The Likelihood of Failure in the Formation of a Healthy Masculine Identity in a Male When Raised by a Single Female Parent.

Joseph R. Melanson

Information Literacy

Professor Franz

August 26, 2011

You did a nice job with the organization of the information, as well as the intext citations, with the exception of the citation information on page 5 – see comments. Your margins were not 1” all around (left and right margins were 1.25).  When I did some comments, I noticed that instead of setting the spacing to double you did the spacing manually.  Take advantage of the software to set your spacing – it saves a lot of work.  This would be done by going to Paragraph and setting line spacing to double. 24.25 out of 25

            In our society, much like societies around the globe, there is a growing trend of fathers abandoning their offspring, and the responsibilities of raising their children. This failure affects male children the most as the father is the most important role model to a boy in showing him how to develop into his own responsible, healthy adult role in our society. Unless a mature, male role model is present in a boy’s life during his formative years, it is unlikely that the boy will become a successful and healthy functioning member of society when his only role model is a single female parent.        

            Masculinity is the code of conduct for males in a society and can only be taught by a male role model. According to Blankenhorn (1995), “men, more than women, are culture-made” (p. 17). Men, as the more physically powerful gender, are generally entrusted by the society to protect its culture within some established boundary system. Men exist to protect the society’s social and traditional values. Masculinity is the cultures codes of conduct for the men of that particular society to follow in serving as the caretakers of society. Without a masculine role model introducing him to these codes of conduct, culture is nothing more than a confusing mystery to the male child being raised by a single parent female.   

Masculinity serves to teach men their roles and position in the hierarchy of males and other group systems of a culture. According to Gilmore (1990), “the moral codes and norms of culture encourage people (sometimes through psychological rather than material reward and punishment) to pursue social ends at the same time that they follow their own personal desires” (p. 225). Gilmore goes on to state that, “this is the genius of culture: to reconcile individual with group goals” (p. 225). It is the father’s role within the culture to embody these “moral codes and norms of culture” to his children, especially his male children, to give the child some standard to emulate and measure himself against other males in his environment. The male child then uses this standard of his father to learn how to participate in the world of men through first imitating his father’s behaviors. The boy later learns to shed the example of his imitated father for his own self created identity after having learned a standard of masculinity from his father, and then measuring this example to the cultural ideal reflected by other men. In this way a boy learns how to mediate his own wants and desires to the needs and requirements placed upon him by his society. But it is important for the boy to first have the solid foundation of his father’s influence and example to prepare him for the psychological uncertainty of the world that the boy must face during his progression into adulthood. Without the father’s example it is up to the male child to discover his masculinity, and how to interact within this hierarchy of other males, on his own.  

              Masculinity as modeled by the father teaches the boy how to fill his role in a society. According to Gilmore (1990), the culture of a society

is nothing more than work, physical and mental: human effort, constantly reproducing the conditions that give it birth. For this work to have value it has to be meaningful in social terms; that is, it has to make a contribution to this general constructivity. Manhood ideals force men to overcome their inherent inertia and fearfulness and to “work,” both in the sense of expending energy and in the sense of being efficient or “serviceable” in doing so. (p. 227).

              Boys become successful men in their society by learning how to navigate its myriad social norms that it finds acceptable in one condition, and deters others in other conditions. A man is only successful in how he learns to function within his society, and how well he can embody his society’s ideals of success. One can learn to become a doctor, a lawyer, an athlete, an artist, but only ever by first following someone else’s example. If a boy does not have a healthy masculine role model in his youth to provide some direction in the finding of his function in his environment, then it is more likely for the boy that he will be unable to find the successful means to integrate himself into the proper functioning of his society as a whole. In a sense, we are nothing more than how well we learn to serve our social function and the roles we play within our society.

A father’s embodied masculinity teaches the male child how to make sense of and how to relate to his mother and other females on a psychological level. According to Hill (2010),

single mothers are tested by their children’s behavior or lack thereof. To make matters worse, single mothers are raising their children without support from their children’s fathers. Many fathers have chosen not to be an active part of their children’s lives. This decision has hardened the hearts of many single mothers (p. 3).

This “hardening of hearts” is often sensed by the child mind and adds to any sense of confusion he has when the boy child compares his own situation to that of other children who have both parents. As the male child ages and begins to see an ongoing pattern of his mother’s discomfort, of which she can never truly hide, the male child may not be able to make sense of this discomfort on his own.

A father serves to teach a sexual role model to his male children through the example of his own masculinity. Wineburgh (2000) states, “later [the male child] establishes sexual partner orientation, where modes of relating between the sexes are modeled on parental interactions” (p. 7). Wineburgh (2000) suggests that there may be an impediment in the ability to differentiate the sex roles and a delayed development if there is a lack of an active and present male role model during the boys youth (p. 7). If the father is completely absent from the home then the child must rely solely on his single female parent for not only his sense of physical and psychological security, but for his initial sexual impression of women as well. 

Male children more successfully interact with peers with the presence in the home of a male role model with a healthy masculine identity. The first time this source is cited it would be Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, U. S. Children’s Bureau, Rosenberg, J., & Wilcox, W. B.  (2006)  rather than Rosenberg and Wilcox (2006) since the citation should take the reader directly to the source on the References page. assert that a father who is present from birth, are healthier emotionally, more confident interacting in their environment, and, have a higher quality of peer interaction as they age (p.20). “These children also are less likely to get in trouble at home, school, or in the neighborhood” (Office on Child Abuse and Neglect et al., 2006, p. 20). Rosenberg and Wilcox (2006) state that babies whose fathers actively participate and respond to them in their infancy are more psychologically sturdy and capable of exploring an interest in their surroundings than infants whose fathers are absent. Office on Child Abuse and Neglect et al. (2006) go on to say that “a number of studies suggest they also are more sociable and popular with other children throughout early childhood” (p.20). It is likely a male child who grows up in the presence of a male role model with a healthy masculine identity is likely to later become healthy in his identity as well.

