Are Gender Roles Set Up By Society

We all had our share of favorite Disney films when we were growing up. Girls lean more toward all of the Disney princess films. One Disney princess in particular that everyone loves is Cinderella. Cinderella is what every little girl wishes they could be, with her long blonde hair, and finding her prince charming. However, “By looking a little bit further into Disney films, we realize that they were setting up gender roles for us as kids, that we aren 't completely comfortable with today” (“Gender Roles in Disney Films”). Now, as adults we realize that Cinderella was mainly about gender roles and societal norms. “Results suggest that the prince and princess characters differ in their portrayal of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, these gender role portrayals are complex, and trends towards egalitarian gender roles are not linear over time” (England, Descartes and Collier-Meek).

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

What is male? What is female? The answers to these questions everyone may depend on the types of gender roles they were exposed to as a child. Gender roles can be defined as the behaviours and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society.

GENDER ROLES ARE SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED Gender and sex are commonly mistaken for the same thing however, gender refers to “the attitudes feelings and behaviours that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex”. (APA, 2011) Whilst sex “refers to a person’s biological status and is typically categorised as male, female or intersex”. (APA, 2011) Since gender refers to the acts and behaviours of a person gender roles are basically a set of social norms (including behaviours and acts) that are based on an individual’s sex.

In American culture in the 1950s, men were the predominant head of the household and women were expected to cook, care for their kids, and clean. This is an excellent example of gender roles, and how they control certain aspects of life. Gender roles are, according to multiple sources, the way people behave, what they do or say to express being a female or male. (“Gender Identity”; Blackstone; "Understanding Gender") They are forced upon an individual from the day they are born even in the most trivial of terms of putting baby boys in blue clothes and baby girls in pink. Throughout that person’s life from then on, they will face cultural expectations every day to act according to their sex. Gender roles can often be confusing and hurtful,many stores are moving away from assigning products to a specific gender, but not only can gender roles affect a person’s behavior, it can play a huge role in transgenderism.

What would you expect if there were no social norms dictating the roles that are ideal for people based on their gender? In the current world, social norms are so entrenched in our society that we cannot ignore them. The society has differentiated individual roles to either male or female roles, an indication that though an individual has a unique body and personality, one can never be fully autonomous but will be trapped in the role assigned to him or her by the society. Since I feel comfortable about my life, there is nothing in her arguments implied on my personal life. However, it implies that this is the case for the society around me. Judith Butler states in her essay “Beside Oneself; On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy” that “...when we speak about my sexuality or my gender, as we do (and as we must) we mean something complicated by it. Neither of these is precisely a possession, but both are to be understood as modes of being dispossessed...” (Butler 115), showing that my social location is mainly constructed along gender performance and physical vulnerability by the media, family and the community.

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.

Education and employment go hand in hand now a day in order to become financially successful in life. These are two unmistakably major parts of society today. In order to become successful a good job is needed, and in order to get the job a good education is needed as well. But women especially need to emphasize more in these two subjects than men; due to past gender discrimination which brought on Equal Employment Opportunity Laws and challenges dissimilar from men’s: such as physical problems which effect their earnings, and that change their education habits.

Gender roles are based on norms, standards, or beliefs created by society. American culture created the ideals that masculine roles (men) have traditionally been associated with strength, aggression, and dominance, while feminine roles (women) have traditionally been associated with passivity, nurturing, and motherly. “When Men Break the Gender Rules:

Growing up, kids are subconsciously taught how to act, what to wear, and what not to do. From as early as elementary school, girls are afraid to partake in gym class activities in fear of not being as athletic as the guys. Boys are pressured to constantly show their masculinity, by hitting each other in the genitalia, or fighting other boys. Why is this? Why does our society have gender roles? Everyone is taught their gender roles at a very young age. We have all been conditioned to think, and act a certain way, because of the predetermined “rules” we, as a society, make up on our own.

According to gender theory, society assigns certain conventions and roles to men and women. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, these gender roles play an important part in developing the plot and the ensuing conflict that follows. Both Lady Macbeth and Macbeth appeal to the role of “manhood” as violent and aggressive in order to accomplish the murders of King Duncan and Banquo. Women are portrayed as initiators of evildoings and, thus, inherently wicked. In Macbeth, William Shakespeare uses the characters of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, and Macduff to demonstrate how the change in gender roles from those of medieval society to those of a more modern society create confusing choices in the means of achieving goals.

Gender roles are changing everyday and it all depends were and the views you were raised with. Every parent want their kid to be successful, so they will help them with what they need in order for them to achieve their goal. They also will teach them morals and how a woman or a man should act and what society is expecting from them. The majority of young adults will do as thought and some will be great full for the knowledge passed by their parents but will make their own future no matter what society demands from them. Men are raised to be the providers of the family and females are the one’s that stay home and take care of the kids. These roles apply for some, however this is changing drastically to the point that males are the stay at home

For decades’ women have been fighting for their equal rights in every aspect of their life. It refers to a lot of ideas, methodologies which focus towards support for all kind of gender and sex equality for women. In the past women have been criticized in every field of work just for their gender, but the time is changing now and people are changing with it. Women wants their half of what they deserve, they have been overpowered for far too long now. There is no denial to that women are still struggling to takes their place as equals in the society and this world is not going to be a better place until women and men are treated as equal.

From the instant we are born, we are born into a world of conformity and obedience. Early in our lives, we look at authority figures like parents or teachers as these sentinels of guidance, as omnipotent beings with unwavering precision in their lessons. The concept of socialization is very perplexed, and it’s difficult to identify the variables that shape our development as we grow. As children, we communicate with the world free of inhibition, and find no fault in any of our actions; we could throw a tantrum and no one would bat an eye because it is socially acceptable for a child to have minimal restraint on their emotions. Over the years, we eventually become embedded in the norms of our culture, and mature to our respective social

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