Provide topic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Provide topic - Essay Example Obviously, they had no idea, but I think my father knew it. He never said a word and told my mother to let men handle men business. At the time, I was confused and angry with myself, but it soon dawned on me that things, from that time would change. The fishing trip was a jarring moment in my life, but as Elizabeth Bishop claims, â€Å"Think of the long trip home. Should we have stayed home and thought of here? Where should we be today?† (Bishop 6). While I wished at the time that I had never taken this trip, I now realize that it was essential to my growing up. Setting and Profile of Self The fishing trip was on a hot humid Saturday morning. My father and brothers had done this numerous times before and were ready with their fishing rods. As the youngest in the family, eleven at the time to be exact, I had only done this thrice with my father. Normally, when I accompanied my brothers, they only let me unhook the fish and pack them. My mother was not very hot on me joining my father and brothers on this trip, though. You see my father was a hard man, a serious man who did not take particularly well to my spending hours around my mother. The fishing trip was his idea, and he gave me no chance to say no, despite having planned for a toad trapping expedition with my friends. In my family, everyone, except my mother was expected to be a man since I had no sister. My mother was the only feminine soul I intimately knew. Being different to my raucous brothers and aloof father, I preferred her company. The trip changed my worldview from that point. The Event Smearing the sun block my mother had lovingly packed besides my snack box, I mentally prepared for what lay ahead. Fishing had never been my forte, and I had always looked admiringly at my brothers as they brought in fish with my mother’s congratulations ringing in my ears. Now, here I stood, ready to clear the hurdle I felt stood between manhood and me. Even at eleven, I felt that my strapping, ragge d body was ready for any obstacle that the vast body of water threw my way. I felt apologetic for the fish that had to bear the demonstration of manhood that I was just about to put up. So absorbed in this initiation was I that the journey to my father’s favorite fishing spot was but a fleeting moment. The sudden splutter of the fishing boat’s engine as my eldest brother brought it to a stop brought me back to reality. I fumbled along the floor of the boat for my fishing rod, mistakenly picking my father’s rod. â€Å"Son that is for the big fish† he laughed as my brothers joined. I would show them what I was now. As I let out my line into the water and sat back waiting for the unfortunate fish that would define my manhood to attack the bait, I said a Hail Mary, borrowing from my favorite movie, the Godfather. As if she had heard me, then it struck, and I lurched to my feet. Adrenalin flooded my veins as the strength I had believed in so much began to drai n against the vicious thrashing of the fish. At the time, I was beginning to contemplate surrender and my claims to manhood; the fish did me a great favor. It leapt from the surface of the water, magnificently gleaming in the sun surrounded by breathtaking surf spray. In this moment, I saw the fish transformed from an unlucky victim of my manhood aspirations to a brilliant life specimen, and I longed to possess it. Maybe it was the boy in me, but the man had

Gender Socialization Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gender Socialization - Research Paper Example Toddlers and elementary-aged youths have not yet reached this level of self-awareness in terms of identifying with their social environment, thus the clothing is more streamlined than with the unique patterns and styles available for older youths in their adolescent years. For teenagers and preteens, much of the clothing available did not exhibit any noticeable sexuality aspects other than the short skirts available for teenaged girls. Â  The toys available were generally the same across the shelves, except for those more masculine toys for teenagers that included military-garbed action figures while young girls were being exposed to promotional products that included make-up, homemaker accessories, and other feminine-minded products adorned in pink and light blue packaging. At the bookstore, most of the products were similar for boys and girls until reaching the section for older teens that were more themed related to gender, such as books by Judy Blume that dealt with identify for mation for girls related to their sexual development and curiosity about their bodies. Â  Consumer products, based on the research, seem to group children into appropriate gender roles, only after they have reached the elementary age and seem to carry more depth related to socially acceptable gender roles after they have reached early adolescence and beyond. There is definitely a trend that indicates consumer products expect more gender segregation for the preteen and teenaged children, toys and books for younger children.