Masculine identity is the integral core and critical component of a man. A man learns his masculine identity by being exposed to examples of it from older males when the man is a boy. The components of masculinity that a male child learns from his mature, masculine role models are: his codes of conduct and moral behavior, his social and cultural roles, his psychological integrity, his gender identity and sexual modeling, and his sense of emotional stability. These critical components are necessary for the social, psychological, and emotional development of a man. When a male child is raised in the home of a single female parent, it is more probable that the boy will not form a healthy masculine identity in adulthood, than if the father was present during the formative years of the boy’s youth.

References

Blankenhorn, D. (1995). Fatherless America: Confronting Our Most Urgent Social Problem. New York, NY: BasicBooks.

Gilmore, D. D. (1990). Manhood in the Making: Cultural Concepts of Masculinity. New Hartford, CT: Yale University Press.

Hill, K. L. (2010). Single Mothers - How Are They Doing?  Allied Academics International Conference. Academy of Organizational Culture, Communications, and Conflict. Proceeding, 15(1), 20-25.  Retrieved from http://proquest.umi.com.library.esc.edu/

Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, U. S. Children’s Bureau, Rosenberg, J., & Wilcox, W. B.  (2006). The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children. In U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Child Welfare Information Gateway. Retrieved from Child Welfare Information Gateway http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/usermanuals/fatherhood/

Wineburgh, A. L. (2000). Treatment of Children with Absent Fathers. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal, 17(4), 255-73.  Retrieved from http://find.galegroup.com.library.esc.edu

Rationale for Program Committee (Educational Planning)

At SUNY Empire State College one is able to pick and choose one's classes that the student wants to take, to learn the things that are of interest to the individual student, rather than completing a standardized degree designed by others as what is typical of other colleges. I picked and chose the classes that I felt I would need the most in both my life and my artistic ambitions, designing my degree around the theme of my life-long goal to be a writer of substance. Once one picks the classes one wants to take, the student must then write a rationalization explaining why I chose the classes I did, what I hope to get out of them, and where I can take my degree when it is completed. Here is my "rationale", as the school calls this essay, the degree for which I created for myself, called "Creative Writing and Literature".

 

Joseph R. Melanson

#0942912

                                                Rationale

              I believe that as individuals will be the most successful when we learn how to follow our dreams, yet it is also important to be able to be recognized by potential employers as a person with a useful talent or skill for their organization. I think the person I am trying to become through my created degree program is a person who can not only continuously produce new ideas and concepts, but who can also focus and shape them. I believe this Creative Writing and Literature degree will teach me a marketable skill to a great many companies and organizations either here in Central New York or elsewhere, as well as how to become a successful author. 

              The Bachelor’s degree that I have designed is in the Cultural Studies area of study, with a concentration in Creative Writing and Literature. This degree reflects my desire to become a professional writer of significant skill and talent, but whose same skill is still marketable in the public sector in the area of communication, marketing, advertising or any fields that rely on a solid writing talent. I also intend to complete a Master’s degree in Creative Writing in the future and have selected many introductory classes to build upon in more advanced courses after I have successfully completed my Bachelor’s. 

               I have transferred with forty credits to this college from Onondaga Community College. Some of these credits are in the area of literature and writing, and are included in my area of concentration. I completed courses similar to my intended plan of study at Empire State College. I completed courses on Creative Writing in Fiction, Creative Writing in Poetry, Writing Non-Fiction, as well as courses to introduce me to the fundamentals of elementary composition. These courses have given me the knowledge to begin pulling ideas out of my head and organizing them into more clear and presentable words on paper. These courses have allowed me to begin to be able to reflect what were once invisible and abstract concepts in my mind into solid and tangible words that I can now expand and modify.

             The courses that I have selected for my concentration are all online literature courses offered by Empire State College. I prefer to take my courses online to maximize the amount of time that I am able to devote to my studies, as well as my personal goals as well. My goal is to pursue the craft of writing as concretely and as solidly as one can in a bachelor degree program. I have selected the courses offered at Empire State College which reflect the courses that seem to be the most commonly offered in three of the top universities known for their writing programs. The three colleges whose writing programs I researched were: Syracuse University, Yale, and the University of Iowa. The subjects most common to all three, what I assume are common to most others, and are available through Empire State College are: Literary Criticism, the Classics of Literature, the Bible and Religion, Culture, Shakespeare, and Ethnic and Gender Studies.

             The connection between my prior learning and my current learning is for my fundamental need for understanding, communication, both spoken and written, in both my personal life, and my professional ambitions. I have included other courses that I believe will not only help me in the craft of writing, or rather the craft of organizing ideas into a marketable product, as well as the craft of living a life of significance.

 From my General Learning Studies, I have selected courses from a few integral categories which I believe lead to a greater capacity to participate in the world of Humanity. The categories are: psychology, culture, sex and gender definitions, and religion. I have always been interested in psychology, especially what is the measure of natural, internal states, and the narratives that form in our minds. In the three psychology classes I have selected, I hope to learn the fundamentals of the science of psychology, the ability to determine different personalities and the characteristics of each, and what comprises the spectrum of behavior that is interpreted by the science as abnormal. I think these classes with also profit me by giving me a better understanding of the people I am surrounded by in my life, measuring my own psychological phenomena against others, and to learn how to improve my continued interactions with people and groups. This understanding of the human psyche will also enhance my use of characterization in works I hope to someday publish.

