Month: October 2018

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, poignancy is identified as a adjective word. It means “painfully affecting the feelings”. In the article “Allowing Teenage Boys to Love Their Friends” it states,”she views her son’s friendships with pride and poignancy: “I love watching how the boys relate to each other on and off the field. But I’m so aware that this will go away. He’s aware of the expectation that eventually, a boy has to choose between a boy friend and a girlfriend.”. The word poignancy was used to explain how she feels sad that the friendship between her son and his friend wont last forever. She knows that change is only a matter of time and cherishes this moment while it lasts.

The word languish is a verb and the according to Merriam-Webster the definition is ” to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated”. I fond this word in the article “The Boys at the Back” by Christina Hoff Sommers. In this article, she talked about inequality between genders. She used this word to explain that girls have someone’s back in time of struggle, depression, and in education. Their is always someone who support them when they got weak at certain point. We need to do the same thing for boys when they got languished like got weak at some point.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, indignation is identified as a noun. It means “anger aroused by something unjust, unworthy, or mean”. In the article, “The Boys at the Back”, the last paragraph states, “Where was the indignation when men dominated higher education, decade after decade”. The word indignation is used to explain how people don’t give enough credit to men now compared to the past. Instead of looking down on them now, it’s telling us we should have equal credit.

Accord to dictionary.com the word vulnerability means capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt, as by a weapon: a vulnerable part of the body I find the word in the article of teaching men to be emotionally honest by Andrew Reiner “Some cultural critics link such mounting emotional vulnerability to the erosion of male privilege and all that it entails”  I didn’t know what the word mean but when I look it up. I understand what the word mean. Also the quote is talk about male feelings. 

et•i•quette (noun)

According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word etiquette means the conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority to be observed in social or official life. This word is found in the article “Teaching Men to Be Emotionally Honest” by Andrew Reiner when it states, “Dr. Kimmel came to my campus, Towson University, in 2011 to discuss the “Bro Code” of collegiate male etiquette.” Now knowing the definition of the word I know that the author was saying they were going to discuss about how males are observed in society and in their lives.

Dens: a secret place where people meet (noun)

This is the meaning of the word dens according to collinsdictionary.com. I saw this word when I was reading the article “Today’s Masculinity is stifling” on October 15th, 2018. It was on paragraph 10 in the sentence “Last year, when the Boys Scouts of America announced that they would begin admitting girls into their dens, young women saw a wall come down around a territory that was theirs to occupy. Girls were never able to be part of the boys scouts before this, and now they get to be part of a group which before, only had boys in it. Now they get to be part of the boys group or dens which is how i understood what the word dens meant by seeing it in this context.

Based on the Merriam-Webster the word “Dysphoria” (noun) means a state of feeling very unhappy, uneasy, or dissatisfied. In “Today’s Masculinity is stifling”, it states, “Too often gender dysphoria is conflated with the simple possibility that kids, when not steered toward one toy or color, will just like what they like, traditional gender expectations not with standing.” This quote means that parents can’t choose for their kid meaning that they have to let them being free in a way that they choose what they want to be, how they want to dress, so they can feel comfortable. Also, this qoute shows that parents have a big influence on boys masculinity.

Meritocratic: An elite group of people whose progress is based on ability and talent rather than on class privilege or wealth (noun)

 

Word of the week is Meritocratic, I first came across this word when reading “The Boys in the Back” which mainly discusses why boys are known to struggle with school more than girls. The word meritocratic was found in the sixth paragraph, which states ” white men embraced meritocratic values and diversity of gender,race, and class” I figured that meritocratic may have something to do with race and social class, which it did. The author wants to tell readers that in the 1970s, that a person was considered an upper class, based on their abilities and talents, instead of their wealth. I now know how to use this word in sentences when needed, and others who did not know what this word meant before can now add it to their vocabulary.

-Nayideh Rene

 

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, proficient is defined as being well advanced in an art, occupation, or branch of knowledge. In the reading “The Boys At The Back” by Christina Hoff Sommers, the word appears on the fourth paragraph as stated, “No previous study, to my knowledge, has demonstrated that the well-known gender gap in school grades begins so early and is almost entirely attributable to differences in behavior. The researchers found that teachers rated boys as less proficient even when the boys did just as well as the girls on tests of reading, math and science”. Now knowing what the word means, the author included this research finding to show the reader that teachers see “boys as less proficient even when the boys did just as well as the girls on tests of reading, math and science”, in support of the claim that “teachers of classes as early as kindergarten factor good behavior into grades — and girls, as a rule, comport themselves far better than boys”.

mocked(Verb)

According to the dictionary William-webster the word mock mean” to treat with contempt or ridicule “.

In last week we just learn the article”What our son learn from donal Trump” By Clarie Cain Miller,In one of the quote said”We have evidence that if you shift the discourse around boys and give them the cultural support they need to solve problems with strategies other than aggression and to express their feelings without being mocked, they respond just like any human being”.

In this quote after I search the meaning “mock”. Now get me more understanding, the sectence is telling us dont laghing on the male when they expressing their feeling.The word mock in here mean dont make it look like hilarious is some male expressing their feeling, and gave them cultural support so with can change the meaning of masculinity.