Analizing Gender Roles Essay

1. Why did Cato object to repealing the Oppian law? What was the basis of his objections?

Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades,

Gender roles of diverse cultures have differed immensely throughout history. The evolution of gender roles first began in the Paleolithic Age and then began to transform with the transformation of the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. Women in Mesopotamia, India, Greece, China, and Rome were not treated as equals and viewed as inferior to men. Cultures like Egypt and Persia had similar laws for women and treated them with more respect out of any of the other cultures.

This is portrayed when Denver revealed his true feelings that he was clearly presenting towards Ron. He also felt these prejudice feelings towards Ron because of Ron’s race and class. Since Ron was a successful, white, businessman, Denver felt that he was untrustworthy and insincere in his charity work. He felt that he was only helping out at the homeless shelter to make himself feel better about his success and show is superiority to everyone else. Through dedication and persistence, Ron finally changed Denver’s opinion about him and made him realize that he was, indeed, a dependable and heartfelt man— after he changed through his charity work and

Ron admits that what he had done was wrong—treating Sarah as if she were an object, a mere toy for his enjoyment. However he claims that at the time, he was unaware of just how cruel he was being, stating that he’s never done it before. But through this admission, it becomes apparent that Ron looks back on his actions

In this session, I will discuss the gender roles in my family. The definition of gender role is the degree to which a person adopts the gender-specific behaviors ascribed by his or her culture (Matsumoto, D. R., & Juang 2013, 156). For example, traditional gender roles recommend that males are aggressive, angry, and unemotional. It goes further and explains that the male should leave the home every day to make a living and be the main wage earner. The traditional gender role for the female purpose is to stay at home and care for the children. It explains that the female is to be nurturing, caring, and emotional (Matsumoto, D. R., & Juang 2013, 156). These traditional roles for female and male are the opposite of one another. It is believed that the culture is likely to influence our perception about gender role in a family. In my family, my parents utilize the traditional gender role. Growing up, my father went to work every day and my mother stayed home with me and my sister. I believe my parents were influence by their parents and their culture to be traditional gender role parents. My father explained to me that they chose traditional parenting role because both sides of the family utilized traditional parenting gender roles. I believe my parents felt pressure to obtain the gender roles of the mother staying home with the children while the father worked. However, when my younger sister was old enough to go to school, my mother started to work. It was believed that when

Gender roles have been changing throughout the centuries with both men and women. The most and drastic change has occurred in our 21st century to women. Women are now viewed as equals in the work and home, they are able to achieve just as much as men and no longer have limits suppressing them. There have been limits put on women since the beginning of time, women were to attend to the house and children but never other responsibilities beyond that. This change in gender roles has shaped our society in numerous ways making new jobs for women and breaking through social norms. Throughout history the role of women has dramatically changed, first with women being primary caregivers and up keepers of the house to women being able to have their own careers and lastly to being equal to men and no longer being inferior to them.

Ron and Leslie are a wonderful example of how two people can work with one another even if they do not agree on everything. They bicker, they compete, and they occasionally have full-blown arguments, but they are always honest and professional about their disagreements. Between Leslie’s passion and Ron’s authority, they trade off between winning and losing arguments. Linda Holmes, NPR writer, explains that as the show progresses, “[Leslie’s] been fleshed out from a cartoonishly goofy boss to a warmly devoted — but still funny and skewed — public servant. Her relationship with Ron Swanson has become more equal, more respectful, with more give-and-take, and that’s all made the show funnier and better.”

Gender or sex roles are the expected patterns of behavior assumed to follow from a person's sex. Gender roles are not natural. They are formed by and vary within society, culture, geographic location, politics and time. There is a strong relationship between the social construction of gender and compulsory heterosexuality. People are programmed into certain gender roles and social categories through socialization and interaction with others.

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.

     Femininity and masculinity are topics that have been debated over in our society extensively, through psychological research and day to day interaction with people. Children learn from their parents as well as society the concept of “feminine” and “masculine.” The majority of people tend to believe that these conceptions are biological but I believe it is more cultural. From birth, female children are shaped by society as being sweet, caring, loving, and delicate and usually associated with the color pink. While male children are shaped by being tough, aggressive, and competitive and associated with the color blue. As these children grow, the boy is given a football to play with and the girl a

A secret agent. A professional football player. A fire fighter. These would have been my responses when asked that inevitable question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Family, Media and Peers are said to have influenced my views concerning the role I am to play society. All of these factors had one thing in common. They all were influencing me to behave according to my gender. Everything from the clothes I wore to the toys I played with contributed to this. Even now as a young adult my dreams and aspirations are built around the gender roles that were placed on me.

Collins, R. L. (2011). Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Go? Sex Roles, 64(3-4), 290-298.

In this essay I will explore and investigate both sex and gender, whilst identifying the differences between the two. I will start by elaborating on the given definitions.

In the late 1800’s the roles of men and women are very different than what we see in today’s culture. Although we maintain a description of men being masculine and women being feminine, in recent years this topic has become either clarified or convoluted depending upon the culture a person was raised in. In the past, traditional gender roles were shaped and defined by the expectations of society. These roles were simple in the fact that men were understood to hold roles that were superior to women. The men, during this time frame in society, were the decision makers, the rule makers, and the ones that offered punishments as well as rewards to those around them. A man’s role in his family was distinctly defined as providing for his family financially, protecting them from harm, leading them in what he would define as the right direction, and he was to ensure that the values were to be passed down to the next generation. A woman 's role, traditionally at this time, was very straight forward, stay at home, clean the house, cook the food, and raise the children. This was the acceptable social roles of men and women at this time, however, in modern times these roles would most likely be viewed as stereotypical. The roles may even be interpreted as restrictive, oppressive to men and women as well as a negative influences on as a negative influence on the next generation. J.M. Barrie’s novella Peter Pan was written in 1904 when gender roles were still defined greatly by a