 I am interested in the study of culture and its implications for the individual and the groups that that individual finds himself in throughout one’s lifetime. For this reason I attempt to break down culture into what I believe are its most fundamental and reoccurring components of a person’s life, the qualities of sex, gender, and its implications. I also hope to study what is considered a “family” or the groups that the individual identifies most strongly with so I chose to add Family and Society to my program. It is the ability of a person to modify himself to the group he finds himself in at any given time, whether it be a patriarchal or matriarchal group is one of the basic measures of success for a human being. From my observation most of great literature is about the family or society.

 The study “Human Nutrition” is my selection for the SUNY General Education science requirement because nutrition and its implications, is one of the common issues of our life, an indelible link between us all, even if it is often overlooked and dismissed. I think our nutrition informs all of our behavior, not only our physical but intellectual and social behavior as well. I believe a person can assume and induce different psychological states by the selections of their diets. 

 My main goal of my education is to understand my past, to learn how to properly interpret my present, and make sense of it to benefit myself and others in the future. I hope to accrue significant knowledge to give breadth and depth to the ideas that I have already have, to be introduced to new ideas that will raise the fruition of my previous thinking to new standards, and I hope those ideas will become as clear and precise in their communication as found in the level of the most revered writings of the most accomplished and professional writers known to us today. I believe the degree which I have designed will put me on the path of that development. I believe the courses that I have selected will enable me to see from several, more shaper perspectives than I had previously. I think the sum of this degree will be useful in the field of advertising, marketing, publishing, or wherever the clarity of presentable ideas is necessary. I would like to thank the Assessment Committee for taking the time to review my portfolio.

Extroversions and Introversions: Two Ends of the Spectrum of Human Behavior (10-03-2011)

Extroversion and Introversion are ends of the spectrum of our behavior. The traits of each end are measured in degrees of opposition to the other end of the spectrum. Environment and circumstance, though, can influence an individual’s natural personality in more extreme cases.

Carver and Scheier (2008) state “the idea that the influence of traits on behavior is dependent on situations has expanded into a broader view of personality structure, in which traits are individualized linkages between situations and actions. This view accounts for stability over time within the person as well as for variability across situations. This view of the nature of traits provides a sense of process for trait models” (p. 70).

Traits seem to be the structure of personality, yet retaining some fluidity. Perhaps they can be strengthened as a talent or skill. I give Jimmy Fallon as an example. He is very talented in imitating other people. He seems to become this other person that he is imitating. Maybe our traits that we continue to use as the personality that we are most comfortable with, can be developed to give us a better facility for participation in life and to prepare us for the opportunities that arise in everyone’s life to become more assertive, for either our own or someone else’s benefit. Most parents, for example, despite introversion or extroversion will become protective of their child when that child is endangered. Normally most of us will adapt if we feel threatened and need to learn some method of self defense, to return ourselves to a state of comfort again. Assertive behavior is often necessary when dealing with the general population, how introverted or how extroverted we are is dependent upon how much we need to participate within our environments for our own self interests. We normally act according to how much attention we require, or feel uncomfortable with receiving from others.

Perhaps personality is just a self invention constructed within the requirements of the environment and to the degree we are self interested?

Would a person born in one culture be a completely different person in another culture?  What if another culture intruded upon ours and we needed to become more aggressive. Social forces determine how aggressive we are, or how passive we can become.

          I think we are the traits that we chose for ourselves, the ones that will get us the most swiftly to our goals. Getting to embody these traits is just a matter of trial and error, of practice.

Works Cited:

Carver, C.S., & Scheier. M (2008) Perspectives on Personality. 6th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon. 70. Print.

Paper on Gandhi in Relation to The Hero's Journey and Leadership Issues in Useem. 10-03-2011

Joseph,

You've written an insightful and informative paper on Gandhi in relation to the hero's journey and leadership issues in Useem.  It is, however, a bit too heavy on the biographical information, and not as much an analysis of the leadership issues that arise in the course materials, even though some of that bio is crucial to make your case.  In the future try to envision formal papers as primarily tests of the material, in which case the course texts take center stage and your chosen example is used to exemplify and challenge key arguments in those texts.  This is largely the other way around, such that Gandhi takes center stage and the texts highlight him (granted, it's hard not to let Gandhi take center stage since he was such a remarkable figure, but again, the papers are examinations of key issues of the course).  

Another thing I noticed is that the formatting gets a little funky in your submission (scan below), but this I mostly tried to dismiss as a computer issue and something easily fixed.  However, you still need to do a little work yourself on the Works Cited.  It's good but not yet perfect!  : )

Grade: B, 85/100

A side note:  Your discussion posts have been terrific!  Keep up the great work there!

