Gender Double Standards

Through my experiences with people of many backgrounds, as well as my education, I have learned to separate the idea of sex and gender. I still maintain certain traditional views regarding gender, however I’ve come to the realization that the social constructs of men and women are not, and should not, be as rigid. In my opinion, I have acknowledged that there are differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’, however these differences should be used to uplift one another, rather than to tear the other gender apart. For example, a family unit in which the man decides to take on the responsibilities of the

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.

From the 12th century B.C. to today women have been pestered by the double standard. They have had to endure constant reminders that it is a man's world and they are just living in it. While women have tried to and continue to fight the double standard through various feminist movements overtime the problem still persists. The "war on women", as some like to call it, is nothing new and judging by how long the double standard has been around, it seems unlikely that the bar of equality between men and women will ever be perfectly just. The Odyssey shows how the double standard was no stranger even over 30 centuries ago. The epic poem focuses on alpha male, Odysseus’ journey home. Throughout the novel Odysseus continues to be described as

All throughout history, women have been thought of to be “weaker” and “not as capable” as men have always been thought to be. Due to this, gender roles were

‘Women produce children; women are mothers and wives; women do the cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing; they take care of men and are subordinate to male authority; they are largely excluded from high-status occupations and from positions of power.’ (Haralambous and Holborn 1995, Sociology Themes and Perspectives, HarperCollins Publishers) These stereotypes have come from our past and have now become quite frequently used in today’s society. Women have been seen as the maintainers of the household while the men go out to work and earn a living. “When our ancient ancestors switched to hunting as a way of life, the relationship between males and females was dramatically

The double standard discussed by Andersen and Witham (2011) is the sexual double standard. The sexual double standards get to be obvious when the sexual behaviors of women and men are exposed to different judgments that depend on a variety of societal desires of either gender. For instance, it is acceptable for men to have loads of sexual encounters before settling down for a long haul sexual relationship; in spite of that, the same is not considered for women. Any woman that takes part in a lot of sexual relationships is normally classified as “sluts” while men with the same behavior are thought to be

“The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of a women begins when the doctor says, ‘It's a girl!’” Women are forced to conform to a set place in society, and the pressure they feel to conform starts when they are born.

Guys are expected to do certain things or they get called out for it. Girls on the other hand can be or do whatever they want. On page 461 in the reading it says “Whenever I ask a young women what they think it means to be a woman… say, basically, “Whatever I want”… “Nobody can tell me what it means to be a woman anymore.”” Even though in the reading about young women saying “Nobody can tell me what it means to be a woman anymore.” It stills effects young girls every day, maybe not physically but psychologically.

Though not all societies use the binary system we do, each constructs genders and gender roles (RWL 415). Some of those roles overlap in different cultures, and others couldn’t be further apart. Kincaid’s culture frowned upon being viewed as a slut, overlapping with mine. Mostly growing up in the South, being “ladylike” is as much part of Southern culture as food. However, many of the social expectations she was being lectured on were so unfamiliar to me that I had to Google them. Though I can relate to Southern culture, I’m originally from Florida, which isn’t normally seen as truly Southern. I moved to Alabama around the time in school when Sittenfield also describes the beginnings of a distinction between boys and girls (LU 4).

Throughout history, humans have always had a system the dictated the way men and women are supposed to act. These gender roles define society and if you do not act upon these terms, now anyway, no one really cares. We have learned to become tolerant of those who are different, however, back when religion played a major role in the world, and everyone judged everyone by the way they acted, going against these norms would mean excommunication. Not only from the church but from society itself. These gender roles though have been challenged by people that want to do more. In “The Third Generation” a girl tells the story of her family and how women should change the way things are done. She watches her family struggle because they followed the norm

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.

Gender roles are social constructs that defines what sort of behaviors are acceptable for men or women. These rigid expectations teach people through socialization that we should think, speak, dress, and be a certain way depending on which gender we are. When we are young we learn the behaviors that are socially appropriate for males and females; these behaviors are often based on gender stereotypes. For example, women are expected to love shopping and take care of domestic duties like cleaning the house, while men are expected to love sports and to work outside the home in an industry like construction or engineering. While men and women do have distinct differences that can 't always be chalked up to social imposition, these ideas of what it means to be male or female can be very harmful to people 's identity. People are often judged and scrutinized for failing to fit into the box society creates for them based on their gender. There are quite a few double standards that exist regarding gender. It is unfair to judge people more harshly for something based solely on their gender, and one common example of this is sexual behavior. Women are judged harshly for the same sexual behavior that men are praised for. This sexual double standard can have devastating effects on women who get labeled as “sluts.” Men who are thought to have a higher number of sexual partners or be more sexually

Throughout many decades women have been struggling to be equal to men, both at home and in the work place. Women have come a long way and are certainly fighting to gain that equality, but gender roles are very important in our society. They have become important in life from birth, and society continues to push these gender roles. The treatment of the male gender is very different from that of the female, and this issue has become very important to me, as a woman. As children we learn and adapt to specific gender roles, and as we grow they become more evident and more important to our role in a society. There is a lot of discrimination against the female gender. Carol Gilligan argued that

     For many years society has embraced the idea that the difference between men and women were biologically determined. Thou through traditions, media, and peers we act accordingly to how others view us. Each individual has pressure placed upon them based on their gender. Our sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Some theories interpret that a women is tender and a loving mother while on the other hand men are aggressive hunters and are the dominant one of the family. People who support this theory seems to believe that men and women are happier when fulfilling the roles nature determined for them. Women are to be nurturing and men are to be providers by

For the most part, women during this time have a very hard time acclimating to society’s standards and being treated as equal, especially by men. Whether they like it or not, the prejudice held against women in the hearts of the patriarchal society pulls them down and makes it hard to be treated equally, even if a person is born in a wealthy, high-class family. The discrimination only gets worse for those