Gender
The dynamic between male and female is extremely complex. Over the course of human history, men have primarily dominated over women in nearly every aspect of human interaction and daily life. Despite the large progress that has been made in recent decades, women are still heavily subordinated by the male gender both in the workforce and in the private sphere. Examples of this domination of men can be seen in many aspects of everyday life including: interpersonal and social interaction, family, among peers, in education, and in the media. The interpersonal and social interaction of male and female is proven to be highly dominated by the male gender. The ways that people describe one another are based on the differences that are identifiable by physical and mental individualities. Richardson uses language to illustrate interaction which is ingrained in the psychology of the society. Men are stronger than women and therefore it is mankind which dominates. This is also illustrated in the iconography of advertising where women are often seen handcuffed, gagged, and in some way physically suppressed by the dominant male. Society is patriarchal and male domination is a factor in everything, including the family setting. In the past, the father was seen as the authority figure and disciplinarian while the mother's job was to cook and clean. This is visible in advertising where the proper woman is wife and mother, cleaning house in heels and pearls while cooking a
For many years, society’s view of gender was a simple matter of assigning the appropriate roles for both men and women. In this way, they are defined in an important way based on their gender. However, many studies over the last decade have altered society’s view by showing how gender is a cultural invention. These studies have also demonstrated how men and women are shaped by the culture and environment they’re born into and that what is expected of them may differ from what we deem to be appropriate in our culture. In today’s world, we still are dealing with the same problems that we were hundreds of years ago. These problems being equal rights between men and women, along with breaking away from societal norms revolving around what is expected
247). Thus, since females and males have different expectations of them and are treated differently from one another, females and males have different situations within their family life and their mental and physical health. Plus, a woman’s educational level will not benefit her since “men out-earn women at every level of education” (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 253). Similarly, certain jobs are still classified for men or women. Although, the jobs for women are underpaid compared to jobs classified for men (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 253). Also, the military is largely male-dominated with very few females since the military is expected for men, not women because of certain cultural beliefs (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 255). Furthermore, the criminal justice system targets men more than women, because men are viewed as aggressive when women are not (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 256). Lastly, gender is associated to certain words which influences society’s views on women and men which also affect the expectations of them and how both are treated in society (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p.
In a structured family each person has their own role in order for the family as a whole to function properly. The wife is often referred to as the “Angel in the house”. Her designated role is to be the nurturer. A good mother is expected to contribute her whole life to her family. Mothers are expected to be the glue that holds a family together. It is their responsibility to provide the loving care and support needed for raising children, making her husband feel loved, and taking care of household chores and preparing daily meals. In the household the father also has a fundamental role. They play “the breadwinner”, their position in the marriage/ family is to care for the needs of their family by providing shelter, food, and safety. Neither the wife nor husband is
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.
Our gender has an effect on every aspect of our lives, varying from how we view ourselves and other people to how we interact in social and civic life. It also impacts the way we set our goals in opportunity areas such as education, work, and recreation. Gender socialization starts at birth then manifests through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Gender norms are automatically placed on us, where women should learn how to be nurturing, sensitive, emotional, passive, and always hold a man’s position higher than hers. On the other hand men should be overly confident, aggressive, dominant, and view women beneath them. This paper uses various readings to show how these gender norms are supported and challenged in today’s society.
The social construction of stereotypes regarding male to female roles is a reflection of our societies worldview and has been passed down through history. Given the evolution of feminism, it has become a dominant issue within society’s social structure. Our value hierarchy places greater importance on masculinity as opposed to feminity. Despite the many years of fighting for equal rights for both gender related issues, it appears women are still living below men.
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.
For thousands of years, established gender roles have been a part of our society. Women are commonly known as sensitive, emotional, or passive. On the contrary, men are described as rational, competitive, independent, or aggressive. Believing women are more emotional than men is stereotyping. However, the stereotype is not entirely untrue. Development of gender roles is often conditioned more by environmental or cultural factors than by hereditary or biological factors. The development of gender roles between men and women involves the inference of peer community of each gender, the communication style of male and female and the intimacy or connection level of men and women.
Women were to take care of the household by cooking, cleaning and keeping the family orderly as well as keeping her status. The men did more of the dirty work outside of the house; they are the breadwinner of the family. This gender bias has been formed mostly due to the social system, but held true for many years. We still have a great lack of knowledge and about the relationships between fathers and their children. This is mostly due to that gender bias, but also due to the lack of history behind it. The fatherly figure in early modern history was given to either schoolmasters, foster parents, or masters of servants or apprentices. Because fathers were working during most of the day and the children were at school most of the day, the schoolmasters, or other fatherly figures did the disciplining and behavior molding of the children.
Society expects men to be brave and strong. They are expected to be in charge of their families by making the most important decisions and supporting them financially meanwhile, women are dependent and cannot achieve much by themselves. One can go back to after 8000 BC and see that men hunted animals meanwhile women stayed at home to care for their children and gather fruits and plants (Reilly). All of the early imposed leadership expectations have been a part of what has shaped the gender expectations in the present society. Even though men and women are capable of performing the same tasks, traditional gender roles keep both genders away from gaining social equality. One can see a difference when both genders are compared in education, employment, child care, domestic duties, and marriage. Although women have made many advances leading up to the amount of equality present in the 21st century, men still manage to have more rights and do not have to fight for equality.
When examined, gender roles have remained traditional in certain aspects. However, there is a place where traditional gender roles are not being excepted as they once were. Sadly, not everyone excepts that it is becoming more egalitarian.In the United States, women reported that they experienced one to two sexist incidents each week (Gervais, Hillard, & Vescio, 2010). These are either verbal or nonverbal behaviors that people were presented to them (Gervais, Hillard, & Vescio, 2010). With that aside, a man and woman who are in a relationship are starting to have more flexible roles.
When thinking of gender roles in society, stereotypes generally come to mind. Throughout history these stereotypes have only proven to be true. Major historical events have had a huge impact on the way men and women are seen and treated. In this way, women have always been secondary to males and seen as the fragile counterparts whose job is to take care of the household and most importantly, be loyal to her husband no matter the circumstance. Gender roles throughout history have greatly influenced society. The slow progress of woman’s rights throughout humanities led to an explosion of woman’s rights throughout the 20th century and that trend will only continue on into the rest of the 21st century.
Social status and structures have definitely shaped the construction and experience of gender inequality. Men and women are constantly analyzed, compared, and grouped together in society. The result of this yields discrepancies in how sexes are viewed by society. Throughout my examination and explanation of gender inequality, I concluded both men and women are victims to gender inequality.
“From a traditional view some may believe that women should be nurturing towards their family and the male is believed to be head of the household” (Blackstone, 2008:337). In some traditions and culture men believe that women should stay at home, cook, clean and look after the children, while the man is the breadwinner in the household and provides a stable income.
“I love my past, I love my present. I am not ashamed of what I have had, and I am not sad because I no longer have it.” (“Sidonie Gabrielle Colette”). Colette was a free spirit; she lived her life the way she wanted, and wrote about things no one else dared to write about at the time. Colette’s themes were extremely revolutionary as they related to the relationship between the sexes, the strength of women, and her own personal experiences.