Finding Mr/Ms Right

This week’s lesson, unlike others, was very easy for me to make connections between all the texts and videos that were received. What theme I noticed in the first video was carried out or continued through the other videos or texts. I noticed that the key theme or concept was gender issues. Within this theme, I noticed that problems arise that make finding who is right and who is wrong difficult. For example, within the video “Woman creates monstrous dating profile,” I noticed that they were almost putting the blame on men. In a sense, this can be true, but what else is a man supposed to do when the first thing they notice is a very good-looking woman? Although this columnist did not expect much of a rise from this experiment, what else could she have expected when she posted an image of an Australian model? However, what I found interesting was her answer to the question of what surprised her the most. She said that she was shocked with the amount of nonsense that some men are willing to put up with for a pretty photo. When I reached the end of this video, I was wondering whether the women columnist that started this experiment is the wrong one, or if the males are to blame.

What related to that video was the “Hanging Fire” piece by Audre Lorde. Even though the narrator in this poem does not mention a gender, we can assume that it is a girl because the narrator says, “the boy I can’t live without.” However, that is not what sparked my interest. What I noticed was that she said “wearing braces,” or “I should have been on math team.” As a male, or anyone in general, having braces is viewed as unattractive. While being on a math team is “nerdy.” Now I am not saying if you have braces you are unattractive, I just think people would prefer to not have them on. Although this piece of writing makes it hard to identify gender differences, we are drawn in to the unattractiveness of the girl. What also related to this theme was the “It’s Not About The Nail” video. This video was very entertaining, and yet portrayed a very true interaction between a male and a female. I think the not so hidden message was the fact that males like to work things out and fix the problem, when females are more about sharing their story and wanting others to listen. That is what I found comical, other than the nail in her head.

The last few are very tricky, yet they all match up to the theme in a very odd way. “Women and Marriage at Princeton” opened my eyes to realize that women are often times interested in attractiveness and money (I guess becoming an educator wasn’t a good choice after all). Unlike women, men seek a higher education and looks, which I have to agree with. On another tangent of odd statistics, the NCJRS article states that although women commit to more minor crimes, men crimes are more serious and lead to more investigations. This is another interpretation or view on the way men and women are viewed. The last text is hard for me to touch on, but I do know that “Trifles” seemed to touch more on gender and the sides that people select. However, I was curious if the men’s choice of picking of sides was due to their places within their group or the comments that were made towards them throughout the piece.

In the end, the right from wrong can’t be determined, but within certain situations we can see what side would be easier to support. Although this lesson was a bit of a curve ball, I was thankful that I was able to find easier connections between the texts.