Gender Expectations In Society

Society’s high expectations of females guide their everyday actions and decision making whether consciously or subconsciously. In Stephen Hinshaw’s essay “Impossible Expectations” he discusses what he calls the “Triple Bind” where girls are supposed to be good at both typical girl and guy things as well as conform to a specific set of standards created by society. These contradictory expectations shape girls’ lives and drive their decision making from what type of career they will pursue to how they dress. Hinshaw also explained that girls are supposed to fit a cookie cutter image portrayed by the media yet encouraged to break the mold at the same time,

Men and women have always been unequal, and it has always been an issue of women wanting to be equal, and men wanting to be superior. Maybe in other countries across the globe they are more equal, but in America they are not as equal and women want them to be. Women are portrayed as the ones that are supposed to stay home and take care of the kids and cook and clean the house all the time. Men are supposed to be the workers of the family and they are not supposed to be the ones that cook the meals or clean the home. The man is supposed to be the worker, the woman is supposed to be the housewife, and women are supposed to give birth to kids

What are society’s expectations for women today? In Jane Eyre, written by Charlotte Bronte, Jane is expected to care and teach Mr. Rochester’s child. In the article, “Jen Welter Is Teaching Men, and Girls, as N.F.L.’s First Female Coach” Ken Belson is explaining that Jen Welter is the first woman in history to play for a men’s professional team. Today in our society, women are expected to support their family and get jobs that men can’t get.

Esperanza explains it as, “The boys and girls live in separate worlds. The boys in their universe and we in ours” (Cisneros 8). