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Gender and Literature
The Feminist Movement was a series of events in which women were trying to change several issues in society such as having equal opportunities as men, birth control issues, equal pay, and much more. Society has always greatly influenced the gender roles of both men and women. Gender is a social construct in which different societies have different views and thoughts about which roles a man and a woman should fulfill. Society greatly influences the roles of gender. Throughout our Gender in Literature course we examined several books that discussed gender roles. Some of the books reinforced the traditional gender roles. Others rejected the norms and tried to push the roles into new boundaries. Most of the books that we looked at also showed discontent in the tone of women’s writing. Literature that discusses gender should be appreciated due to the fact that society can view the history of literature, see how society can challenge gender roles, and learn and evolve from it.

Discontent of Women
KELSEY SECTION

Rejection of Gender Roles
CHRISTINA SECTION

Texts that reaffirm gender norms
Within the American culture, men are held to a standard that ensures that they will be strong providers for the family in the states or abroad. In the graphic novel Refresh, Refresh the role of a man and a teenage boy was affirmed; all the men within this community are now abroad due to the war in Iraq. The boys within the community fill the shoes of their missing fathers and provide counsel for their younger siblings and one and another. Another text that was read this semester that reaffirms certain gender norms was Jitney. Jitney is a play concerning a group of African American men who work as unlicensed cab drivers in an intercity. All the men within this play fit a certain stereotypical role (established by gender and race) and these roles remain unchallenged throughout the play. For example, a son sees his father as a “small man” since he does not act aggressively when confronted by another. A collection of poetry that we read titled Wind in a Box also affirmed gender norms. Within these poems, the ideals of society and the pressure experienced by African American men in commented on but these same ideals are affirmed. Even though there is a tone of dissent within this collection, the author does not add any different solutions to the gender norms established within today's world.

Many contemporary writers reject societal gender roles to live and write by the standards of their own convictions. Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands, La Frontera is a good example of creating one’s own boundaries. Anzaldua loves and embraces her Mexican and Native American heritage, but recognizes the limitations that both cultures place on women and homosexuals, and she refuses to live within either confinement. She chooses instead to embrace the power of the goddesses of her culture, and to identify them with the goddess that she feels is inside of herself. Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel The Complete Persepolis tells her unique story of spending her childhood under the reign of an Islamic government who put restraints on the freedoms of women, and then spending her adolescence on her own, and basically without boundaries. Like Anzaldua, Satrapi is proud of her ancestry, but fights the limitations that her culture places on women. Other writers, such as Michael Chabon, defend lifestyle choices that are often lampooned in pop culture, such as carrying a “man-purse” or being a stay-at-home dad. Chabon’s memoir Manhood for Amateurs confronts American standards of what it means to be a man, and challenges those norms by his personal experiences of growing up and starting a family.

Conclusion
In conclusion, we have found that literature can reinforce, reject, or reinvent gender roles. Literature has a major connection to the construction of gender roles in society as it also does in other issues such as race, language, and class. We have found as a class that none of these issues can be examined separately from one another and that all literary genres-- poetry, graphic novels, memoirs, essays, and fictional novels-- offer relevant analyses of gender. Since gender roles can represent different things depending on culture, society, time, and location, the people living in the society who determine these roles should take a more conscious position in what is reflected. More recognition should be given to literature that pushes the boundaries of gender norms and the limitations they place on people in society. The literature that does not work to break gender barriers is still something to be examined and the interpretation of this writing will rely heavily on the personal experiences of the individual. We have also come to the conclusion that there is still a tone of discontent in women’s writing and that, whether intentional or not, it may hurt the author’s writing and lead to false interpretations. This tone of discontent stems from the lack of reasonable solutions to problems dealing with expectations for both men and women. As a class we have found that a majority of the books we read for the Gender and Literature course displayed this tone of discontent. Perhaps this tone is inevitable as gender and other issues, such as class, race, and society’s expectations, keep women as second class citizens in literature both as characters and authors. However there is also hope in the women’s writings for something better and for others to push the boundaries of gender roles in and out of literature.

Resources
Anzaldúa, Gloria. Borderlands - La Frontera. San Francisco: Aunt Lute, 1999. Print.

Chabon, Michael. Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and 	Son. New York: Harper, 2009. Print.

Hayes, Terrance. Wind in a Box. New York: Penguin, 2006. Print.

Hornby, Nick. About a Boy. New York: Riverhead, 1998. Print.

Pearson, Allison. I Don't Know How She Does It. New York: Anchor, 2003. Print.

Percy, Benjamin, and James Ponsoldt. Refresh, Refresh. New York: First Second, 2009. Print.

Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: the Education of Richard Rodriguez. Boston: D.R. Godine, 1982. Print.

Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Pantheon, 2003. Print.

Trethewey, Natasha D. Native Guard. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print.

Waldman, Ayelet. Bad Mother: a Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities, and Occasional Moments of Grace. New York: Anchor, 2009. Print.

Wasserstein, Wendy. The Heidi Chronicles. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1989. Print.

Wilson, August. Jitney. New York: Samuel French, 2002. Print.

Recommended Reading
Alice Walker - The Color Purple Arthur Miller - Death of a Salesman Franklin W. Dickson - Hardy Boys Mysteries J.D. Salinger - The Catcher in the Rye Mary Higgins Clark - All Around The Town Simone De Beauvoir - The Second Sex Phillipa Gregory - The Constant Princess Virginia Woolf - Mrs. Dalloway
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