Best,

Allison

I selected Mohandas K. Gandhi as a leader because he not only changed his native country and his people but had an effect on the world as a whole. His philosophy of non-violence gave the world an alternative to violent revolution and inspired other leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. to stand up to repression without the need for bloodshed. Mr. Gandhi did not set out to become a leader for material wealth or fame, but found himself in difficult times where he became convinced that he had to play a part in alleviating the suffering of his fellow human beings. Like all other hero’s, he was called into action by events surrounding himself which he could not ignore.                                       
Mohandas K. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, to Karamchand and Putlibai Gandhi in the city of Porbandar, which is located on the western coast of India. Gandhi’s father was the chief minister of the city of Porbandar, and his wife Putlibai was a devout Hindu who raised her children in her faith. When Gandhi was young, he was a timid and shy child who was not the greatest student. Despite his generally obedient nature, he went against his Hindu upbringing by smoking, eating meat, and even stealing which he regretted to his death. This part of his life was one of his first tests, of himself as a human being and a struggling devotee in his native Hindu culture. As a young boy on the threshold of manhood, Gandhi fought his Shadow, his dark side, his repressed desires that sought satisfaction in the materialism of the world.                                                                           
 When Gandhi was only thirteen years of age he was married to his wife Kastruba through an arranged marriage. He lived as a normal Indian man in a place where most of the people were similar to him. In the peaceful lifestyle of his fellow Hindus, and in the teachings in the Hindu faith, he found the ideals of religious understanding which later became his guiding principles. This early education in the Hindu faith gave him the ideals by which he would later lead other people by tapping our shared need for peace and justice. His Hindu faith and its principles became the guiding force in his interactions with others and the organizations he later found himself in. (Useem. Pg. 266 “Find Yourself”). The India of his youth was the ordinary world that Gandhi had grown up in and had become accustomed to.                                                                                                       
When Gandhi was eighteen years old, he traveled to England to enter college to learn the law. He spent his first few months in England trying to learn to be a proper and cultured Englishman as was expected of the youth at the time. When he realized that this was a futile pursuit he gave these things up and devoted himself entirely to his studies. He was more determined to maintain the vow he made to his mother to remain a devout Hindu and live a Hindu lifestyle while away at college in England. Understanding his values and committing to them made it easier for him to make decisions in where he wanted to go in life. ( Useem. Pg. 266 “Know Yourself”). This renewed commitment to both his studies and his Hindu faith was the first crossing of the threshold by deciding on what kind of person he was going to be and the direction he wanted to go in life.                            
 In his aim to remain a vegetarian he discovered the London Vegetarian Society which later introduced him to influential writers like Henry David Thoreau and Leo Tolstoy. His education, the discovery of artists and philosophers, and his renewed devotion to his Hindu faith became his meeting with his mentors. These influences shaped Gandhi into the man that he would become during his later trials and ordeals that he would eventually face. Through his meeting in England with artists and philosophers, as well as the native Englishmen, gave Gandhi an understanding of his contemporary world. He became aware of their mindset and learned what actions he could take to achieve the reactions he wanted from others, gaining the most beneficial attitude towards him that he could achieve. He learned the values of his fellow man and what it would take to earn their respect. (Useem. Pg. 266. “Gain Commitment”). The people in this period of his life became allies in shaping his philosophy and his understanding of a broader world than he had previously known.                  
 It was at his time in England that Gandhi began to more seriously read Hindu and Buddhist literature, the most influential upon him was the Bhagavad-Gita which is a sacred text in the Hindu religion. It relates the story of Arjuna who faces the difficulty of going to war against his own family, a mission that would either result in his death, or destroy his tyrannical cousins. Arjuna’s chariot is driven by a boy named Krishna who later reveals himself to Arjuna as a god. Krishna reveals to him that in life we have no choice but to battle evil where we find it and in whatever form it takes. This work heavily influenced Mr. Gandhi in his later years, becoming the herald for what he had to become, and revealing the role that Gandhi had to play in this life.                                                                     
Gandhi officially became a lawyer in 1891, after three years of schooling, and passing the bar exam. It was in his training of the law that would prepare him to battle through its courts system, the looming and powerful enemy in the form of the British Empire that was subjugating people to discrimination and oppression. He subsequently returned to Porbandar with the only the intent to help his fellow man and provide a life for his family.                                                                                                                                    
 After two unsuccessful years of finding suitable work in his native India he was hired by an Indian firm located in South Africa. He was hired to work for only one year but ended up remaining there for some 21 years. He did not realize that this path would lead him to become one of the most influential people in the world. It was in South Africa that Gandhi met his worst enemy, the British monarchy and the tyranny with which it ruled and enforced its empire. The British Empire ruled its colonies through institutionalized segregation against its native peoples, while it profited off of the countries resources, and made use of the territories to expand its imperial base.                                  
 It was during his time in South Africa that Gandhi got his first glimpse of the racial prejudice that was the reality of the time. In one of the first cases that he was expected to take involved a several day journey which involved traveling by train. He presented his ticket to travel first class but was told that he would have to ride third class which was how Indians, referred to at the time by whites as “coolies”, were expected to ride. When he refused to suffer this humility he was quickly and violently thrown from the train. For a brief period of time he considered going back to his native India, a reluctant hero refusing the call. But he soon realized that this prejudicial treatment of his fellow Indians had to be bravely faced and he decided then to remain in South Africa to fight the culture of oppression against dark skinned people by local colonial governments. It was at this moment the Gandhi heard the call to adventure in the need to take on the ordeal of fighting injustice wherever he found it, rather than trying to find and maintain a comfortable existence in the world.                      
  In 1914 Gandhi made his way back to his native India after more than two decades in his fight against oppression. In effect this was his resurrection back into the world that he was born and raised in, the world that created him and gave him his values, and saw him return as a hero.    Little did he know that returning to India would be the Approach to the Inmost Cave       of his enemy and the home of many of his worst tests that he would have to endure.                    
 After his return to India he took leadership of the Indian National Congress Party, an organization that did not deny British the right to rule, but upheld the right for more power and freedom for native Indians. He used this organization to give a voice to his cause and build the support that it would need in coming years. (Useem. Pg. 266. “Build Now”).                               
 In 1919, the Rowlatt Acts were enacted into Indian law by the British colonial government. These policies allowed the incarceration without trial of any Indian who was seen as treasonous to the British authorities. Gandhi saw the need to respond to the Rowlatt Acts by creating his own movement which he named “satyagraha”, translated as “truth-force” or “love-force”. This was his Return with the Elixir, the treasure by which people could now oppose tyranny anywhere in the world through the form of passive civil disobedience. The act of Satyagraha was a form of non-violent resistance that called for national stoppages of work, boycotting foreign goods and services, peaceful resistance against the British authority, fasting, and meetings. He was forced to stop the Satyagraha a few days after it began because fellow protestors had become embroiled in violent conflict with the police. In taking this action Gandhi prevented the situation from escalating into an anarchy that would have justified the use of force by the British authorities to quell what could be seen by the world as insurrection against the government. This would only set his movement back and undo the progress that was made by previous acts of civil disobedience. (Useem. Pg. 266. “Move Fast”).                              
In the coming years Gandhi reorganized the Indian National Congress Party, into a larger and more focused mass movement. The Indian National Congress more strongly promoted the ideal of a new India ruled by Indians, rather than being overseen by the British like slaves. The main tactic of the INC was to boycott British owned and ran institutions which would in effect bankrupt these institutions or force them to change. Many of his followers and sympathizers were arrested during this time and Gandhi himself was arrested for sedition which required him to spend two years in prison.     
This was one of many times that Gandhi had been arrested but this was the longest amount of time he would have to spend in prison. It would have been the most serious test of whether or not he could continue his fight against oppression, and quite possibly one of his greatest ordeals that he faced in his life. He chose to remain true to his original values despite the hardship of prison that he was forced to endure. He knew that if he weakened, his cause and the commitment of his followers would weaken as well.       (Useem. Pg. 266. “Remain   Steadfast”).                                                                                                         
 After his release from prison, Gandhi retook the leadership role of the Indian National Congress Party in 1928. Two years later, during the spring of 1930, in an act of defiance against the British Salt Laws, Gandhi and 80 of his followers began what was a 200-mile march to the ocean. When they arrived at the ocean they produced salt from sea water which was at the time illegal for the Indians to do. As the British government taxed the sale of salt, this was an act to deprive the colonial government of its taxes and revenue that it made off of the Indian people. This act of defiance led to the eventual arrest of over 60,000 Indians. One year later Gandhi ended this act of civil disobedience after a truce was made with the British colonial government. In this instance Gandhi had succeeded in playing the role of the Trickster. He saw the opportunity to show the world how petty the British Empire was in preventing Indians from making their own salt instead of having to pay the English for something that should have been a basic right. In effect he was shaming the British Empire for its rampant greed and imperialist policies.                        
In the later part of 1931, the British colonial government renewed their oppression of the Indian people. Gandhi responded by resuming his movement of nonviolent resistance and became incarcerated for it. During his stay in prison, Gandhi fasted to protest a policy of the British colonial government to legalize separate electorates in the Indian constitution for the lowest caste of individuals within India’s society, known as the “untouchables”. The protest drew enough attention from the public that caused the British colonial government to make illegal this once allowable discrimination against the untouchable caste. Gandhi thought that freedom from repression was for all Indians, no matter their place in society. The freedoms that he fought for had to be for the whole of society, and not awarded for race or class or religious association. (Useem. Pg. 266. “Expect Much”).                                                                                                           
 In August 1947, the British colonial government withdrew and gave up its power to a new and divided India, which became what is now known as Pakistan and India. Gandhi publicly urged the people to remain calm but the country was overtaken by violence despite the power and influence which he had accrued over many years. The tension of centuries of British rule had erupted into a violent anarchy in racial and religious divisions. This was the seizing of the sword in a country that was in the throes of its new shifting shape. The reward for Gandhi had been in finally seeing an India now free from its colonial overseer but this new age also brought with it confusion and turmoil.                                                                                                                        
 On January 30, 1948, on his way to prayer in Delhi, India Gandhi was shot to death by assassins. Before he succumbed to his wounds he was heard to say “Oh God” as if thanking his God for finally being able to give up this arduous life for the peace that he hoped would come in the hereafter. He had achieved martyrdom, and to some, had become a kind of a saint. He had lived a life in service of humanity; he embodied the Hero archetype in remaining steadfast in his mission to overcome repression and discrimination in the world where he found it, and he carried the truth of his beliefs despite the ordeals of his journey through life. In Gandhi, modern leaders can see a man who chose the highest values of peace and justice for his fellow man rather than the joy and comfort that a person can claim in their short time on earth. He was an inspiration as a man who lived for his beliefs and weathered many difficult storms of his life, yet never losing sight of his vision and the dreams it would create for others. 

