In the article by Sidonie Smith and Julia Watson, a theorist about gender and autobiography, Estelle C. Jelinek, argues that, "Differences between the sexes are manifest in both the content and the style of autobiography." (9) These differences in gender can be seen when comparing two of the autobiographies we read in class, Tim O'Brien's If I Die in a Combat Zone and also Dorothy Allison's Two or Three Things I Know for Sure. Not only do these narratives demonstrate the differences between genders, but they relate to larger political discussions about gender as well. Tim O'Brien's autobiography is gendered in a masculine way from the style that he actually writes in to the stories he chooses to include in the book. According to Jelinek, men are able to "distance themselves in autobiographies that are success stories and histories of their eras focused on their professional lives."
[...] I am sure that like most soldiers, returning was not an easy adjustment, however, O'Brien does not include the reader in on any of those feelings or thoughts. The fact that O'Brien chose to write his autobiography about his time in Vietnam, instead of the emotional aspect about how it impacted his life once he got back, demonstrates his masculine style of writing. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Dorothy Allison's autobiography is gendered in a feminine way from the larger politic issues that she addresses about gender to the way she writes about emotions and relationships. [...]
[...] Dorothy Allison also directly addresses topics that are taboo in our society when she says, am not supposed to talk about hating that man when I grew up to be a lesbian, a dyke, a stubborn, competitive, and perversely lustful.” She says that she is not supposed to talk about the connection between sexual abuse and homosexuality because her therapist said that, “People might imagine that sexual abuse makes lesbians.” In this part of her narrative she directly confronts an assumption that women are lesbians because some type of male tragedy has affected their life and turned them off from men. [...]
[...] Unlike O'Brien, Allison gives us a range of emotions from fear, sadness, anger, and contentment as well as personal stories to connect them. When Allison sleeps with one of her girlfriends she says, “When I finally let someone into my narrow bed, the first thing I told her was what I could not do. I said, I can't fix it girl. I can't fix anything. If you don't ask me to fix it, you can ask anything else. If you can say what you need, I'll try to give it to you.” Here she lets the readers in on what emotions she is feeling and lets us in on her personal relationship with another woman. [...]
[...] Both O'Brien and Allison's autobiographies portray their reactions to the trauma that surrounds them. Because those reactions are different, gender differences do occur. In conclusion, there are many gender differences between men and women's portrayals of their experiences through autobiography. Men [...]
[...] Now years after the war, when people are examining the purpose of the war, criticizing our country's need to be in Vietnam and questioning the actions that our soldiers took, O'Brien could be seen as a sort of hero for having always been opposed to it. So while O'Brien is clearly not trying to portray himself as a hero for fighting a war or killing people, he does come about hero status in a unique way by writing that he was always opposed to the war and was never about joining the military in the first place. [...]
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