was the main concern in which the child would identify themselves due to them not being born with one sexual organ. Because society's understanding of what gender is masked upon by the assumption that it is a given, rather than who you identify as. This has made many doctors to attempt and remake an intersexed child's gender, because of the misgivings of the western society on what gender is and what our culture understands as acceptable.

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Ironically, it takes several million sperm cells for a male to succeed, while its just one egg for the female, and almost all these sperm cells will die out before they even finish thier race.