Friday, March 25, 2011

Gender Differences

Should parents/guardians raise their teenage girls in the same way that they raise their teenage boys? Why or why not? What rules should be the same for girls and boys? What should be different? Explain.

Cisneros obviously believes that parents do raise their teenage boys/girls differently...But according to the following vignettes, does she think they should? How do you think Cisneros would answer the question above?


I believe that parents/ guardians should raise their teenage girls differently from how they raise their teenage boys. I believe this because girls and boy have two different ways of thinking. In general, girls are more sensitive than boys, they are constantly thinking about things emotionally and physically. How does my hair look right now? Why isn't he talking to me? Will I ever look as pretty as her? These questions run through minds of teenage girls. On the contrary, boys don't tend to worry about their appearance as much and are more leniant in the way they feel about themselves. 


Some rules that should be the same for boys and girls are that they should be held to the same expectations. Grades at a good standard for average teenagers. Tidiness is good. Chores are being done. Rules are being followed. These are very common rules that are set for both boys and girls. On the other hand, girls should be allowed to spend more money than boys. This doesn't mean they are allowed to blow up their parent's credit cards, it means that they should be able to spend money at a good extent. At the same time the items that they are spending on should be something they need not something they want just to have it. I guess the rule goes for boys too. But in the end, parents/guardians should just be more thoughtful in expressing their feelings towards girls since they are more emotional.


In the vignette, Marin, Esperanza says 
“Since you always get to look beautiful [...] and take you to live in a big house far away.” (26)
what Cisneros is trying to say is that girls are raised to be married, they should be treated differently from men because women often worry about their looks. This is the result of the pressure to get married in the future.

Another quote that she says is,"Nennys says she won't wait her whole life for a husband to come and get her." (88) This shows that Cisneros feels that marraige is key to life of women. This is why they should be treated differently compared to guys.

1 comment:

  1. The prompt asks you to remove yourself from the analysis and focus on how CISNEROS herself would answer the question, as implied by what she wrote in her vignettes. Here I see your opinions followed by some CDs tacked onto the end...

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