BiegieGo, Cixous/Butler

“Traditionally, the question of sexual difference is treated by coupling it with the opposition: activity/passivity.” When reading about theorist Cixous we see that she bring up a good question of “why do men fear being a woman?” well, before taking CMC classes I wouldn’t have ever thought about why men fear being a woman and now it all makes sense. It’s our society! This is why men are seen as the providers in our culture. Cixous tells us that “a man is always proving something; he has to ‘show off,’ show up the others. Masculine profit is almost always mixed up with a success that is socially defined.” It is due to the pressures of being a man or not being manly enough that our society holds on men. Men are the ones that put the bread on the table, support the family. In today’s culture it is seen as looked down upon if there is a family where the wife makes more than the husband. Why do we put so much pressure on something that should not matter in our society? We can blame it on the media! They form this image of what the American family should look like. It’s an ideology! We can relate this theorist to Althusser and his notion of ideology. The hegemonic class sets these standards that if not lived up to then looked down upon for not meeting the need of the society or what the society think we need in our life. When are men and women going to be seen as equal in our society?
Butler talks a lot of sex, gender, and desire. “One is not born a woman but rather becomes one.” Does this mean we have to work for our status in our society while a man just becomes a man without having to gain any respect from people? This is where our society need to stop and think of equality and what it’s really about!