Gender Aspects Of 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.

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.

From the day we are born we are categorized either a male or female. From that day onward society molds, and shapes us into what it means to be a man or women. Aaron Devor’s “Becoming Members of society: Learning The Social Meanings of Gender” discusses the formation of gender roles. Devor talks about how quickly children develop, and placed into their gender group.He also discusses about the gender role behaviors and attitudes . In Jamaica Kincaid’s ,”Girl”, Kincaid focussed on her relationship with her mother, mainly on the expectations her mother had for her. From the personal observations, examples from Devor and Kincaid’s passages, I see that gender roles are not rooted into our biology, but formed from expectations from society.

The article “Learning to be Gendered” co-written by Sally McConnel-Ginet and Penelope Eckert accurately sums up the process of becoming a boy or a girl starting before birth. Children learn to be a boy or a girl from both their family and peers then put their learnings to practice as they become older. Everyday interactions are predetermined by our own gender and our own interpretation of another’s gender. Sex is a physical and mental aspect of one’s character. If asked to place gender in a category of nature vs. nurture, Sally and Penelope provide sufficient evidence that gender is strictly nurture.

Most married couples can develope a share of understanding about who does what in the relationship. Sometimes it can be unspoken recognitions of the division of labor and the responsibilities. A plan for marriage is equally shared between chores and plenty of other duties. Throughout history, gender roles have been changing and the plans are not followed anymore than it has been. We live in a world where no one is perfect. There are different people where they have different beliefs. In 1848 women had no rights until the 1920s. Women and men always had the same rolls through the years. Men always made the decisions and worked while the women would stay home and do house duties. The men always had to respect the women and their children unless they disobeyed their rules. Although there are divisions of labor between the human affairs, there can be changing in social expectations, which can be reflected in different gender roles at many different times.

What are the roles of the husband and wife in marriage? Are they fixed gender roles or should they be flexible in response to the giftedness of each partner, or a blend of the two? Compare Christianity and Islam.

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.

Gender roles and gender identity are topics that are prevalent in today’s society, and cause many debates in classrooms and in everyday life. There are varied opinions on the subject. Most people have very strong beliefs on how children develop their gender roles and identity and can backup those beliefs with personal experiences behind their reasoning

You would think over the years of fighting over gender roles and gender inequality it would end and get better, but in today’s societies it seems like history is repeating itself and will always continue to be a major part in our life. Gender roles is being a social expectation that dictate how each gender is to speak, think, act and engage with each other. It also manages to control what people can and cannot do by describing things like jobs, entertainment and items as either masculine or feminine. Kevin D. Henson discusses the theory of Hegemonic masculinity which was mention in the course the text. In which it was defined as the proposed practices that promote the dominant social position of men and the subordinate social position of women

People usually define genders as: a man, should be strong, have a sense of responsibility, and cannot straightforwardly reveal feelings; a woman is expected to be emotional, vulnerable and looks pretty. Cultures teach women and men to be the opposite of each other in various ways. People may show different traits at different times, which are considered against the society. The society rules limit people to gender roles.

From an early age children are taught that they are to play with material objects, based on their gender, they are to dress a certain way, based on their gender, they are to like certain things, based on their gender, and they are to view themselves not as they please, but as the manipulated image society puts in their mirror. These thoughts and ideas are thrust upon children as soon as the sonogram confirming their sex is placed in the hands of their parents.

In terms of the heterosexual majority, respectability applied deeply to women and their gender roles as wives, because it was the way to distinguish between good and "oversexed women" (Kushner 9/25/15). The characteristics of women consisted of being pious, pure and religious, as they were the moral superiors to men (Kushner, 9/25/15). This moral superiority linked to the idea that Cott presents of female passionlessness, which was the result of subsequent lack of " sexual aggressiveness" (Cott 1987: 220). Passionlessness however was not simply a gendered characteristic it played a vital sexual as the controlling factor over hyper sexual husbands (Cott 1978: 235). The very structure of Victorian marriages relied on women 's passionlessness because it supported women 's demure and respectable nature in society, while also keeping men under control and containing sexuality to the home (Kushner, 9/25/15). The concept of respectability not only shaped how women and men acted in both sexual and non sexual ways but outlined the ways proper marriages ought to function.

This commercial, made by Verizon, illustrates a girl that has interest in the science fields. At first, she is going against all social norms. She has a hobby of doing stuff that are not usually expected from girls. Unfortunately, around the end, she adapts to the social norms which results in her losing interest in her hobbies and she also loses a part of herself.

Unfortunately, young girls and boys are given very different ideas of expectations, guidelines and messages about their genders, which cause strain and hierarchies for both genders. When playing, girls are more likely to play with toys that are neutral or considered masculine, and usually not be bullied or negatively judged to a serious extent. Young males experience a very strict set of expectations that if not followed, they receive negative life consequences and negative reinforcement, such as bullying. “If a boy chooses activities or actions that are feminine it is punishable by disapproval by peers, family, and society” (O’Brien et al, 2000). As young as preschool age, boys are more likely to choose toys and activities that are ‘masculine’ and they begin to exhibit a strict belief in typical boy-like gendered behavior. Apart from parents, peer and one’s friend group influence a major part in the gender role development throughout all stages of adolescence. Around the age there is often an increase in this behavior. “Starting from age five, boys tend to mingle within a crowd, and take part in group activities, whereas, girls prefer solitude or small groups of two or three people” (Santrock, 2009). They develop a strong sense of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior and activities for their sex and opposite sex. “The practice of introducing stereotypes and gender roles early in life causes sexism, aggression, gender role conflict, and a new generation of people

In many ancient cultures, women were the caretakers of the home and men were the protectors and the main “breadwinners” of the family. Women were expected to cook, clean, do laundry, take care of the children, and do any household chores. Men were expected to work hard and to take care of the family’s needs. Males were suppose to act tough, strong, and be “manly” while females were suppose to be pretty and kind. In these ancient cultures, gender would define how you were expected to act and the roles you had to complete in order to be accepted by society. To be accepted into today’s modern society, people still have to follow the roles that are automatically associated to their gender and are criticized if they do not complete them. Gender is extremely prominent and salient in modern society and has been for thousands of years and because of this, gender roles have been affecting how people act, think, and make decisions. Due to negative gender stereotypes, people who do not follow their gender role can be criticized and reluctant to participate in things that do not fit their gender.