Friday, February 26, 2010
Gender Questions
So this blog may be a little off tangent but just roll with me here. It was brought up in class about Zitkala-Sa taking the role of a male narrator in "The Soft-Hearted Sioux". Gina compared it to Boudinot possibly being the true author of "Poor Sarah". When the class had the discussion about Boudinot being the author, the entire class kept insisting that no he couldn't be the author since the story clearly was written by a female. But why can't he be the author? I guess what I'm trying to get at is why can a female personify a man but Boudinot not personify a woman? Is it because of generic gendered stereotypes or does it have to do with Native American stereotypes? In class Gina mentioned how the Sioux are known for their warfare and were pretty badass. So what does that say for Sioux women? Are they badass as well? Or are they dainty and prissy and however else society views women as? I'm not trying to sound like a feminist but I think it's an interesting idea to consider. I brought up that "The Soft-Hearted Sioux" couldn't be from a woman narrator because then it wouldn't be taken seriously because women are already stereotyped to having "soft hearts". But, if Sioux women are known as badasses then maybe the story could have been written from a female perspective. It is just interesting to consider how different cultures view their women and how it can sometimes be the only thing that different cultures agree upon.
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Yeah it gets extremely confusing with all of the gender preconceptions that arise from reading these stories, especially with the Poor Sarah story where we don't really know who wrote it to begin with. I think Sioux women would be badass. Isn't Sioux just another name for Lakota? And the strength of the Lakota women is seen in "We Aim NOT to Please." I thought your comment about a woman narrator in "The Soft-hearted Sioux" was well-founded. The story wouldn't be as powerful otherwise because the expectations of the readers would have changed.
ReplyDeleteYou raise a good point. We acknowledge how nearly every other aspect of a story is greatly influenced by cultural differences, however, we never really carry this on in relation to gender roles. We have already noted in class how greatly the symbolism of the color red differs from culture to culture, but how does this apply to the differing behaviors amongst males and females. I would also presume that the Sioux women were pretty hardcore much like their men of the tribe, but thats just stereotypically developed through hearsay of discussions in class. It would be something thats intteresting to look up.
ReplyDeleteI think that you pose a very interesting point. As far as "The Soft-Hearted Sioux" goes, the need for the point of view to be from a young boy as opposed to a girl goes beyond a woman being any more soft hearted than a man to the specific gender roles of the tribe. There might not be the same pressures or expectations of a young girl. However, I agree that Boudinot could have purposely written "Poor Sarah" from a woman's perspective but what are the benefits of that? How does that change the story for Boudinot?
ReplyDeleteGood point, it's quite a stretch to say that a person is *unable* to personify to gender. Why couldn't Boudinot have a female voice in the text? Who decides what is truly feminine and what is not anyway? You're right that many Native female voices are very strong hearted contrary to stereotypes. Boudinot might have chosen a female voice because he wanted to create a female to female character dynamic, that should be in the equation.
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