Works Cited:

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. “Gandhi, Mohandas K. (1869-1948). King Encyclopedia.

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City, CA: Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. Print.

McLellan, Hilary. Story Structures: The Hero's Journey.

Useem, Michael. The Leadership Moment: Nine True Stories of Triumph and Disaster and Their Lessons for Us All. New York: Three Rivers, 1998. Print.

Anatomy and Destiny (Post for Sex and Gender 10/01/11)

In our modern age, anatomy is no longer destiny. While culture may define what femininity and masculinity consists of, modern science has allowed people to transcend their biological gender. Someone born male in this day and age can be surgically transformed into a woman, and vice versa. Our modern culture is opening up strict views toward gender, which in the past were justified by our religious traditions.

According to Brettell and Sargent (2009), “few people deny the anatomical and hormonal differences between men and women; they disagree about the importance of these differences for gender roles and personality attributes. A significant body of research, much of it conducted by psychologists, suggests that male and female infants cannot be significantly distinguished by their degree of dependence on parents, their visual and verbal abilities, or their aggression as measured by activity level. These characteristics tend to emerge later in the development process, indicating the importance of environment” (p. 1-2). We as humans self-organize and self-criticize ourselves according to our culture and our current circumstances to fit the mold that our environments present to us.

Throughout history men and women have been limited by the cultural forces that determine their roles for a group and society. Men, the stronger gender became the hunters of dangerous and heavy prey, as they had the greater physicality for the hunt and had to carry the carcass many miles back to their homes. Women became the caretakers and maintainers of the home and children, which necessitated their remaining in a safe location. This became tradition, and tradition became deified in the creation of our religions. Our religions became our codes of conduct, laws, and other rules to follow.

