Traditional Gender Roles

Gender roles are the socially characteristic activities that men and women engage in with different constancy. It can be challenging for either a male or female being trapped in a body they are no longer comfortable with. Negative attitudes toward transgender persons may result in transphobia as well as discriminatory treatment of transgender individuals. This gender identity disorder can be due to social influences as well as within one’s household. At younger ages it is believed that kids are more pressured to adopt gender typical behaviors. Through examination of two important sources social learning theory and cognitive developmental theory I will identify gender identity and the internal and external struggles transgender individuals’ face.

American society today is not any different from the past, except today people are apt to discuss everything publicly on various social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram just to name a few. Transgender persons happen to be one of those subjects that have become the hot topic of the new normal. Nowadays there are blogs, tweets, and pictures posted online of people’s transition “coming out.” Like the past, society is still tough when it comes to judging each other. Although transgender might not have had a recognized community in the past, it is prevalent that society is becoming more accepting of their community, and aware of issues their community faces. In this essay the names, nouns, or pronouns used will be in accordance to the individual’s preference.

Transgender issues cover a a multitude of spheres: discrimination (at school, in the workplace, when looking for housing), violence, suicide, and identification through legal documents to name a few. Transgender individuals deal with greater struggles than that of cisgender individuals, or those who identity as the gender which they were assigned at birth. Perhaps one of the greatest struggles transgender individuals have to deal with is acceptance, whether it be acceptance from others or acceptance of themselves. Cisgender individuals, or those who identify with the gender identity given at birth, do not have to worry that their gender identity will be accepted; society has already dictated it to be ‘normal’ and ‘acceptable’ (“Definitions of Terms”). Trans individuals are not afforded this luxury.

Home life is a core area that can be the biggest influence on ones opinions of gender roles. The content of the article “Parental Influence on Children’s Socialization to Gender Roles” written by Susan Witt introduces where stereotypical gender association derives. Gender roles can easily be adopted through the household and when children are placed in an environment where it is easily transmitted through the parents’ then that child will follow their parents’ influences (Witt, par. 1). Schooling, media, and society are also large influences on children at a young age to behave a certain way. Self-concept is also a large chunk of the way children see themselves when they begin to grow and criticism from parents can be a large influence on shaping that child’s perspective (Witt, par. 3).

There were a few television shows that reinforce the traditional gender roles assigned to both men and woman. “I Love Lucy”, “The Jeffersons”, “Goodtimes”, “All in the Family”, “My Wife and Kids”, and “Fresh Prince of Bell Air” were all traditional gender role television shows. All of these shows had the men working and the women were taking care of everything at home. “The Jeffersons” were a little different than the rest because they had Florence there to do all of the housework and Mrs. Jefferson didn’t do much at all around the house unless she wanted to of course. Another show was “The Brady Bunch” this show was also different from the rest because although they had Alice there to help Ms. Brady because she had a lot of children,

Argued in Eckert and McConnell-Ginet (2003:15), living up to our gender is learning through a life-long process of socialization. Further supported in Kulick and Schieffelin (2006:352), one’s gender emerges over a lifetime through interactive process in which one accepts, rejects, or modifies the cultural and gender norms they are socialized in. These two arguments supported the idea of this essay’s research question in which cultural and social factors do contribute to gendering an individual, and in turn implicating the creation of a boundary that exclude transgenders from the society.

In todays society there has been an increase of individuals who identify as transgender, but for most people are still unsure how to accurately define these individuals, and find their place in society. Transgender individuals have the body of one gender, but believe themselves to be of the other gender. The sociological definition of sex is defined as a biological categorization based on reproductive organs, while gender is defined as a social classification based on ones identity, sexual behavior, and interaction with others. Transgender bodies disrupt this linear relationship between an individual’s biological sex and the gender they chose to identify with. The American Psychological Association defines “Transgender” as an “umbrella term for persons whose gender identity, gender expression, or behavior does not conform to that typically associated with the sex to which they were assigned at birth.” The transition of a transgender individual does not happen over night “ most people hear the word transition and think its… its more like trans-ness can be a representative of a s constant state of becoming, of growing, and unfolding” (Dove-Viebahn, Soloway, 2015). Although in our society we are fighting towards equality of all individuals, a conservative feminist would view the issue of transgender disrupting the linear relationship between biology and gender identify by not wanting individuals going from a woman to a man, due to the fact that its giving men more power. They would also believe that an changing genders to a man shows that an individual who is not happy in a woman’s body is trying to change something to become better, seeing better qualities in a man if one wishes to change their gender to that of a man. Although there are still alternative views on individuals who are transgender, transgender bodies have begun a movement of showing how the human body is not only biological, but also rather sites of identity, self- expression, and performance. This allows individuals to be able to express themselves in ways possible that are not binary to ones biology. Imagine a society where there were no gender roles and stereotypes, in a society that allowed individuals to be who they are without being

