Being A Woman Is Hard

According to societal expectations, women are expected to be docile and submissive to men. Daisy, a character in The Great Gatsby, claims that she hopes her daughter will “be a fool- that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool” (Fitzgerald 17). Put simply, women are expected to look pretty and keep their mouths shut and opinions to themselves. By being a “beautiful little fool” a girl would grow up, unaware and ignorant of the constraints put on her (Fitzgerald 17). Similarly, Rugen from The Princess Bride says, “Your

Throughout history, men and women have been viewed in utterly different spheres. Men have been, and still are, believed to be the hard working individual who is in charge of “bringing home the bacon” and supporting the household finically. On the other hand, women are expected to have little to say, the house spotless, supper on the table, the children bathed, fed, in bed, and educated, all while maintaining a flawless hairdo and makeup. These stereotypes seem a bit offensive nowadays, but if you really consider it, it has been and most likely will be this way for our entire existence.

In “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes”, Aaron Devor explains how different men and women are seen from the point of view of society. Masculinity is described by dominance and aggression; however, femininity is totally different by passivity and submission. Some people in the society think that women’s duties are childbirth and breastfeeding, so they are weak, and they need to be protected and supported. This is not completely true because everyone is equal, so women should have the right to do whatever they want. They have the freedom to talk and act as they wish, and they do not need to care about the attitudes of others. However, women need to act feminine to be attractive to men. I agree with Deborah Blum in the article “The Gender Blur:

Does accepting one’s femininity mean having to put on a dress and wear makeup? Does expressing one’s femininity mean having to get married, have babies and looking after the children and their husbands at home? The women today can be so much more without losing their feminism. There was a time when men are to hunt and gather food while women stayed at home and cooked and give birth and look after the children. Nowadays, women are as educated as the men and are able to hold any position that had been reserved for men. Women today are politicians, leaders of countries, professionals and even combat soldiers. Thus, they have proven that they are equal to any tasks. The only reason why they are lacking is probably because of social stereotyping. This is the reason why it is particularly important to empower femininity.

As Sociological Images notes, dissimilar to men, why should gathered reject all things womanlike, women are urged to adjust manly and female attributes. NPR's article Two Families Grapple with Sons' Gender Preferences appears to offer believability to this

Men and women are treated differently from each other. Society has developed stereotypes and archetypes for the two different genders. Men are portrayed to be strong, independent individuals that are the providers of the household. Women are often seen as weak subordinates that take care of the children and residences of men. The way society has characterized genders and their roles are as separate and unequal. Aaron H. Devor wrote in his essay “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meanings of Gender” the following quote: “It seems most likely that gender roles are the result of systematic power imbalances based on gender discrimination” (395). After reading several works on the portrayal of femininity and women, I can see where Devor is coming from when he talks about the imbalance of gender roles and I agree with his views on the matter.

Throughout history, women have been victims of oppression no matter what religion or background they come from. They have learned from a young age, that their appearance is important to fundamentally be happy in their life. The topic of oppression in woman leads to controversial discussion not only to scholars but women of all parts of the world. How a woman presents herself through appearance and clothing targets her in a society obsessed with each other’s business. In today’s society, whether we can help it or not, men are treated differently than women. There seems to be different “rules” associated with the acceptable ways they should dress as opposed to the strict rules that apply to women. Women who are westernized

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

Men could make the mistake of “thinking that women [are provoking] attacks against them by the way they dress” (“Rape Myths” para. 9). A woman’s intention when she goes out in her tight dress can be to attract the attention of the opposite sex, but sometimes that can go too far. On the other hand, wearing the wrong thing can affect a woman’s chances in being accepted in a social setting. For example, if a female celebrity wears something that strays away from what society would consider as “what’s in”, then she can be publicly shamed by social media. That celebrity could receive the label of a “fashion victim”.

Stephen Bonnycastle lists a set of traits or stereotypes in his work In Search for Authority, that are considered "feminine" and an opposing list that is considered "masculine"; these traits seem to be inevitably true to life (Bonnycastle 10,11). For example, one of the traits listed is emotional, women are expected to be emotional and when this is not the case a man is often confused and indifferent towards the woman. This is especially the case if she is not emotional she is viewed as not feminine. Any time a woman does not fit the idea of what society expects of her she is outcasted and frowned upon. This hatred runs even deeper if a woman crosses over into what is considered "masculine", a woman who shows any type of authority over a

Gender roles is a problem that takes place in both the workplace, domestic conditions, and society. Often signified through the age-old stereotype. That men are required of the more "challenging" or more "advanced" jobs, while women restrict themselves to the less grueling and less beneficial positions. Terms such as "that 's a man 's job" is a leading cause of inequality in the workplace. Not to mention, gender roles and standards are set in the homes of many families everywhere. The so-called "picture perfect family" situation; the husband goes to work while the wife stays home to tend to the children. While romanticized as ideal, this concept is the very essence of a patriarchal society. Meanwhile, the brutally vicious society we live in often berates women 's self-esteems in more way than one. Stereotypes of beauty, or who are skinny, pretty, white, and wealthy, are unfortunately the ideal standard of women and

Gender stereotypes are things that have been around for a very long time. But they are not always the same. Over time, they will change and evolve, either for better or for worse. The gender stereotypes in the past were very different than the ones that now revolve around people today. A stereotype that used to be for women was that they should wear dresses, cook and clean, raise the children, maintain a great figure, and remain pure. This is different than today’s stereotypes in many ways. The first way is that women today are not required to wear dresses, or are even always expected to wear them. Women have a choice. But in the past, that was part of the image of a woman. It was nearly a rule that women could not wear pants because then they would not be like other women. Another way the stereotypes were different was because women had to do all of the housework alone. The men were not expected to cook, clean, or always take care of their children. They were allowed to, but it was unheard of back then. So the way that women were expected to maintain things in the past is nothing like it is now.

Throughout history, humans have always been expected to act a certain way depending on their sex. These societal expectations are called gender roles. (Rathus, 2010, p.447). These roles begin to develop even before a child is even out of the womb. A mother may decorate their nursery pink if they are having a daughter because “girls like pink,” and “boys like blue.” Gender roles should not be confused with gender stereotypes. A gender stereotype is a narrow way of thinking about how men and woman are obligated to behave. For example, men have always been considered to be the breadwinners of the family. Females, on the other hand, are seen more as the gentle homemakers that stay home to clean and take care of the children. (Rathus, 2010, p.447). These types of stereotypes have caused certain out-of-the-home jobs to be mainly categorized for either women or men, causing an even more distinct line between the genders.

     Society would like all women to be feminine. That is to say, society would like all women to render themselves as weak, non-assertive, helpless, male-needing beings. Women are told to act lady-like at all times. This means not arguing, not standing up for themselves and obeying men at all times. The feminine guidelines are seemingly endless and to live a feminine lifestyle is exhausting for most women. It is not accepted for women to spit or belch, whereas for a male these acts are second nature. A fabulous example of manifested pure femininity is the Barbie Doll. Barbie is a homemaker, with a thin body dressed in pink. Barbie is seen as the perfect women and manifests in physical form in every issue of Playboy magazine. Most women are chasing an illusory goal of total femininity, while at the same time searching for complete societal acceptance.

Ever since the dawn of time, women and men have been associated with specific gender roles that can be seen controversial in the eyes of many. Traits and roles associated with a specific gender can be either innate or learned over time. Looking into the deeper concept of gender roles and stereotypes, it is clear that these fixed gender roles are not naturally born with, but rather taught, learned, or influenced by external forces.