“As the preceding discussion reveals, none of the primary rationales that have been forwarded to exclude women from being able to “officially” serve in combat roles provides a legitimate basis for maintaining the current restrictions on women’s participation in combat” (Peach, 2009, 30). With modern technology and techniques, women are just as capable of being efficient killing machines as men, and just as capable of being soldiers as well.

The history of the vibrator in the Harding reading, speaks about gender culture. It was legal, and tolerable for millennia, for men to go to brothels and visit prostitutes, while women had to go to a doctor as if their sexuality was a medical problem to be solved. Both genders have the same frequency and intensity of desire in their biological instinct to mate, culture has just defined how we go about it, and the permissible steps to arrive at our satisfactions. Sex is biological; gender is just how it is performed. Masculinity and femininity are just the terms for how each gender should perform these roles

As far as essentialism, or the belief that sexuality is already biologically defined at birth and checked by social forces, and constructivism which states that sexuality has no biological precursor but is determined by the cultural forces surrounding the individual, is a difficult argument to consider. On the one hand one can say we are determined by our biology to pursue our sexual interests, while on the other hand our sexual interests are only limited by what attitudes our society has towards sexuality. I personally believe that I am biologically predisposed toward the opposite sex, and that this type of behavior serves the biological purpose of procreation. But if society did not have stigmas against homosexuality, and even made it a common practice, then the only stigma would be against those who did not participate in a culture’s common practices. It is hard to know if my personal distaste comes from biology or cultural shaped forces.

Works Cited:

Brettell, C. B, & Sargent, C.F. (2009) Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective 5^th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall.

Harding, J. (2003) Investigating Sex: Essentialism and Constructionism. LaFont, Suzanne. Constructing Sexualities: Readings in Sexuality, Gender, and Culture. (pp. 6-17) Upper Saddle River, NJ. Pearson Education, Inc.

Peach, L. J. (2009) Gender and War: Are Women Tough Enough for Military Combat. Brettell, C.B, & Sargent, C.F. Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective 5^th ed. Pearson Prentice Hall.

An Analysis of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". (Stories and Creative Leadership)

In the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the protagonist Randle McMurphy demonstrates the example of leader who is doomed to failure because he is unable to successfully balance the needs of his group, and the requirements of the authority to maintain the functional order of an establishment of power. This type of leader is usually doomed to follow some kind of internal path. He passes through the lives of others, and whether this is manifested externally or not, this character produces profound and lasting changes within them that they had, often times unknowingly, and more sadly, not known that they had wanted until this character passed through their lives.                       

 In the Oregon of the 1960’s, the protagonist of the movie, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, is Randle Patrick McMurphy, played in the film by Jack Nicholson. He is an incorrigible criminal serving a prison sentence for the rape of an underage girl who he says misrepresented her age to him. While in prison he has himself transferred to a mental hospital for evaluation to avoid the hardships of state prison, and to enjoy a less hostile environment. Upon his arrival he shows no signs of severe mental illness, only an attitude of anti-establishment. McMurphy is an antihero, only able to play by his own internal rules, rather than adjusting himself to the needs of both the group and the establishment.     

 They ward of the hospital that McMurphy is sent to is overseen by a stern and unyielding Nurse Mildred Ratched played in the movie by Louise Fletcher. She becomes the story’s villain and main antagonist to McMurphy, yet she is a hero in her own way for trying to maintain order the only way she knows how. She embodies the establishment and uses her power to strictly control every action of the men. As much as the men may be uncomfortable with her form of authority, they still obey her despite their discomfort. The leadership tactics that nurse Ratched uses to maintain control over the patients are: forms of humiliation, painful medical procedures, medication, and a daily routine that reduces outside stimulus as much as possible.                                               

 McMurphy soon realizes that the patients are more intimidated by Nurse Ratched than becoming rehabilitated enough to return to society. McMurphy in his incorrigible boldness takes it upon himself to become the leader of the group of patients. It is his compulsive need to raise himself to a position of power and advantage, no matter where he goes, or what authority he faces. The pattern that McMurphy demonstrates in his leadership role is one of rebelliousness and a tendency toward anarchism no matter the cost to himself or to those who he tries to enlist to follow him.                                      

 The other patients of the ward include Billy Bibbit played by Brad Dourif. He is a young man with a nervous stutter, easily intimidated by the authority of Nurse Ratched. Another character Charlie Cheswick, played by Sydney Lassick, is an emotionally immature man who throws temper tantrums like a child. Martini played by Danny DeVito, suffers from delusions. Dale Harding played by William Redfield, suffers from paranoia, and is also overly sensitive, and is highly intelligent. Taber played by Christopher Lloyd, is hostile and irreverent. These characters never become true allies of McMurphy, they only serve to follow him as much as their fears allow.

 "Chief" Bromden, played by Will Sampson, is the narrator of the film and the only person in the story that completely changes within the story. Chief is a large American Indian who pretends to be a deaf mute to avoid attention. This last character becomes McMurphy’s only true ally, choosing to follow him unlike the others who never truly overcome their fear of the establishment despite their feeble attempts to rail against it.

 McMurphy is initially disgusted by Chief’s seeming lack of ability to communicate normally. He uses Chief for his height advantage during a game of basketball between the patients and the orderlies. McMurphy is able to get the other patients to work as group, rather than the confused and timid individuals they have become during their stay in the institution.                                                                                

 McMurphy's and Nurse Ratched recognize the threat that each one poses to the other and begin a competition to gain control of the group. In one battle of power McMurphy successfully manipulates card games to win the cigarettes of the other players. Nurse Ratched upon seeing this takes them away and gives the cigarettes back to the men. McMurphy uses the opportunity to challenge her authority by calling for a democratic vote, hoping to take some of Nurse Ratched’s power away from her, and transfer some of this power back to the group. When this tactic fails him, McMurphy decides that escaping the institution would be the only solution to getting out from under Nurse Ratched’s authority.

