Gender Expectations

The issues women faced, demonstrates the influence of family structures. The relation of socioeconomic status in race and ethnicity is looked upon as a strong association to sexual behavior. The length of time parents communicating sexual issues, have shown a significant role in adolescences. The repetition of sexuality virtues impacts gendered sexual expectations. Mothers teach their daughters, the importance of being a virgin until marriage. Lopez states, “Women construct premarital virginity as a commodity that can be rated in a patriarchal society for financial stability and happiness via marriage” (pg. 222). Maintaining premarital virginity represents stability and happiness. With virginity specifies, mothers are over protected towards their daughters. Mothers strive to protect their daughters from gendered inequalities. Gender expectations represents the inequality

As stated above, the societal expectation for a male is to be aggressive, promiscuous, and combative. Some of these personality traits can lead to physical health problems, high blood pressure and violence. Research has shown that men with higher levels of aggression are more likely to develop hypertension. According to Friedman & Rosenman, women are frowned upon if they possess any of these “masculine” personality traits,.

In today’s society, boys and men are groomed to be non-emotional, tough, and aggressive in order to be portrayed as being masculine. Boys and men often form their own idea of what it means to be masculine through the eyes of the U.S. culture. The U.S. cultures presents masculinity into our daily entertainment such as; sport games, music, and more. The U.S mainstream media presents masculine traits it in a way where males feel the pressure to meet this expectation to be considered as a masculine man.

Whether or not society approved or disapproved birth control for women, it was clear that the responsibility of the possible negative effects of having sex was left up to the woman. Many would agree that that statement still applies today as well. Furthermore, it is understandable that women are seen as more driven or “trustworthy” to protect themselves, because they are responsible for carrying and becoming a mother to a child if impregnated. That idea, however feeds the double standard that men can be very sexually active without worrying about the life altering effects they are causing women. So, if it is socially acceptable for men to sleep around and not women then shouldn’t they be responsible for preventing unplanned pregnancies?

Pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood is a time in a women’s life that is full of varying emotions. Some are excited and hopeful while others are worried and careful. Either way, the moment you hold your newborn for the first time, there is a new sense of purpose women often feel. A heightened sense to nurture and protect. During slavery, that was not always the case for most if not all enslaved women. In a time where oppression, discrimination and sadistic acts of violence and terror were casted upon enslaved Africans in America; women were merged into specific gender roles and expectations. White and black women were not seen equally. Societal views created a margin of how the world perceived white and black women in all aspects of life including: motherhood, work and their roles as a wife.

I have chosen to focus this paper on the portrayal of gender stereotypes and expectations as seen in the book Ethan Frome written by author Edith Wharton. Before I proceed with this topic, allow me to highlight the ingenious writing style of the author and her subtle discussion of unhappiness, which opened the door to adultery in the marriages of both Wharton and her main character in the book Ethan Frome.

From the time when it became available the near the beginning of the 1960s, oral contraceptives, commonly called "the pill," have opened possibilities that had were shut to females for all of times gone by. Possibly more than any other sole factor, the pill has made it likely for women to be in charge of of their own lives and to attain their prospects. Nowadays, 100 million women all over the world use the pill. Nonetheless, there are emergencies ensuing from rape or failure to use contraceptive plans. There are in addition emergencies ensuing from accidental consensual sex. In spite of everything, the human sexual desire was fashioned by evolution to guarantee procreation, and it works extremely fine. Given the correct psychological stimulants, pretty much everyone, counting presidents of the United States and well-known religious leaders, will jeopardize it all for an illicit sexual rendezvous (Drazen, et al. 2004). To be adamant that society rely exclusively on self-restraint more willingly than contraception is to refute a nature beside which the gods themselves are unable to compete. The whole history of humanity can be interpreted as evidence to the influence of that nature.

