Gender And Gender Roles

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.

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.

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.

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.

Literature throughout history has displayed to us the evolution of the male and female gender roles in society. Women have been described as ‘the angel in the house,’ whilst men are typified as dominant and prevailing in comparison to women. The gothic genre in literature is used to personify and exaggerate these stereotypes, by using gothic motifs such as dream sequences and themes such as horror and terror. Not only does the gothic exaggerate the stereotypes, but it also allows them to be contravened, due to the transgressive nature of the genre. The psychoanalytical aspect of this genre, allows for repressed desires to be made eminent and therefore characters can transgress and in the process, cross their contemporary gender boundaries. Keats uses the gothic device of Negative capability in order to conceal the transgression of the females in his poetry, Carter revised gothic fairytales in order to display them from a feminist approach and Stoker uses gothic themes, set against the backdrop of the fluidity of Fin de siècle period, to allow characters to stray from their gender stereotypes.

Most people believe gender is only based on being male or female. People believe gender is based on the physical and biological differences between women and men. Over the last few years, the term gender has changed. When some people believe gender is being male or female. Most people associate gender with gender roles and how people are supposed to function or perform based on society’s expectations. In other words, people believe males and females have to behave according to their gender or gender roles to be socially accepted. For instance, it is socially accepted for women to be housewives while men work. However, gender is based upon how people are viewed and accepted. In other words, gender is based on how men and women feel about themselves, what is expected from them based on their roles, and how they are socially accepted.

Gender can sometimes be seen as biological characteristics humans have, when in fact it is the social characteristic ones society deems either masculine or feminine. Sex, on the other hand, is the biological differences in humans, for example, hormones and sex organs. People usually play gender roles in society, otherwise known as gender ideology. Gender ideology is when men and women have certain attitudes regarding their ‘fixed’ roles, responsibilities and rights. Throughout history men and women have been socialized to play these expected roles that have been placed on them due to their sex. In my own personal life I have encountered many instances where I have been socialized in relation to sex and gender.

Gender Roles can be defined as roles society expects people to play on account of their sex life. Like all roles, gender roles are made up of sets of expectations, so they can be thought of as sets of expirations, so they can be thought of as sets of expectation that are attached to sex.(pp: 220 John E. Farley & Michael W. Flota).

Men collectively choose to receive psychological help less than their women counterparts. The sex distinction in help-seeking behavior occurs even when both women and men are equally afflicted. If male help-seeking behavior is to be increased, the reason for its neglect must be considered. Increasing our awareness of factors that may deter men from exploring psychological guidance may help in accessing reluctant men, allowing them to see past their preconceived ideology of masculinity.

A great percentage of people in today's society would agree with the consensus that manhood is and should be based on masculine features and ambitions in order to be accepted as a manly male; Paul Theroux begs to differ in his formal essay, “Being a Man”, as he contests this norm by avidly stating that forcefully adopting manly attributes while growing up is “emotionally damaging and socially harmful” (Theroux). He strongly exemplifies his understanding to the reader through personal experiences and ridiculing the silly gestures that both men and women make, and remain faithful to, in order to substantiate their purported gender roles in 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.

There are billions of people in the world with many different ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, and beliefs. There are many families with their own characteristics and ways of running their home, whether they are Hispanic, Native American, or African American. Perhaps they are in upper class or maybe they live below poverty. They could be a Muslim or Catholic and perhaps they believe education is not the key to success, but the real key is hard work. Regardless of these variations, one factor that plays a role in all aspects: gender. When a person is born, they are automatically dressed in either blue or pink. The newborn is either boy or girl. Have people thought about why girls wear dresses or why boys wear jeans and sneakers? There is more to what culture tells us, when it comes down to how we play our gender roles. It is really about how our bodies are naturally made that determines our gender role. It is not, society that tells a person they can be a mother because only women can give birth to children. It is not culture that makes men stronger or bigger, it is hormones and the natural structure of males to have more muscle

“I was young and dumb,” said Kim Spight, a forty-year-old FedEx sales manager who became pregnant her freshman year at Howard University. Ms. Spight had the mindset to succeed so instead of dropping out of college to raise her daughter, she kept studying until she received her masters degree and now manages a 12-person sales team in Dallas. Meanwhile, her daughters father continues to work odd jobs and live at home with his mother (Cauchon, 2013). Can you believe at one point in time this reality wasn’t heard of or seemed impossible to achieve? Gender roles continue to transform year after year in relationships where men have began welcoming in the ideas of being a stay at home dad while the mom is the breadwinner. Women have the capability of climbing up the ladder in the workplace and even a little change has swept through different cultures. Let’s take a leap into the past to see just how gender roles have transformed history in the workplace, culture, and marriage.

Gender roles are the roles in life that society deems appropriate for each gender to play. These roles are recorded in countless ways, such as art, literature, and media. In order to understand gender roles in literature, we must have a good knowledge as to why gender roles even exist. It is common to try to categorize things and people; this is part of human nature. It is no surprise that men and women have been categorized as well. Throughout history have been wars, famine, and plagues. It is in those times that gender roles are the most inforced. It is “In periods of cultural insecurity” that “the longing for strict border controls around the definition of gender” and other things become much more

“Let the boys be boys.” You’ve heard this phrase before. Often repeated by parents regarding their little boys. So what makes a boy, a boy? Rambo like characteristics? Muscles? Short hair? Wearing blue? Wearing T-shirts and jeans or playing with sporting equipment? Well last I remember, the main characteristics boys shared were penises. The role gender association play in the lives of our children can sometimes affect them negatively. The messages that gender roles send, is that in order to be part of society, you must fit into the norm or the status quo or most importantly what society