Analysis Of Jezebel s Sara Benincasa Essay - 783 Words

In one column, Jezebel’s Sara Benincasa responds to a woman who expresses her trouble getting along with other women. The woman communicates that she finds other women to be boring, as she does not want to talk about â€Å"babies or clothes or makeup or dating or diets or weddings† like her female counterparts. There are several issues to this woman’s question, the first and arguable most important being her reinforcement of the gender binary. The woman is expressing her concern that she has only two options: spending time with fellow women and being made bored by their rapport talk and interests, or spending time with her boyfriend’s male friends, and being able to participate in what she considers to be stimulating conversation about â€Å"business and gaming and sports.† Through this, the inquirer is defining male and female interests as mutually exclusive while simultaneously privileging male companionship as the superior choice. The questioner also describes that she does in fact have female friends; however, these women are â€Å"like a dude in a dress.† This description of her female friends speaks a lot to this woman’s views of femininity and masculinity and her perceived difference of the two. With dominant gender norms, idealized femininity and muscularity are opposite. This woman is stating that her female friends do not represent what society wants them to be; they are something different, something better. This way, she is classifying all other women as being the normal