Gender And Gender Roles

​​Gender is defined as whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females. Unlike sex, gender is something that we learn from the day we are born. “Young children begin to acquire gender role stereotypes at about the same time they develop gender identity and by the age of 3 or 4 most children” (Amanda Youmans). Peers, community, media, religion and our upbringing all play a role in the understanding of our culture and what is considered acceptable for males and females. When the sex of a child is revealed, they are automatically placed into a gender specific role with certain expectations. There are things in this world such as colors, toys, media depiction and taught behaviors that play into these gender roles.

When a person is born, they are either male or female. Before they are born, their parents are going to set goals and expectations for them. Sometimes parents will name their child after a famous celebrity hoping they will be just as great as them. Each gender will have different ways they should live their life in order to stay within their gender role. Some will meet the expectations and other will not. That does not make them look less of their gender, they will just be expected to meet them. Over the years, some gender roles have submerged and others have risen above. They will be able to show how the gender roles are supposed to be in jobs, education, and marriage and also how they can benefit from stepping out of the gender roles.

From gender roles, we, the people of society, are able to determine whether someone identifies as a male or a female. Both biological and social factors tend to determine what gender roles a person takes on. However, there are also gender stereotypes, which are “the fixed and oversimplified beliefs about the ways in which men and women ought to behave” (Rathus, 2010). Often times, gender stereotypes are related back to the traditional beliefs of when women were responsible for staying home and being the caregivers and men were responsible for going out to work and bringing home the food, supplies, and money that the family needed (Rathus, 2010).

For a long time, men and women have been dealing with the controversy of gender roles. In modern day, the battle for gender equality has been more known. In the story “Guys Suffer from Oppressive Gender Roles Too”, the author Julie Zeilinger explains how males are held to a more macho standard, but do have prevalent emotions. If we were to let go of these rigid rules about what is manly, there would be no standard for any gender. If that was reality, men shouldn’t have to feel humiliated about staying home, and if their companion makes more money than they do. Zeilinger talks about how males detach themselves from some emotions, and live a “life nub to a true range of human emotion” so they can meet this masculinity standard. However if males

In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.

In present day all around the world, society has certain expectations for the actions and behaviors of males and females. There are many factors in our everyday lives that contribute to the gender norms that society has set. This essay will discuss how situations in life can play a part in how people treat other people based on their gender. It is believed that males are the leaders of our world, but in present day woman can do as much as men can do. From The Journal of Marriage and Family, Hu states, “Differentiated gender roles in adulthood are rooted in one’s gender role socialization. In order to understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the domestic sphere, we need to examine the gendered patterns of children’s housework time.”(2015, P.1). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females that they must be taught. These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. In The Journal of Sports behavior by Hardin, he states, “Although gender role differences from biological and “Natural” exists in popular consciousness, research has long demonstrated that instead, many are long time socially constructed… Individuals understand their gender because they are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dress in pink for girls and blue for boys, that reflect social construction of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is key in understanding the factors in socialization”(2009, P.3). Bandura's theory of of social cognition is that behavior, environmental events, and cognitive factors are the main keys that shape attitudes and actions of an individual. Although, gender roles play a very big part in our society, specific genders are treated differently while dealing with peer influence, media influence, as well as employment.

Your _____ depends on whether you were born with distinct male or female genitals and a genetic program that released either male or female hormones to stimulate the development of your reproductive system.

Rigid societal gender roles have always played a part in human existence. These predetermined ideals for what either man or woman should be like have constantly created both small and large scale conflict in literature as well as real life. When these roles are at their most extreme, men are supposed to hold all of the power, while women are docile and in charge of taking care of the home only. The masculine ideal, though it may change through times and cultures, has such a grip on society that it has created a set of unspoken rules that must be followed in order for one to be considered a “real man”, and this pressure to be a “real man” has created a constant need for self-assertion of dominance. This self-assertion of dominance often displays