“Nearly all (89.5%) of the participants received free or reduced cost lunches at school.” There was a high representation for a mother figure in the participant’s life, (75.6% and 11.% in respects to having a mother/ grandmother as a mother figure). 15.3% of the males identifies as not having a father figure. 73.4% believed that participant parents would be angry/or unhappy if participant was subjected to teen pregnancy. She points out how there was a significant gender difference in terms of the perception of parental views on getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant during the next year. More girls reported their parent would be angry/ or unhappy if they gotten pregnant in comparison to boys (77.8% vs. 67.0%, receptively). From this experiment they found that there was a high correlation between the way participant perceived the attitudes of their parents in regards to getting pregnant or getting someone pregnant and engaging in sexual

Men don’t seem to face as many issues as women do when it comes to their virginites, an unfair advantage many women have come to accept. Unfair treatment regarding their bodies also seems to have a negative impact on women and their perceptions of sex. Antoinette Landor and Leslie Simmons use their article about virginity pledges to point out just how unfair this treatment seems to be. In this article they elaborate that not only were boys less pressured into virginity pledges but also "gender differences for the influence of religion on sexual behavior have been reported. For example, women were less likely to report engaging in risky sexual behaviour due to religious values" (Landor and Simmons 1103). Boys are more likely to endanger themselves

Another instance in which the author represents the shift in women’s expectations is when Jane comforts Helen after she is unjustly punished by Miss Scatcherd for innocent behaviors, such as resting her head and scratching her chin. Jane suggests to Helen that she not stand for such unfair treatment, stating, “I feel this, Helen. I must dislike those who, whatever I do to please them, persist in disliking me; I must resist those who punish me unjustly” (58), to which Helen responds, “Read the New Testament, and observe what Christ says… Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you and despitefully use you” (58). In this conversation, the author incorporates two distinct responses which reflect the differing realworld

‘Boys will be boys’, a phrase coined to exonerate the entire male sex of loathsome acts past, present, and potential. But what about the female sex, if females act out of turn they are deemed ‘unladylike’ or something of the sort and scolded. This double standard for men and women dates back as far as the first civilizations and exists only because it is allowed to, because it is taught. Gender roles and cues are instilled in children far prior to any knowledge of the anatomy of the sexes. This knowledge is learned socially, culturally, it is not innate. And these characteristics can vary when the environment one is raised in differs from the norm. Child rearing and cultural factors play a large role in how individuals act and see

Gender expectations in society were not only limited to marriage guidelines, but went as far as to outline what a woman should wear and say. The proper Victorian woman was supposed to always be suitably dressed. This means that she should wear a dress that covered everything down to her ankles. It was even scandalous if a woman were to show her feet in public. A proper woman should also always be conservative with her speech and hide her sexuality. If a woman were to speak about or show her sexuality, she would automatically be seen as ‘loose’ and be looked down upon. Swartz-Levine describes how ‘loose women’ were seen when she explains: “…an Imprudent woman is looked on as a kind of Monster; a thing diverted and distorted from its proper

Boys and young men are often being urged to be manly. Advertisement always makes men look strong and handsome, as opposed to lanky and unattractive. Our society affects men in a way that women wouldn’t understand. Women think that men have it easy all the time but do they really? They face issues just like women do. A central issue facing boys and young men is that they are forced into being sporty, dull-witted, and physically appealing.

(Barnett, 2017, 102) To summarize this, some people may feel pressured that their first time will impact the rest of their life. That same researcher focused on gender with virginity in a different article they conducted and indicated that “gender differences play a meaningful role in understanding sexual definitions”. (Barnett, 2017, 204) This article helped me to elaborate on my research question, and the subject of gender influence will be my main focus as I perform interview questions.

Engaging in sexual behavior of any kind involves some level of risk. Whether that risk is physical, emotional, or social, those who partake in sexual activity with another human being must incorporate risk into their decision-making processes. However, these decision-making processes and the definition of risk itself are heavily influenced by social schema. There is strong empirical evidence for gender differences in risk taking behaviors, but it is necessary to look deeper in order to apply current data to the topic of taking risk with sexual behavior. By considering how risky sexual behaviors are defined, the influence of social schemata, and potential mitigating factors to risky sexual behaviors, it becomes evident that social