Gender Role And Gender Roles

When a person is born, they are either male or female. Before they are born, their parents are going to set goals and expectations for them. Sometimes parents will name their child after a famous celebrity hoping they will be just as great as them. Each gender will have different ways they should live their life in order to stay within their gender role. Some will meet the expectations and other will not. That does not make them look less of their gender, they will just be expected to meet them. Over the years, some gender roles have submerged and others have risen above. They will be able to show how the gender roles are supposed to be in jobs, education, and marriage and also how they can benefit from stepping out of the gender roles.

In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.

In present day all around the world, society has certain expectations for the actions and behaviors of males and females. There are many factors in our everyday lives that contribute to the gender norms that society has set. This essay will discuss how situations in life can play a part in how people treat other people based on their gender. It is believed that males are the leaders of our world, but in present day woman can do as much as men can do. From The Journal of Marriage and Family, Hu states, “Differentiated gender roles in adulthood are rooted in one’s gender role socialization. In order to understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the domestic sphere, we need to examine the gendered patterns of children’s housework time.”(2015, P.1). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females that they must be taught. These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. In The Journal of Sports behavior by Hardin, he states, “Although gender role differences from biological and “Natural” exists in popular consciousness, research has long demonstrated that instead, many are long time socially constructed… Individuals understand their gender because they are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dress in pink for girls and blue for boys, that reflect social construction of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is key in understanding the factors in socialization”(2009, P.3). Bandura's theory of of social cognition is that behavior, environmental events, and cognitive factors are the main keys that shape attitudes and actions of an individual. Although, gender roles play a very big part in our society, specific genders are treated differently while dealing with peer influence, media influence, as well as employment.

For centuries, there have been many societies with stereotypical gender roles that usually involve the men holding the positions of power and the women doing the domestic chores. Historically, men are usually considered to be the stronger of the two sexes and in most societies, it is up to the men to take care of the family. During the twentieth century, women in America began breaking boundaries when they earned the right to vote. More recently, there has been a breakthrough with gender roles as women are beginning to take charge in the workplace. Now, gender roles are not as defined and clear.

The role of women and men changed throughout the American history. Many people have different beliefs about the roles that women and men should have. In the 1800’s men would go out and work while women stayed home and take care of the house. In this current time it could be the opposite. Some women still stay at home while men go to work, some men stay at home while women go to work, or sometimes both the man and the woman in the household work.

Even though things are different in today’s modern society, gender roles do give each sex their own jobs and specific roles. For example, the woman in the household is expected to clean while the male is expected to do the yard work. This eliminates any sort of confusion between who has to do what in the house. Although this can be true, we don't have to stick to our roles assigned to us by society. Each person can pitch in a hand wherever it is needed, maybe the husband can cook once in a while and help out with the laundry. The wife doesn’t have to stay home all day cleaning the

The existence of such roles are shown to be damaging to all genders, causing people to feel set on specific interests and life paths based only on gender. Tara Culp-Ressler concludes, “This constant effort to manage one’s everyday life in line with gender norms produces significant anxiety, insecurity, stress and low self-esteem for both boys and girls.” Previously, women were associated with cooking, cleaning, and other typically feminine activities, while men were associated with sports and other typically masculine activities. Men must be the providers of a family, while women are expected to be caregivers.

Men in the American society are considered to be responsible for taking care of their family financially. They take their jobs as sole providers very earnestly. They also have the responsibility for guiding their family. Although they may listen what their wives have to say, they make the final decisions. In addition, men did not do chores and household duties. Women were expected to be in charge of running the household. Mothers did the laundry, cooked the meals, and cleaned the rooms. They also took care of the children, giving them the care and attention that was required (“Gender Roles in Society: Definition & Overview”). The biological and social evidence so far suggests that even when there is no external pressure, women and men tend to liberally choose varying roles in marriage and in society. And even when doing the identical jobs, men and women tend to approach things in a different manner than men. These different approaches often do follow the orthodox view of men taking a more intellectual and authoritative approach while women take a more emotional and relationship-oriented approach (“What are the Roles of Men and Women toward Each Other and in Society?”). In conclusion, the labor intensive and more prominent occupations that men hold, in comparison to the caring and maternal roles that women hold is what distinguishes men and women in the

In the past men were viewed as having to be strong, responsible and be in charge to make the decisions at the best interest of his household. The men used to work outside of the house in order to support his family. But after a while men started going towards the more traditional female jobs and they were viewed as weak and were judged about their masculinity. After a few years it became more common that some men wanted to stay at home with the kids either on paternity leave, or permanently as a stay at home dad which was giving them the more traditional female role (“Changing”). In a 2008 survey, about 56% of men said that they did at least half of the cooking in the house, which was an increase from 34% in 1992. In the same survey but a different question 53% of men said that they also did at least half of the house cleaning which was an increase from 40% in 1992. It is evident that over time as society has evolved that the gender roles for men have

Most people believe gender is only based on being male or female. People believe gender is based on the physical and biological differences between women and men. Over the last few years, the term gender has changed. When some people believe gender is being male or female. Most people associate gender with gender roles and how people are supposed to function or perform based on society’s expectations. In other words, people believe males and females have to behave according to their gender or gender roles to be socially accepted. For instance, it is socially accepted for women to be housewives while men work. However, gender is based upon how people are viewed and accepted. In other words, gender is based on how men and women feel about themselves, what is expected from them based on their roles, and how they are socially accepted.

Literature throughout history has displayed to us the evolution of the male and female gender roles in society. Women have been described as ‘the angel in the house,’ whilst men are typified as dominant and prevailing in comparison to women. The gothic genre in literature is used to personify and exaggerate these stereotypes, by using gothic motifs such as dream sequences and themes such as horror and terror. Not only does the gothic exaggerate the stereotypes, but it also allows them to be contravened, due to the transgressive nature of the genre. The psychoanalytical aspect of this genre, allows for repressed desires to be made eminent and therefore characters can transgress and in the process, cross their contemporary gender boundaries. Keats uses the gothic device of Negative capability in order to conceal the transgression of the females in his poetry, Carter revised gothic fairytales in order to display them from a feminist approach and Stoker uses gothic themes, set against the backdrop of the fluidity of Fin de siècle period, to allow characters to stray from their gender stereotypes.

Men collectively choose to receive psychological help less than their women counterparts. The sex distinction in help-seeking behavior occurs even when both women and men are equally afflicted. If male help-seeking behavior is to be increased, the reason for its neglect must be considered. Increasing our awareness of factors that may deter men from exploring psychological guidance may help in accessing reluctant men, allowing them to see past their preconceived ideology of masculinity.

Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.

Men fix the car and redo the roof, while the women clean the house and watch the kids. Perhaps it is the other way around? Before, gender roles were passed on through generations, but recently things have been changing. Traditional gender roles of men and women are not relevant in today’s society, due to changing times as seen through non-traditional families, more women pursuing higher education, and families being more open-minded.

Gender puts people into categories, and within these categories, they must conform to specific set of rules and norms. Gender in society causes people to tick off a box of either male or female. Although, non-binary is now slowly becoming accepted by some groups and individuals, society as whole has yet to fully included the identity into the picture. According to society, females are domesticated, have the role of being a nurturer, being graceful and submissive, and taking care of the family and home. On the other hand, males are dominant, they have a role as a protector and provider. I will argue about how gendered expectations limit human potential, as it causes individuals to take on roles, that may reflect who they are.