1. In
your own words, summarize this essay's thesis.
In this essay, Gayle Rosenwald talks about how odd the term “Wife-Beater” is when it refers to an undershirt. It also talks about how everyone uses the undershirt and even top fashion designers have turned such a simple piece of clothing into a must-have piece that can be adorned with jewels, jackets, or a pricey suit, yet they fail to realize the undershirt has a really bad-sounding and stereotypical name.
2. According to Smith, what three problems are associated with defining the term wife-beater.
The
main problem is that it appears to be cool to say the name
wife-beater without fear of or without caring about hurting anyone
who's probably been abused by their spouse. Another problem
associated with the term is that is fueled by stereotype that
physically abusive husbands wear that particular type of shirt. The
third issue is that this term teaches the wrong thing about men since
many woman stated the undershirt made guys look “manly.” Such
statement leads people or Smith herself to question if manly equals
violent.
3. Why
does Smith include dictionary definitions of wife-beater? How is her
definition different from these dictionary definitions?
Smith
includes the dictionary definitions of wife-beater to explain the
meaning and concept of the term and to show how the name of this
clothing item is fueled by stereotype and how it is academically
established.
Smith introduces objections to her definition of wife-beater in the first two paragraphs of the essay, stating that fashion designers have made this piece of clothing into a must-have item that can be accessorized, how popular celebrities wore the undergarment, and how women adopted the shirt with great pleasure. Smith refutes the objections by showing statistics about women that are victims of abuse by their boyfriends and husbands and how violence affects the families in the United States. She also talks about the term feeding its stereotypical concept of men being abusive and violent.
I am curious how many men that know these shirts are nick named "wife beaters" quit wearing them because of this name. I have never wore or owned a wife beater, but would avoid owning or wearing one just so I didn't have to listen to my friends send wise cracks my way. I would imagine there are angry guys out there that had a bad experience with a girl might go out and buy one of these just to show his aggression towards woman. I guess the nick name stuck from seeing a bunch of mug shots of men that were arrested for domestic violence.
ReplyDeleteSince there is a lot of domestic violence and a weird connection with aggressive males who wear tank tops called “wife beaters” ,there is a problem with these shirts being called that. There are other undershirts that are called just what they are and it should not be in the norm for such a term to be so much as academically established.
ReplyDeleteThe major issue is that there are kids being brought up in violent households and women who are victims of a man's anger. What they wear is irrelevant to the bruises they caused and the feelings they crushed.
What a term "wife beater," when it is simply a tank top. I do not refer to these as wife beaters, that sounds horrible. This is sterotyping at its finest refering to a tank top as a wife beater. I do not understand how this provokes domestic violence between women and men; all it is a tank top. A garment that has become a sterotype of domestic violence and has been for as long as I can remember.
ReplyDelete