Mucho Ado About Nothing: The Evolution Of Gender Roles

Despite women having to take care of the domestic responsibilities and maintain a successful career, women are making just a mere 64.4% of what their male counterparts make. The inequality leaps off the paper (Julie Cool). Women being in the workforce have created a plethora of problems associated with gender inequality. Additionally aside from the inequalities, the new step for women to balance a home life and a job has brought change in the family structure. Mothers are not just mothers anymore, but are Doctors, Teachers, Entrepreneurs, and politicians as

Gender roles, also known as gender stereotypes, are things to be considered appropriate to certain men or women and we are constantly surrounded by them without even realizing it. Cultural gender roles in America have changed over time, from when Disney animated films were first released. Women were only housewives at those times, they were responsible for cooking, cleaning, taking care of their kids, and other housework while the husband took care of

In 1920, women won the right to vote and they were gradually moving into the male-dominated labor force, but gender roles were not changing much. Due to the World War II draft, many women entered the labor force and even helped run the country. Upon the return of the veterans, many women were forced back into their homes. However, the opportunities for women were broadening and some women began making careers for themselves outside of the home. The 1960’s saw many feminist movements and in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress which enticed more women to get out of the house and into better careers.

According to the Huffington Post, “We are seeing 68,000 more women in self-employment and at the head of boards” (Miller). The role of a woman has been changed from a housewife to a CEO of a company. Men are now seen “at par shoulder to shoulder with women” (Role). Even in colleges where women used to go to look for a husband and not an education girls leaving with “better qualifications” than boys (Women). This matter has been solved and is now making the world a better place for women.

Gender roles are a prominent role that have been accepted by over time. Gender roles of the past are much more different from those of modern day. The past was very limiting towards women being equal of men. They have most certainly changed with recent events, however, the gender roles in Shakespearean times have most certainly been limited. In Romeo and Juliet, Gender roles in Shakespearean times forced Juliet to have her personality suppressed, as she is burdened with her parents expectations.

The earning gap between men and women is slowly closing in part because of women 's educational attainment. “Organizations run by women perform better, and not just a little bit,” she says. “The same thing goes for companies that have diverse leadership.” (Carter, 2013). The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that most of the 30 fastest-growing occupations through 2020 are in female-dominated fields, such as health care, child care and education and as the baby boom generation ages, the need for home-health and personal-care aides is expected to grow by 70 percent by 2020, creating an estimated 1.3 million additional jobs for women. In conclusion, the article ends on a positive note. In spite of all the challenges that women face in the workforce, that ultimately they will not only continue persevere in their fight for equality, but excel in the coming decades.

These days people may be asking what gender roles are. Well the idea of gender roles has been around for many years. According to oxford dictionary, gender role is the role or behaviour learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by their prevailing cultural norms (“Gender Role”). This definition means that everyone has a role and a place in society that they are expected to stick to. This topic is important because these days gender roles are less enforced. Gender roles are based on one’s cultural background, country and the time period in which they are alive. These roles are socially and culturally determined and are affected by important aspects of living such as economics, politics and education (interview). Gender roles change over time as society evolves.

This is shown when, “Husbands are taking on greater domestic roles—helping with homework and housework, coordinating soccer carpools, paying bills. Employers are finding ways to fill gaps during absences. And the military is developing support programs to ease the women and their families through deployment”. (Bowers, 2004) This shows that the whole view of women is changing.

Gender roles have existed since the first male and female on this planet. On the one hand i disagree with the statement that the positions of both male and female gender roles has changed over time. I disagree that the positions of gender roles dramatically changed overtime because men still have a higher percentage of working outside of homes and hold more power while women still have a higher percentage of doing labor work and taking care of the family or children at home. There has been minor changes but i wouldn’t say that they were dramatic changes. Women have had many problems getting equal power and rights with the men. There has not been a big change in the positions of the gender roles over time in history.

Society has been changing since the dawn of time, so the idea of gender roles should continue to change over the course of time. Gender roles should have no place in today's society, since a lot of people are working jobs whom they have family to support and they could be a stay at home spouse or just looking to find a job to support themselves.

Gender roles have changed immensely in the United States throughout the last century, especially within society. Men and women were viewed differently back in the 1900s as two separate genders and having two separate roles to live by as compared to men and women in the 21st century. Women in the early 1900s were expected to stay home to cater for her husband’s needs while they went to work, or in most homes, were away to serve at war. Men had all the privileges women could not have or do. Women did not have the right to vote, limited rights to property and divorce; it was as if men and women were living segregated lives as black and white people lived.

From reading the selection entitled “The Second Shift” Women have pushed forward in the struggle for equality in society. Whether it be in the work field or at home today women are front runners in the professional world. More women are going to college than men as proved in recent studies. Women have outnumbered men on college campuses since 1979, and on graduate school campuses since 1984. More American women than men have received bachelor 's degrees every year since 1982. Even on most campus, the Admissions Offices have received more applications from women for early decision candidacy than men for the eighth straight year. The wage gap is slowly decreasing and the fight for proper day care services along with insurance are passionate issues for women across America. From the outside, it seems we have come a long way. But step closer. Stop looking at the fights we have won and are continuing to fight as measures of our success in both aspects. Look deeper. Look into the everyday life of a working woman today in the United States. What you will find there tells a very different story of a woman 's world today. I know I have as a working mother and coming home to do homework and other household duties as well.

Long gone are the days when women were expected to stay at home and play “housewife”, cooking, cleaning, and making sure the kids got off to school, while their husbands worked a 9 to 5 in order to make ends meet. Today, women are no longer viewed as weak and incapable. A “superwoman” is the new woman. Men as the “breadwinners” have been replaced by “Ms. Independent.” The traditional male role has diminished as women fulfill bigger roles in society and exceed the expectations of their male counterparts in the household, workforce, and within social settings. We have abandoned old rules; no longer is it a “man’s world,” we now live in a shared world.

According to New York Time article “Why Gender Equality Stalled” in 1963 most Americans did not yet believe that gender equality was possible. Conventional knowledge believed that a woman could not pursue a career and still be a successful wife or effective mother. It was in the next 30 years that the emphasis on equalizing gender role started to make a huge transformation. In 1997 and 2007 the number of fully working females who said they would prefer to work part time increased approximately 60 percent from 48 percent. Additionally in 2007, 16 percent of stay-at-home

Now women share an equal role in businesses and work outside of just maintaining a clean house. Now that women can earn just as much money as men they don’t have to rely on anyone to bring, so they can separate from their significant others a lot easier.