Twisted Gender Roles

Gender Roles and Stereotypes Explored in Judy Mann's The The Difference: Growing Up Female in America and Bernard Lefkowitz's Our Guys

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”, says Aaron Devor. Women and men have always been seen as totally different people, but is it right to say that women are different from men. Many research findings support these gender differences. The range of critical response to the topic of the gender is clearly discussed in the reviews written by Aaron Devor “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,” Deborah Blum “The Gender Blur,” and Mariah Burton Nelson in “I Won. I’m Sorry”. Marian Burton Nelson, a former Stanford University and professional basketball player and author of sit book on gender identity. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize Winning professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Aaron Derov, a sociology professor at University of Victoria. All three articles have similar and different opinions, but they are all about gender differences. While Devor and Blum talk about the origin of gender differences in men and women, Nelson focuses more on strong women; all three articles focus their discussions on aggressiveness, gender behaviors, and male domination.

In pre-ap english, I interviewed Jacquelyn who is a freshman at Macarthur High School in Lawton, Oklahoma. In our society, we are often subjected to gender roles. Gender roles is the act of assigning certain emotions or behaviors to men or woman. In response to finding out what gender roles actually are, Jacquelyn does not agree with the idea of them and states that people should “be able to do what they want.” Gender roles often prevent us from being the person we want to be. For example, if a guy were to wear makeup there are people who would judge him harshly and possibly even outcast him, simply because they believe women are the only ones who can wear makeup. Same thing goes for women, like if a girl wanted to play football many would

This brings light to what author Santrock discusses in the book as gender roles, which is “a set of expectations that prescribes how females and males should think, act, and feel” (p.163).

Society’s high expectations of females guide their everyday actions and decision making whether consciously or subconsciously. In Stephen Hinshaw’s essay “Impossible Expectations” he discusses what he calls the “Triple Bind” where girls are supposed to be good at both typical girl and guy things as well as conform to a specific set of standards created by society. These contradictory expectations shape girls’ lives and drive their decision making from what type of career they will pursue to how they dress. Hinshaw also explained that girls are supposed to fit a cookie cutter image portrayed by the media yet encouraged to break the mold at the same time,

Society’s understanding of gender roles debate about gender equity and have always been connected to the social roles that men and women we assigned to shape Americans views of education for girls and boys. What has also been affected is race and social class between females and males who attend schools. Ideas of what women and men are suppose to be and do have cut across different classifications. Ending unfairness in schools has rested on change to gender roles mainly women.

Young women are becoming increasingly aware of how they are being perceived by others and today it is ultra common for young women to hear about the negative sides of their gender. As young women grow older and start to consider possible career choices they also start to hear certain opinions on their choices and some even experience actual discrimination. “High-school girls who pursue an advanced interest in science and math (unless they are students at special institutions like the Bronx Highs School of Science where everyone is a brain) usually find that they are greatly outnumbered by boys in their classes. They are, therefore, intruding on male turf at a time when their sexual confidence, as well as that of the boys, is most fragile” (). In situations like these some young women may develop a fear of their male counterparts due to the ratio involved and others may also consider the stereotype that women are bad and math and that threat ultimately becomes a self fulfilling

In “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls,” Pollitt writes about the differences between growing up as a boy growing up as a girl. She brings up the stereotypes that society naturally creates between genders in early ages, which leads to the lifestyle and path that boys and girls are raised in. Parents and feminist alike play a big part in establishing these sex roles. They raise their kids wanting them to be successful at what they are expected to be good at based on their gender and the trend that has been set before them.

It is important to teach children about gender roles since it is something that society holds in regards, but most of the time in literature it is done unequally. The portrayal of gender in literature is based off of the expectations of society and places bias on gender. Boys are portrayed as strong, adventurous, independent and capable and often play the roles of fighters, adventurers and rescuers. Girls are portrayed as sweet, naïve, dependent, sensitive and emotional and play roles such as caretakers, princesses and mothers. The roles of gender portrayed in literature are often a reflection of the views of society and do not offer objective insight. Even though it is important to teach children about gender roles, the fashion in which it is done in does not allow children to see beyond those expectations. If a young girl is constantly read stories about a woman’s role as a housewife, homemaker and mother, she will assume that’s what is expected of her and will not know society will allow her to be anything she wants to be.

On October 6, 2017, I woke up and for an hour I thought about what social norm I was going to challenge for this assignment. After giving it careful thought, I decided I was going to challenge the gender roles, identity, and stereotypes that society has. “Gender roles are sets of behavioral norms assumed to accompany one’s status as male or female.” (Conley, 2017, p.133) I was going to challenge this with my clothing. So, I decided I was going to dress up like a man for the whole day. Gender roles are cultural and personal. They determine and control how males and females should think, speak, dress, and interact within the context of society. In the United States, these gender roles are

Throughout the story we see the protagonist struggle with the gender roles placed upon her by her society; specifically the role she is supposed to play as

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”, says Aaron Devor. Women and men have always been seen as totally different people, but is it right to say that women are different from men. Many research findings support these gender differences. The range of critical response to the topic of the gender is clearly discussed in the reviews written by Aaron Devor “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes,” Deborah Blum “The Gender Blur,” and Mariah Burton Nelson in “I Won. I’m Sorry”. Marian Burton Nelson, a former Stanford University and professional basketball player and author of sit book on gender identity. Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning professor of journalism at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Aaron Derov, a sociology professor at University of Victoria. All three articles have similar and different opinions, but they are all about gender differences. While Devor and Blum talk about the origin of gender differences in men and women, Nelson focuses more on strong women; all three articles focus their discussions on aggressiveness, gender behaviors, and male domination.

Gender roles are categories that characterize what it means to be feminine and masculine in society, on how people think about gender as they relate to one another (Adams et al., 2013). For example, women are expected to be accommodating and emotional, while men are usually expected to be self-confident and aggressive, this shows how men and women are to behave in society. However, these sayings were taught to individuals based on norms, or standards created by a society which is called Gender Socialization (p. 318). Growing up as a child, we were taught as girls to play with dollhouses, pretend kitchen sets, cleaning supplies and play dress up. Whereas boys are taught to play with cars, sports equipment’s, action figures, and weapons. However, if a boy was playing with dollhouses, or playing dress up, he would be considered gay, or not masculine and looked down upon by society, and families. The same goes for girls who play with boy toys, or dresses as a tomboy, this is what we are taught to play with at a young age. Our families tell us how to behave, our schools tell us what

Gender roles have changed over the past years, woman have had the privilege of new opportunities. However, opportunities have their price, and some things are slower to change than others. In My Year of Meats by Ruth L. Ozeki, there are two characters gender roles I want to discuss. Jane is the main character in My Year of Meats. A fellow character I will talk about is also John, Akiko’s husband.

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.