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Stereotypes In Nora Ephron's A Few Words About Breast

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Stereotypes In Nora Ephron's A Few Words About Breast
Androgyny is the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics. Gender Stereotypes are ideas whereby males and females are arbitrarily assigned characteristics and roles determined and limited by their sex and sexual orientation. Both of these are taught to us through our parents, peers, teachers, television, and music, but only one has a truly negative effect. Gender Stereotypes cause people to feel as if they need to identify specific sets of characteristics to be true to their gender which results in low self-esteem, confusion, and embarrassment. In Nora Ephron’s article “A Few Words About Breasts” she writes, “We learned that the way you sat, crossed your legs, held a cigarette, and looked at your nails, your wristwatch, the way …show more content…
In TIME magazine there was an article called “The New Androgyny” by Michele Orecklin, she writes, “There are men who appreciate and enjoy wearing well-made, chic clothing for their own edification, not that of their boss or wife. Such men, who have emerged as a notable force in the past year, cannot necessarily be characterized as gay or straight, nor can they be written off as dandies.” In other words, Orecklin believes that it is okay for men to be into fashion without it having to define or prove their gender and sexual orientation. It is thought that men who are into fashion and shopping must either be gay or soon-to-be transsexual. Orecklin disagrees with that when she then writes, “They are also buying suits not because they have to but because they want to. And in perhaps the biggest shift, they are shopping by themselves, not with a wife, girlfriend, or partner…” The essence of Orecklin’s argument is that a man can be completely one hundred percent male and still be into fashion, shopping for themselves, and dressing nicely no matter their sexual orientation. Orecklin’s theory of men being able to be a man and still into fashion, is extremely useful because it sheds light on the stereotypical problem of the specific “rules” that defines a

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