Mind and Citadel Essay

ph eithericness is the properties slipistic of the male sex. Char wagereristics include force play, toughness, ferociousness and m any(prenominal) much. All of which atomic number 18 the flakeistics of the sons who await The bastion in hopes of leaving the schooling as military personnelpower. Susan Faludi, author of The Naked fastness, writes nigh the problems within the prestigious school, the major problem, universeness sexism. The citadels problem foundation be almost clearly support by Malcom Gladwells world power of setting argu custodyt from his book the Tipping Point.The militaristic environment at the fort spays each cadets character into an extreme emotion solelyy ruined version of who they once were. These changes deed into violence in the extreme. cognizance is the let on to human beingsy disagreements within party. This holds confessedly in the situation that affects The bastion. When a girl, Shannon Faulkner, applies to be the initiatory fem ale admitted to the Cadet Corps. She attempts to mess with the organisation by leaving out her gender. The intelligence at the Citadel is that women would non be a good fit in the school. Tradition has a major region with this.It is apparent that Shannons entrance to the Citadel has proven to become a little terror to the Citadel community since it is an in all(prenominal)-male institution, intended to trail sincere men. The Citadel has al behaviors been an all son school as unless of course, they werent really boys at all. These were college men (Faludi 78). Whos to say however that they are in fact men? What defines a man? Within the companionship a man is expected to think, act and wear in a masculine air. show emotions or sensitivity is considered taboo among the males. In the Citadel a man feces act in a manner in which the threat of breaking the unrestricted norms is not eminent.The way of life in the Citadel made it almost unaccepted to live for a char. inn as a whole saw the Citadel as an established all male school and they were determined to keep it that way. However, this comprehension is home base on what is seen from an outside perspective. Gladwell defines this facet of perception of character as the FAE, vestigial Attri plainlyion Error. Gladwell writes, The dislocate we make in thinking of character as something merge and all-encompassing is very similar to a patient of of blind spot in the way we process information (162).If character is something unified, thus everyone must be classified as one in the aforesaid(prenominal). The mistake the Citadel is making is having their all boy school rule become a blind spot for the future. The future that lies forrard dismiss never be, if the Citadel sticks to their tradition. measure tradition is what made the school so prestigious, a change in time may also need a change in tradition. A women advise just as easily be one of the guys as any other(a) guy. While men ad judge specify characteristics that make them appear diametric from women, in that respect are many attributes, such as personality that isnt so typical between certain people.The Citadel being filled with men who everyone knew would resist the estimate of a women being admitted to the school, needed someone who could fit in. Robert Patterson, the Citadel attorney who had antecedently represented V. M. I. , asked Astin, his voice full of unflattering insinuation about the kind of char he imagined her to be. Astin I suppose the same as the kind of men who trust to go there. Patterson Would it be a woman that would not be all that una interchangeable from men? Astin Yes. (Faludi 95).This quick interrogation of black lovage Astin explains that men and women are not different after all. While Patterson thought he found the winning point to his vitrine, he actually put himself and the Citadel in a hole. Women, who would apply to The Citadel, nip that they capture the abili ty to compete with the existing me inside. Everyone knew how the Citadel was run. It was filled with aggressive men low military rules. But Shannon Faulkner compose applied.Sharron Faulkner was the flake of women that Patterson perceived would be able to attend the Citadel. You could cite her memory that as a small child she preferred vie outside with the boys to playing with certain girls whom she deemed withal prissy (Faludi 96). Shannon was always, one of the boys. Her background and widely distributed attitude is extremely similar to anyone of the men at the Citadel. Even with this, the Citadel is still against the stem. The psychologist Walter Mischel argues that the human mind has a kind of reducing valve that creates and maintains the perception of continuity rase in the face of perpetual observe changes in actual behavior (Gladwell 162).The way our mind works, it is hard for people to have multiple views on something. In the case of the Citadel, society perceived th e school as a strict all boy school that is not suitable for any women. Society also perceived Shannon as just a woman. Just isnt putting down that aspect, but that is all that society saw her as. So if the Citadel is looked at and known as an all boys militaristic school that women would never be able to step foot into as a student and Shannon was looked at as just a woman then in no way soma or form would she ever be allowed to attend that school.Thats the problem with our society. We base our judgment on what we see, not on what we know. Any women who is go awaying to put herself by federal agency of that type of embarrassment and trouble and nevertheless death threats just to get into a school, in my mind is more of a man than any of those kids in the Citadel. Society is filled with stereotypes and that is what everyone is based off of. You, the nigh guy and me will always be looked at by society as part of a stereotype. This is the problem with the Citadel, and society i n general.Perception is key in all events that occur at the Citadel. Perception plays a strong role in the Power of Context as well as sexism at the Citadel. The focus on environment is the main aspect of the Power of Context. It says the people are acutely naked as a jaybird to their environment (Gladwell 159). People are and then prompted to do certain things based on their perception of their environment.This is exactly what was occurring at the Citadel. The cadets were prompted to contradict physically towards each other based on what their perception of a man was. Knobs told me that they were forced to run through the showers term the upperclassman gaurds knocked the soap out of their hands and, when the knobs leaned all over to retrieve it the upperclassman would unzip their pants and yell, befoolt pick it up, dont pick it up Well use you like we used those girls (Faludi 105). The Citadel continually expresses the idea of being a man. However, the upperclassman takes ad vantage of this and confuses strength of a man with violence. These knobs that come into the university as boys, are turning into emotionally scraggy individuals.They lack the understanding of a real man. As well as what it means to be in a alliance a part from other men. Women, whether they remember so or not, are a great importance to the future of the Citadel. The frankness of the Citadel, however, is that its producing less men and more homosexuals. This may in fact be a direct result of no women in the vicinity. When a Citadel attorney asked Doucet why female cadets would pose a problem on the campus, the hardly make love he raised was the degradation that cadets feel if women observe the cadets on-campus interactions (Faludi 104).Humiliation may be one of the strongest emotions that can alter ones character forever. However, if women were allowed in the school than humiliation would not be an issue because the men would change their ways to please women. Women posed no actual threat to the school, except the embarrassment of the cadets. Is that even a legitimate apprehension to prevent a girl of acquire an education? Shannon was faced with more humiliation and threats than the boys in the school could ever imagine. Then, as they turned back to the house, they saw that crosswise the white porch columns and along the siding of the house, the words, Bitch, Dyke, Whore, and Lesbo (Faludi 94). The Citadel Cadets were criticizing Shannon Faulkner because she wanted to be accepted. It just so happens that all the terms they used all categorized her as a man. Shannon could speak, act and dress like a man but no matter what she will never be able to be fully accepted because in their minds only a man a true man is suited for the school. The controversy at the Citadel is a sad but eye opening example of how our society is.Society puts them in a mindset where only one way is the reform way. If society can open up their brains to more opportunities than a lot of problems would be alleviated. Malcom Gladwell poses the reasoning of the Citadels problems with the idea of the Power of Context. in that respect is so much that goes on in a situation that it should never be that easy to give an answer. The situation at the Citadel is un-fair and wrong. Women are just as smart and important as men and should have the same rules. But in that argument, if you want to be treated the same, you cant complain.