differentiated with reference to man and not he with reference to her. Man is absolute and
women is others (Beauvoir 255). This idea may explain why women virginity and beauty
has been shaped as consumables and necessities in most of the culture. Sylvia Plath was
oppressed by gender roles too (Plath 228). The weight of virginity destroyed her social
relationship and stimulated her revolution.
However, gender dualism not only brings negative effect to woman, but also man.
Men who have feminine appearance or behavior will be regarded as non-absolute. Women
have been pronounced to be “imperfect man” in ancient Greece, assuming femininity is 0
and masculinity is 1 (Beauvoir 255). So, The non-masculine man comes down from 1 to 0,
which disappointed the social expectation as the SELF. Gender roles will also harm
non-traditional men by more severe social exclusion. In China, gay adolescents have much
higher rate of being bullied than lesbian. I can still frequently see some comments on the
internet like “dude don’t be so girly”, “Are you a gay or a girl”, “omg she is even bigger
than a man” ... There’s still a long way to go.
Sometimes, man is not the first sex; power is. Recently, I felt totally depressed.
Because I finally aware the strength and ugliness of power. May 15th, 2019, Alabama
banned all kinds of abortion, even the women who have been raped. Women in Alabama
could face jail for having, or even trying to have, an abortion. And other states would
surely follow Alabama’s lead – some already have similar laws or being considered.
However, research shows that abortion restrictions don’t reduce abortions, but instead just
drive them underground and often make them unsafe, fueling maternal death and injury
(Klasing 1).
In 1950s America, Sylvia Plath had seen the same tragedy as I do, “Here was a
woman in terrible pain, obviously feeling every bit of it or she wouldn’t groan like that,
and she would go straight home and start another baby, because the drug would make her
forget how bad the pain had been, when all the time, in some secret part of her, that longs,
blind, doorless and windowless corridor of pain was waiting to open up and shut her up
again (Plath 66).” Personal is political. Giving birth is a private, individual, free choice and
it depends on woman and her body. However, due to the patriarchal social structure, the
uterus has no longer been an organ, but responsibility. The burden imposed on women by
her reproductive function … society alone is the arbiter (Beauvoir 67). After Roe v. Wade,