He tries to get the group excited with the idea of escape by trying to lift and remove a hydrotherapy fixture to throw it through the window. It proves to be too large and too heavy for him to lift and he gives up after several tries. He tells the group, “I tried goddammit. At least I did that”. The messages that he is trying to get across to them is, if you are not happy with your circumstances you are in, then you have to make attempts to escape them using whatever methods you can employ where you are at.                         

 In later scene McMurphy hijacks a hospital bus and coerces the other passive patients to board the bus. He goes to pick up a girlfriend of his, Candy played by Marya Small. They arrive at a dock and he steals a boat to take the group out to sea. He says to them, "You're not nuts, you're fishermen!" to awaken within them feelings of empowerment and power they didn’t know they had.                                            

After they are returned to the ward McMurphy finds out that because of his actions he could become committed for as long as the institution deems necessary. After the fishing incident Nurse Ratched decide that she must quell any other attempts at insurrection. In one of the group sessions Cheswick can not control himself and this leads to a brawl with the orderlies. For punishment Cheswick, McMurphy, and Chief are taken to be given electroconvulsive therapy. While McMurphy and Chief wait while Cheswick is taken first, McMurphy offers Chief some gum. Chief mumbles "Thank you" to a startled McMurphy. McMurphy is astonished to realize that Chief faking his status as a deaf mute to avoid attention. After his electroshock treatment, McMurphy stumbles into the ward trying to feign a stupor. When he believes he has the other patients believing his performance, he then changes back to his old self to make a mockery of the intended punishment. He tries to get the other patients to believe the electroshock treatment only filled him with energy and that the next woman he meets will "light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars." McMurphy tries to inspire the group by showing them that the electroshock therapy is not a potent punishment, and that they do not have to fear it.                                
As the test of wills with Ratched is losing its enjoyability, and his date of release no longer certain, McMurphy plans another attempt at escaping. McMurphy calls Candy to bring along a friend by the name of Rose played by Louisa Moritz. Candy is instructed to bring her friend and some alcohol to the hospital late one evening. The women enter through a window after McMurphy successfully bribes one of the orderlies, a Mr. Turkle played in the film by Scatman Crothers. McMurphy and Candy wake the patients to initiate a party. During the party the inebriated and stimulated group break into the drug cabinet, play loud music, and go on a spree of destruction. A few hours later, the Chief and McMurphy intend to go escape through the window with the women. As McMurphy is saying goodbye to the patients, he offers to Billy the opportunity to go with them. Billy refuses, unable to accept a world beyond the ward he has become accustomed to, despite his interest in dating Candy. Trying to get Billy over his fear of women, McMurphy persuades Candy to offer Billy the chance to have sex. Billy and Candy go into a private room where they can be alone, while McMurphy continues to entertain the other patients. The effects of the drugs and the alcohol take a toll on the men and despite their plan to escape, everyone falls into a medicated sleep.                                           

When Nurse Ratched arrives the following morning she comes upon a scene of destruction and unconscious patients. She directs the open window to be relocked, the ward cleaned up and put back into order, and to make sure that none of the patients escaped. During a search of the ward, Billy and Candy are discovered in one of the rooms, naked and asleep. Having lost his virginity Billy can now speak without a stutter. Nurse Ratched warns Billy that she will tell his mother about his behavior. When Billy tries to get Nurse Ratched to avoid telling his mother about the incident, she calmly tells him that she and his mother are good friends and cannot avoid telling her due to their relationship. Billy panics and tells Nurse Ratched that McMurphy forced him to have sex in a desperate attempt to get Nurse Ratched not to notify his mother. Realizing that his ploy didn’t work, Billy panics and regresses to his stuttering state. Alone in a doctor’s office with the unbearable fear of his mother’s discovery of his behavior, he slits his throat with a piece of broken glass. McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched in a fit of rage, nearly choking her to death until an orderly comes to her rescue.                                                   

With McMurphy removed from the ward, the other patients resume their daily activities with Harding assuming McMurphy’s leadership role, but much more sedately. Nurse Ratched, now wearing a neck brace from McMurphy’s attack, still oversees the group despite being almost unable to talk. The rumor in the ward is that McMurphy was successfully able to escape rather than suffering some terrible punishment.                  

Later that evening, the Chief witnesses McMurphy being put into his bed by two orderlies. When the orderlies leave, the Chief goes over to McMurphy believing he was still his former self, and they can now reinitiate their plan to escape. The Chief is now emboldened and believes himself to no longer be small, but "as big as a mountain". The Chief quickly realizes that McMurphy has been lobotomized, and will never be anything more than a vegetable. Unable to see McMurphy in this way, and knowing the he is no longer truly alive, the Chief smothers McMurphy to death with a pillow. The Chief then goes to the hydrotherapy room to remove the plumbing fixture that McMurphy was unable to do himself. Bromden then carries it across the ward to throw it out the window of his prison, climbs through the hole that he made in its facade, and escapes into a life of renewed possibilities.                                                                                                  

The character of Randle McMurphy demonstrates a leader who is unable to change. He is unable to modify himself to the group and the establishment. He does not understand how others cannot be as bold and as daring as he is. Because of this fact he is a doomed character. The only thing that he was successful at was awakening the idea of possibilities in others, and inspiring Chief Bromden to escape his prison of fear and insecurity. His example gives the Chief the chance to live a new life of boldness and new strength fed by an awakened sense of self confidence. Chief Bromden is the true hero of the film, finally awakening from his fog of fear and delusions at the end, now ready to answer the call to adventure that life demands from every single one of us.

