Women in Society

Women are striving to have positions that men hold in the world today, and they accuse the men of taking all of the pleasures for themselves, but men do it for the good of the women. In Scott Russell Sander’s essay "The Men We Carry in our Minds," Scott argues with is women friend Anneke about which gender has to deal with rougher circumstances than the other in the work force.  Both genders carry a heavy burden of gender-specific duties and the culture of America sets certain standards that each gender need to live up to.

Section Two- Three Points

According to men, women are pressured to be and do everything. Women have so many paths to choose from and they have so many voices calling them. Towards women, Sanders feels a "snarl of shame, envy, wary, tenderness, and amazement. (Sanders 315)" Women have to deal with a career, raising and caring for kids, and politics. But one of the things that amazes Sander’s most is that women have to have kids and be back to work in a week.

According to women, men are discredited for what they do. Anneke who symbolizes women talks about men who need to search their souls. She also says that men are eaten up with guilt from all of their doings. They work all the time and miss out on spending time with their children and families. They have so much to live with in their souls and minds.

In reality, men are the backbone of labor. In Sander’s eyes, men have two outcomes in life. Either they can be a farmer, or they can be a soldier. The farmer leads a life of enduring pain. They labor with their bodies, they deal with many hardships. The soldiers never sweat, and they never have breakdowns, but they deal with the fact that they will one day die of war. The laborers deal with long days of work at home and in the factories.

Section Three- One Quotation

Scott Sanders states, "But if I had been asked, as a boy, to choose between tending a baby and tending a machine, I think I would have chosen the baby. (Sanders 317)" This statement is a shadow of both genders and how the genders are stereotyped. This statement also shows how most people think towards the moms of children. This is a good statement that Scott uses because it summarizes the idea of his essay into one sentence. It brings up both points that men are stereotyped as machine tenders and women as home-wives.  It also makes you think. Which position would you really want? That position of a woman, or the one of a man? And how much worth is it to your life?

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