Through describing his experience with the new leader of Ku Klux Klan, Ronson tells the readers that the extremists like the Klansmen are as good as stupid because of their extreme racist ideas, which blind them from seeing the very fundamental, and easy problem. In Ronson's narration, Thom Robb, the new leader of KKK, tells the Klansmen that they should look friendly, that they should act like the good guys, so they can gain the political power, or the support of "feminine masses". And he goes on to claim that they will not gain the political power if they kept the old, "bad" way, which holds much aggression and thus forming negative images in other people's mind. This depicts the absurdity of Thom's whole speech because KKK or any other racist group is not gaining public support not because of their negative image but of their very nature - a group existing to discriminate any other ethnic group than white.
I found this piece to be quite amusing because Ronson tells this story very objectively, as if he was just observing them and not really thinking or judging any of their actions. But it is hard not to think that people described in here are stupid. And Ronson's close-to-being-dry tone just adds to its witt. I thought that it was much harder to find a solid point on this piece than on Gross', because he's not really stating anything and just implying his point, letting the reader to feel what he's trying to say.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Gross Summary
In her short piece, Bitch, Beverly Gross introduces the reader to the various meaning of the word "bitch," ranging from the dictionary definitions to the definitions that people give when they were asked for the word's meaning. Gross gives a few examples from each source that she got the definitions from, and claims that "the metamorphosis of bitch...is a touchstone to the changing position of women through this century" (80). The themes of bitch that emerged over time, according to gross, ranged from the promiscuousness to temperament to power (as in more liberty and competence), corresponding with the traits that men fear to see in women. Towards the end Gross implies that the word bitch might not be as powerful in the future, giving the example case of Madonna, that it "will embolden others with what consequences and effects it is impossible to foresee" (84).
Generally I agreed with most of the definitions that Gross gave, but I felt like she put too much emphasis on the "breaking the gender role" idea. I do agree to her point when she says that women's position is changing over time, that they are gaining more power, but it's hard to see that that change is what men fear to see in women (at least, not all men do). I guess that could relate to the datedness of the piece, when gender-based stereotype was rather rigid. I also found hard time agreeing with her "prediction," that the word bitch could lose its power in the future because I still think that it's a very offensive word to use, even almost 20 years after the piece was written, and I also believe that the "trend" of using the word bitch lightly shouldn't happen.
Generally I agreed with most of the definitions that Gross gave, but I felt like she put too much emphasis on the "breaking the gender role" idea. I do agree to her point when she says that women's position is changing over time, that they are gaining more power, but it's hard to see that that change is what men fear to see in women (at least, not all men do). I guess that could relate to the datedness of the piece, when gender-based stereotype was rather rigid. I also found hard time agreeing with her "prediction," that the word bitch could lose its power in the future because I still think that it's a very offensive word to use, even almost 20 years after the piece was written, and I also believe that the "trend" of using the word bitch lightly shouldn't happen.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
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