Works Cited:
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Dir. Milos Forman. Screenplay by Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman. By Ken Kesey. Perf. Jack Nicholson. 1975.

Vogler, Christopher. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers. Studio City, CA:
Michael Wiese Productions, 2007. Print.

McLellan, Hilary. Story Structures: The Hero's Journey.

The Triple Revolutions: Social Sources of Family Change. (Families and Society)

The Triple Revolutions: Social Sources of Family Change.

The revolution of the postindustrial family is characterized by the creation of the new types of jobs that are suitable for a woman, unlike the hard physical labor of factory work that had been the sole domain of men. These new types of jobs, like those of the service and information sector, are less physically demanding and allow women to pursue a career in them. The previous paradigm of the man as the sole breadwinner was changed by this new development. Women were no longer dependant on a man for her existence and a slave to an unhappy marriage.

But this development in the postindustrial society produced some negative effects as well. It shifted the pattern of the male driven and dominated work force that had been in existence and well established for many centuries. This new economy is shedding jobs that had sustained and maintained a family structure that had been solid and stable for many generations. As more jobs become available and more women are introduced to the workforce, people became more disposable. Wages are reduced when there is no longer a need for jobs that require workers of a higher degree of skill and experience. Jobs that have been a strong and reliable source of sustenance for families are quickly receding. Many jobs are quickly replacing workers with robots and assembly line techniques.

One side effect of this development of our new economy is making the passage into maturity much more difficult for children. Children no longer make a smooth and easy transition into adulthood which was common during the postwar years. The common path of young adults easily finding good paying jobs, marrying young and raising families is no longer as easily traversable. This new economy makes finding a good paying, sustainable job without a college degree almost impossible. The need for a college degree and its accompanying expense now impedes marriage until later in life than previous generations.

The new economy which practically demands a college degree to get a good paying job relegates many people to low paying, dead end jobs. This has resulted in a society of hopelessness and misery toward their future and their limited options. This has also resulted in children being much more dependent on living with their families much later than previous generations and results in much stress and anxiety for both parties.

The life course revolution is the increasing of life expectancy due to the improvement of medical techniques and knowledge. This makes the specter of death less looming than it was in previous generations. People can live longer lives without fear of death that had been so prevalent and common for previous generations. Women no longer have to have so many children to ensure the survival of a few, and can live without maternal responsibilities for a much longer amount of time.  

This revolution also allows for a much longer length of marriage and number of years without children living at home. This results in more time for both the husband and wife in the marriage to pursue their own interests. Marriage has become less of a union in the sole purpose of raising children than it’s trend toward being an opportunity for two individuals to build a life to enjoy together.

The third and last revolution of the triple revolution is known as the psychological revolution. It is also known as the “psychological gentrification” for being the revolution that extends cultural advantages to lower socioeconomic classes that had previously only been available to the upper classes. Some examples of these cultural advantages are the availability of higher education, increased leisure time, the ability to travel, a greater access to information, and a rise in the standard of living. Despite the continuance of poverty and economic instability of the industrialized world, people still remain above the level of just making enough money to survive.

This revolution has resulted in a society that is becoming ever more complex and discrete.  People are becoming more introspective and yearn toward more depth and intimacy in their personal relationships. Some positive consequences of this revolution are attitudes toward more equality in a marriage, a more democratic set of family values, and more tolerant and compassionate attitude toward others.

These developments have brought many advantages and just as many disadvantages. The relationships between family members have become more fragile yet more emotionally profound. A longer life brings more opportunities and choices, but also increased competition for a limited number of jobs and resources. While women have greater opportunities than in the past they also have to shoulder a persistent inequality between the genders.

Despite the changes of our modern society the family still remains an important institution. Despite the fragility of the institution of marriage, the relationship between parent and child maintains its strength across the course of both parties’ lifetimes. This could be as much a curse as much as a blessing when children remain in the home much longer than is healthy for both children and parents.  

Unlike the rest of the world, the United States has fallen behind the developments toward a more compassionate and open attitude toward the positive effects of these changes in our society. Unlike the rest of the world, the United States has remained entrenched in fear toward these developments and resisted anything that appears to go against the traditional view of the family.

            The problem with the postindustrial revolution is that women no longer remain in the home to raise and nurture children. Parents are no longer the sole role models. The child is now put into day care, goes on to school, and then goes to the babysitter until the parents get out of work. This removes the child from the presence of the mother and puts the child into strange environments at a much earlier age than previous generations. The sole influence on the child used to be only the parents before they went off to school, and then the mother would be waiting for the child when they came home. The bond between mother and child during the formative years is now shared by the addition of several non-related people. Women come home from work and are too tired to become fully involved in the child’s life. Children are both helped and hindered by these additional influences. The mother becomes less of a figure in the child’s life, equaled to other people, her influence possibly lessened by the influence the child gets from other environments. The child also spends more of its time with adults other than the parents, and also their peers. Parents also work more hours to make more money for a quality of life that is much less than previous generations.

The life course revolution has also had a significant impact on our society. As people realize that they will live longer, the desire for comfort and the accumulation of things becomes more important over quality time shared with family. This has resulted in the rise of our consumer culture, of wanting ever more and more things. Many people become obsessed with giving their children all the toys and gifts that is supposed to somehow increase the fleeting happiness of their children. This results in teaching children that the accumulation of things equals happiness. As people live longer the desire for filling their lives with possessions overtakes the appreciation for just being alive.

The psychological revolution has had more beneficial effects than the other two. We live in a society that is becoming ever more enlightened and ready for change. We are living in a time where people are becoming more tolerant and compassionate towards others.  

Works Cited:

Skolnick, Arlene S., and Jerome H. Skolnick. Family in Transition 14^th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, 2007. Print.