Blog Post #2

Gillian White
9/25/17

In the reading; Chapter 2, Fear: beneath the facade by Andres Gomez we learned a lot about stereotypes and gender expectations. Throughout this reading we follow along Gomez as he grows up in a culture where men need to be brave, bold and fearless. Gomez expands upon his life story and hardships he faced and how he couldn't act a certain way due to the fact that he is a man and "men don't cry". He acted tough and put on this facade of being a brave young man who didn't fear any obstacle that came his way. " I had intimate, firsthand knowledge of what it felt like to be alone, to be left out and excluded"(Gomez 52). There were hardships along the way but it didn't stop him from thriving and stunt his manhood. 
This reading opens our eyes to gender norms and expectations that we may not think about on a day to day basis. It is very important to learn how to see multiple perspectives of a situation and not enforce gender norms. Besides Gomez's experience this type of expectation is active in every day routines. Women are expected to be the housewife, caregiver, lesser power to men and so much more. Comparing "real men don't cry" to "women can't obtain that power" are one in the same. We see this in the workforce, on tv, movies and ads. With this type of pressure each gender is now classified by stereotypes and unrealistic expectations. Men CAN cry, women CAN obtain a higher paying job, we all CAN. 
The passage we read from Gomez helps us raise our voice and break norms that shouldn't be there. We all have fears so why does our gender prohibit us from having emotions? By Gomez speaking out the ball can start rolling in the right direction. It's important for us to learn this lesson because without it we just follow the unspoken rules and gender roles that were placed on us.