Gender Roles In Society

In a systemically patriarchal society that encourages and enforces the gender binary, we as a public are conditioned to accept and cooperate with the heteronormative paradigm. Pop-culture and the media are large contributors in the ways in which the gender binary is perpetuated. Gender norms are constantly marketed towards

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

Over time, the perfect body image has changed in many ways. This is very evident in the female sex, especially through media. “Americans spend about 68 hours per week exposed to various forms of media” (US Census Bureau 2009). This media exposure through outlets such as t.v., radio, music videos, movies, and the internet, all influence the way people think about gender. The media influence is very evident in the way people view women and think about women in different cultures. Media influence on women creates negative viewpoints with how women view themselves and even how men view themselves, in turn making it hard to break certain beliefs and stereotypes instilled on society.

The harmful implications of ongoing exposure to these unattainable ideals, such as low self-esteem, eating disorders, unhealthy body image, and increased acceptance of violence, make urgent the need for change. How does a society go about changing such long-standing norms? In light of its pervasiveness and highly influential nature, the media may be the proper place to begin changing gender stereotypes.

Common female stereotypes found in the media have a powerful influence over how society views women and how women view themselves.

Despite nearly all forms of modern media readily available at all times in the pockets of our jeans and hoodies, influences from media on how people perceive gender and its surrounding issues is often overlooked or ignored under the premise of normalization.

There is constant pressure that is put on women through advertising, internet, television, movies, and other media to be attractive or look good and be physically fit. Most would argue that many strides have been taken in how women are portrayed on the internet, television and magazines, and in film. In the last few years there has been growth in the number of women in media behind the scenes and their influence is growing. However, female stereotypes still flourish in the media we consume every day, on the internet, in print media, and on television.

At a young age, children begin to comprehend gender roles, which are a set of societal norms that determine what is considered acceptable, desirable and appropriate based on an individual's sex. We obtain these gender-associated roles from various places and one dominant source with direct influence is the media. Media plays a critical role in influencing gender roles through impacting the career choices we make, the behavioral patterns we implement in our lives and the sexual stereotypes we have been conditioned to accept.

When I was assigned this essay, I thought I don’t know anything about Western tradition. I decided to do a little reading and ask a few people their perspective. I then decided that I would write about the gender roles in Western society and how they are different from gender roles today. So, what is the West? According to our text, the West refers to the Greek, Roman, Hebrew, and Christian traditions. I’m going to explain how in each of those traditions gender roles were influenced. “In Western society, to be ‘feminine’ is to be nurturant, expressive, cooperative, and sensitive. To be ‘masculine’ is to be active, aggressive, dominant, and ambitious.” (Basow, Susan. "Gender Roles." In Women's Studies Encyclopedia, ed. Helen Tierney. Greenwood

The advertisements that she studied all had the same patterns, depicting women as sexual objects who were submissive, domestic, and attractive based on male standards (2010). Even though men were sometimes depicted as sexual objects, they were never under the same scrutiny as women. Although people stated that advertisements do not affect them, that they merely tune them out, this notion is incorrect because advertisements are cumulative and subconscious; considering, 8% of the advertisement is taken up by the conscious mind (Kilbourne 2010). Thus, media images do influence the consumer, and makes them believe the gender roles reinforced through the advertisement because that is what their mind takes in subconsciously. Moreover, advertisements act as socializing agents because each gender is expected to act according to their gender role that is society constructed. As noticed in the pampers commercial, the idea behind the mother holding the newborn child reinforces the idea that women are expected to be domestic. Additionally, the same idea is present in the Disney World commercial where the women hold a status as a mother, in which her role is to be a caretaker of her daughter, while her strong husband and son bring the luggage to the hotel. Although subtle, the same message of the man being strong was shown in the Geico advertisement, where there are more men than women riding the motorcycles. However, there was gender role reversal in the Chase bank advertisement, where the man was shown as emotional and intelligent, while the women held the role of intelligent. This reveals the idea that even though there are advertisements that feed into the gender role socialization, there are some advertisements that stray away from this socially constructed notion. Overall, a majority of the

The roles of males and females in society have significantly changed, as opposed to the predominant roles in our history. In the modern culture of today, women have begun to break out of the mold that which society has placed her in. This much can’t be said when it comes to modern gender representation in mass media advertising. It can be safe to state that woman are seen as sexual, fragile, exotic—whereas men are portrayed as tough, in control, and aggressive. This trend can be one seen as an inhibitor to the advancement of our culture, because especially for women, it is hard to pull away from the stereotypes that are continuously represented. As examples of the given trend, the following

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards

The media plays a major role in creating our social norms, whether it be through advertisement, television, film, newspapers, or magazines. From a young age, gender roles are taught to both boys and girls. Young girls are given dolls, carriages, and easy bake ovens, while boys are given action figures, toy soldiers, and cars. Once those same young girls and boys get a bit older, the messages send through the media change. For females, these ads seem to focus on physical appearance, during a time when self-esteem is most important in their lives.

Gender stereotyping in media has existed since the beginning of media itself. From newspaper ads to billboards to movies, men and women have been put in certain molds that have proven consistent over time. Gender stereotyping, however, is no longer relevant in today's society. In the 1950s, making women gentle mothers or secretaries and men strong builders or businessmen may have sold, but it is becoming more and more common for these stereotypes to be less than sufficient. In media, stereotypes are becoming more subtle, but are still there; it is not surprising that a war has been waged against these stereotypes and any perpetuators who seem insistent upon keeping them. Gender stereotypes are outdated and not relevant to today's society.

Imagine a world that's been evolved enough to forget traditional gender roles. A world where people break from the molds and liberate themselves. That would be progressive and productive. That is the kind of world that the future of our people should strive for. Maybe there was a time that the human race needed these roles to establish themselves, but now the times have changed. One by one, the stigmas are breaking. Despite this, some molds are harder to break and need a little more cracking to release the people from that specific roles. There are many categories of which gender and culture can be dissected and redirected to a more progressive outlook. (may have to take that out) To go into specifics, traditional gender roles in the United States are inhibiting the progression of equal wages, social expectations, and self-acceptance.