Category: Entry 5

Andrew Reiner, the author of “Talking to boys the way we talk to girls” used the word angling on paragraph 3. Based on the Merriam-Webster dictionary the word angling is a noun and it means the sport of fishing. Based on the sentence ” When fathers appear in children’s picture books, they’re angling for laughs, taking their sons on adventures or modeling physical strength or stoic independence ” . The author used the word as a term where it’s common for a father-son activity to do.

vul·ner·a·bil·i·ty (noun)

Andrew Reiner, “Talking to Boys the Way We Talk to Girls;” Claire Cain Miller

According to dictionary.com vulnerability means the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.  In the story that is ashamed that some men grow uneasy to take up on their offer.  As men do not own up to their actions.  In which, that is what I thought it meant, but the definition says otherwise.  After reading the definition, what that sentences meant was that is it vulnerability or mentally harmed that men does not acknowledge that the way they were raised, they do not own up to their actions they made.

In the article “If Black Men Want to Heal Rascism’s Wounds, We Cant Pretend to be Strong All the Time” written by Mychal Denzel Smith, the word stoicism is used to describe what is learned from masculinity. For example, “… men inherit a sense of masculinity that teaches stoicism as a virtue.” Stoicism means that pain and hardwork is felt by men and they could not show any emotion or feelings towards whatever they are doing. It is taught as a virtue becuase this is what society expects from men.

Turmoil is a very confused or disturbed state or condition, based on the Merriam-Webster. On “If Black men want to heal racism wounds, we can’t pretend to be strong all the time”, it states on pg#99, Generations of black boys and men are walking around with turmoil swelling inside them, ready to explode at any minute.” This word is the definition on how men are trapping all this feeling until the last minutes to show of all this anger, pain and sadness that they kept for so long  that are now showing in a violence way. 

 

commensurate(adjective)

According to the dictionary Marriam Webster, the word commensurate mean” corresponding in size, extent, amount, or degree “.

In class we learn the article”The Boys Are Not All Right”by Michael Ian Black, one part of the article said”Boys, though, have been left behind. No commensurate movement has emerged to help them navigate toward a full expression gender “.

After this quote I start to understand what the word commensurate mean in this sentence, it mean there no more movement to help them have a full expression, and to support to make them move forward, which always left behind..

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, dystopian or dystopia is defined as an imaginary place where people lead dehumanizing and often fearful lives. In the reading “Talking to Boys the Way We Talk to Girls” by Andrew Reiner, the word appears on the third page on the second paragraph as stated, “We tell ourselves we are preparing our sons to fight (literally and figuratively), to compete in a world and economy that’s brutish and callous. The sooner we can groom them for this dystopian future, the better off they’ll be”. Knowing what the word means, I can understand the reading better. The sooner they are talked out of this imaginary place that society has created, a society that seems to be dehumanizing boys, the sooner boys will begin to grow in an environment that wont negatively affect them.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word Caricatures(Noun) means exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics.  This word can be found in page 99, “But we’re all guilty of reducing our image of rappers to caricatures. When they tell us what’s wrong, do we listen?” This shows that people pay attention to rappers talking about drugs, money, and sex then calling out for help in their rap songs. Instead of us realizing their cry for help we criticize them for making inappropriate remarks in their songs. Learning the definition of this word helped me get a clearer understanding of the point that Smith is trying to make about seeing rappers cry of help as an exaggeration.

Analytical. An adjective defined as “skilled in or using analysis especially in thinking or reasoning” by Merriam Webster Dictionary. In the article, “Talking To The Boys The Way We Talk To Girls” it talks about how parents talk differently to their sons compared to their daughters. The article states “. . . they use language that is more analytical and that acknowledges their sadness far more than they do with their sons.” This quote shows how parents use a more understanding and emotional language with their daughters. As for their sons, they use a more firm and tough language. They are more strict with their sons.

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, retroactive is identified as a adjective word. It means “extending in scope or effect to a prior time or to conditions that existed or originated in the past”. On page 91, it states,”I now know many people who have lived with depression, but that’s a retroactive designation.” The word was used to explain that the people he knows has suffered from depression in the past. It’s telling us that people had this problem but never talked about it until they were older.

The definition of the word Mold means in the Merriam Webster “distinctive nature or character. The word is a noun. The word Mold can be found in “What Our Son Are Learning From Donald Trump” by Claire Cain Miller on paragraph 1 when Miller states, “That constrain boys, and particularly harms those who don’t fit the mold-as much as it does girls who want to be active and competitive too.” The author uses the word mold to show how boys are not able to fit a group easily like others. Knowing the word helped me understand what the author was saying because I thought he meant mold as in fungus.