A Room of One's Own

Something that struck me as interesting in the class discussion about A Room of One's Own was the topic about men writing about women and vice versa. I think that in many cases both male and female think they know the other sex better than that sex itself. Speaking from my own opinion, I think women know men a little bit better than they think we do. Women are smarter, right? We're just supposed to act dumb around boys so that they feel smarter, and therefore more masculine and powerful. But really we know what they're thinking even if they don't know it. Men also think they know all about women and how they feel and how they are supposed to act. Femininity is viewed as something weak and less powerful than masculinity. But people can't just be simply described as male or female. There are so many other characteristics and personalities that make people unique. That is why some men can be described as "feminine." However, I have come to realize that I don't like the term feminine or masculine because they are defined as characteristics of the male or female sex. This does not really help with my argument though. A man can still be a man even if he does have a feminine personality. A women can still be female even if she has masculine characteristics. People are complex. No one is the same as someone else. Men can write a women's character and be spot on with how a women he knew acted. A women can create a male character that can be exactly how your brother acts. Not all men are the same and not all women are the same. Therefore, not all female and male characters in fiction will be the same. Some characters may be portrayed in a stereotypical way, but that does make them wrong, or right. But it became a stereotype for a reason.