“I think we 're struggling with trying to redefine various positions at this point in history. To allow freedom for women, freedom for men, freedom from those sharply defined gender roles “ (Fred Ward). I agree with this quote because in today’s society gender defines the roles of what a male and a female can do. What is gender? Gender, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, is the state of being male or female (typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones). The term gender is only used when we describe how men and women are different in a society but the actual term that really defines a man and a woman is sex. Sex, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary, is either of the two main categories (male and female) into which humans and many other living things are divided on the basis of their reproductive functions. The differences of gender roles are something that is seen in many cultures. It can be seen in families, society, in occupations, and in politics. This can be related in the field of psychology because these can create a general notion of a person and what they are supposed to do and how they should behave, or in other words what a person can create in his or her mind is stereotypes. Some stereotypes on gender are according to www.healthguide.org some of the gender stereotypes are that women should have clean jobs. That means that women should not have a job like a being a sewage worker or a miner. Another

Examine the impact of traditional gender expectations on the specific roles individuals adopt within groups There are many traditional gender expectations that are significant and have an impact on both males and females on the specific roles that they adopt within groups. Traditional male expectations include, that males are expected to be the family provider, for example working full time and giving money to their family so that they can buy their basic daily needs for example food and clothing. Men are also expected to protect woman and his children, for instance, in cases where they are placed in unsafe situations. Traditional female expectations include that they are expected to follow their husband’s ideas, plans and decisions without arguing and to keep everything in their household clean and tidy.

In today’s society, a person is able to identify themselves as a boy, a girl or a transgender. Transgender is a delicate subject to some people as it may be accepted by some and abnormal for others. Lisa Fields, a journalist, informed us that nearly 700,000 people are living publicly as transgender in the U.S and many people have many assumptions about what it means to be transgender. The people who identify themselves as transgender say it what is means inside to them is what matters. Additionally, different ways of marriage are introduced into today’s world more than just a man and a wife married together. Gay, lesbian and traditional relationships are all around today having the same issues as the transgender subject. The issue that

The paper studies the attitudes of heterosexual adult population towards transgender people, while simultaneously clarifying exactly why there exists some hostility towards homosexuals, both in the United States of America. The paper puts across the statement that the word itself (Transgender) is now largely used to factor out groups of people who apparently communicate expressions and qualities relating to both genders, not just their own. This description given by Stryker is frequently used to label people who have, using their characteristics and actions, “crossed over”(p. 251) or switched between society-created gender norms. The modern world, as a result of this, tackles the phrase with unfriendliness, even hostility, since they feel susceptible of its non-conformity. This view more than often stems from the belief that said non-conformity can be harmful for the society as a whole. The paper further states that the US medical and psychiatric professionals believed transsexuals, for a large part of history, to be “severely neurotic” or mentally ill with a disease or dysfunction in the functioning of the brain. It wouldn’t be wrong to assume that transsexuals have faced adversities and difficulties in other parts of the world too like Hong Kong, Sweden, United Kingdom, and etc. solely because of their identities. In my opinion, trans-genders will continually face

Gender roles are learned by children through observational learning. Early observations come from the home where parents display gender roles on a regular basis. In a typical household the father engages in masculine activities such as going to work, providing for the family, fixing appliances, and

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

This paper will explore the world of gender and its social and cultural importance in western society. focusing more on the discrimination and negative impacts that gender stereotyping and socialized gender roles have on human beings as a whole. This includes the limitations that women and men are living with to this day in their homes, work and school. starting from birth gender shapes everyones world and gives them a glass ceiling that only a few pioneers have hit and shattered in the last few years. (MacQueen, 2003, pg. 2) At home women and men are put into very differing parenting roles based on genitalia instead of personal wants and goals in their respective lives. If a man wants children and enjoy being around them that may

For the purposes of this study the researcher will refer female-to-male transgender (FTM) to anyone who was assumed to identify as a girl, having been assigned female sex at birth, but who now identifies as a male. Male-to-female (MTF) transgender will be used to discuss those who’s were assumed to have male identity at birth but now identify as female. Trans will be used as an umbrella term that refers to all people whose gender expression transgresses the social norms of their natal sex.