Society has established roles in which differentiate men and women, by focusing on how they, as individuals, should portray different characteristics. This allows for the opportunity of mislead perceptions, by the displays of gender in an unequal manner. If a man shows any characteristics that only a woman should have, he may be seen as weaker or maybe even deviant. This is true for a woman too, as that if she portrays too much aggression or competitive characteristics, she may be too manly, instead of fulfilling what should be her more nurturing role. Both men and women seem to face gender inequality, not just one more than the other. They both can face criticism, unequal treatment and stereotypes based on whether they choose to follow the exact way society has classified the gender “norms.” Although society has created these labels, it solely comes down to the individual on whether or not they choose to be deviant against them completely, in some ways, or simply not at all.

Societies today are highly affected by the way people are believed to act. Gender roles are created by society, and they are a way to define how a gender should or shouldn't act. In “Answers” by George Singleton, there is a husband and wife thinking about getting divorced, and they begin answering questions in a book, and realize that the other turned out to be less manly or trustworthy, than they believed to be. In “Public Relations” by George Singleton, a man and his wife are out eating with his boss and his wife. While eating he gets fired for talking about how women should act, and how they will amount to nothing without an education. In both of these stories, men and women act differently than the stereotypes put on them by their

In today’s society, there are many types of viewpoints between both females and males on many things in life. Most of the viewpoints would have to go towards the males, because people view them to do so much in life. One main example of this would have to be the male’s role in relationships. To society, everyone sees the male’s role to be the one to protect his loved one as well as provide for the both of them and their family. Society also sees that the man’s main role is to be the “man of the house” when it comes to relationships and not letting their wives do much. Males are even seen as fearless and not afraid to show any emotions. This can make young people absorb that the men are the individuals that have to do everything in a relationship which can cause them overdo things or it can cause young males to not even want to do these things because it is overwhelming for them as an individual.

Many people don’t know the difference between gender and sex. Sex is anatomical and biological. Gender role can be defined as a person’s inner sense of how a male or female should feel and behave. Culture and society are two important factors in relation to this particular topic. This implies that various societies and cultures may produce children and later fully grown men and women who may have diverse perspectives of a man or a woman’s place or role in the world around them; this is often determined by their culture’s gender stereotypes. Gender roles are the products of interactions between individuals and their environments, and they give certain cues about the behavior that is acceptable based upon their sex. Members of the society must learn the appropriate way for them to behave and what is actually expected of them as well as others. These roles are also based on norms or standards created by society.

Gender socialization often begins early once parents are shown the sex of their child; from then on, baby showers are planned according to gender “appropriate” colors, which are often pink for girls and blue for boys. Even differences in how children are spoke to can be picked up easily in Western cultures. Girls are called pretty and sweet, whereas boys are handsome and strong. Ultimately, the way children learn to identify with their gender culture is in part due to not only family and friends, media, schools, and religion, but also from the toys that may inexplicitly advertise gender expectations. Gender-typed toys may be bought for children as a way for parents to encourage and reinforce gender-appropriate behaviors. However, recent debates have engulfed toy manufacturers and major retailers, which has brought about changes in toy design and marketing in an effort to make reflect more realistic and gender neutral options.

Different cultures in the world have various expectations of the appropriate attributes and behavior towards women and men and how they relate to each other. Gender is considered an organizing principle in a community culture because of the cultural meanings associated with being a male or female and this can be displayed by the division of labor in the society. Various cultures have females’ and males’ work within the household and within the community and each community has its cultural explanation on this. Considering the American’s woman’s perspective, it has changed in the recent years with both sexes agreeing that women are have been and are currently being discriminated against. Though the specific nature of gender relations differs

Enculturation of individuals naturally and instinctively molds peoples’ gender roles. Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time” (Samovar, Larry A., Porter, Richard E., McDaniel, Edwin R., and Carolyn Roy S., 1991, p.63). People engage in gender-oriented, accustomed practices as they go on with their lives, and have different, unconnected incentives that construct their personalities. Gender has influenced every part of our life, from how we feel about ourselves and set our objectives educationally, and even plan our work opportunities. Also, the nature of