The article’s title is “HERS; Why Boys Do not Play with Dolls”. The article was published in The New York Times on October 8, 1995. The author of this article is a poet and essayist named Katha Pollitt. The author’s main idea in this article is that the different preferences in girls and boys are not innate but due to influences from their parents and the whole society. She demonstrates that even though everyone would like to believe girls from birth have always liked to play with dolls and love wearing party dresses while boys like playing with guns and trucks, yet it is not the case. The author shows how the feminist revolution is not complete.
Pollitt claims that the theories of the innate difference in behavior are interesting; she argues that the behavioral differences between the two sexes are not from birth but is rather caused by cultural influences. These theories argue that parents are not responsible for their children’s misconducts or behaviors if he or she behaves in a way that is not according to their culture then they believe that it is how they were born. The author argues that these theories have led grown-ups to take the paths that societies allow them to. These paths require less intellectual efforts but involve more work citing an example of a working mom who comes home feeling fatigued, yet she finds it cooler to pick her son’s socks instead of making him do it himself.
Feminism has come a long way since the 1970s and has done a lot for women all over the world (Bennett 16), yet it is still unfinished. For example a mother at a birthday party whispers am sorry for getting the birthday girl a Barbie doll gift, she knows it’s not right because a Barbie doll represents a sexy, thin, and stylish woman an image feminists have been fighting for years yet she still gets it as a gift. Some feminists who criticize their sons love for sports in a comical way, yet they do nothing to discourage them from sports, could it be that they see sports as a symbol of manliness? They advocate for equality. Feminists should adhere to the things they believe in and not practice what they openly criticize because it is hypocritical.
Work Cited.
Bennett, Judith. M. History Matters: Patriarchy and the Challenge of Feminism. Pennsylvania. University of Pennsylvania Press. 2010.
