Satire? -Madison Flowers

I am sure that Erasmus truly did write “The Abbot and the Learned Lady” as satire and as a way to slam the cleric. However, in today’s society, I am afraid this would not be seen that way.

In sociology with Dr. Cooper, we just so happen to be studying gender and sexuality this week. As I was reading through “The Abbot and the Learned Lady” I could not help but think of how they relate. Gender roles are characteristics, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that people expect from females and males. Antronius could not understand why Magdalia would read instead of have a good time. He said it was a woman's business to have a good time, not to read. Antronius believed that Greek and Latin books were not appropriate furnishings for a lady’s house. This is also an example of gender stereotyping- expectations about how people will look, act, think, and feel based on their sex. Now I am sure some people were thinking, “Wow. I am glad people do not think this about women anymore.” But I would encourage you to look a little deeper. I am not saying it is near as bad now than it was back then, but think about the ways in which we describe men and the ways in which we describe women.  

·      He is firm; she is stubborn

·      He is careful about details; she is picky

·      He is honest; she is opinionated

·      He is raising good points; she is b*tching

·      He is a man of the world; she has “been around”

These examples are from the sociology book and honestly, I was shocked when I read through them. I had never noticed the difference before, but now I cannot get them out of my head. I am not trying to start an argument over feminism or anything, just trying to give you all something to think about and would love to hear your opinions. 

commented on Gray and Zelda's posts.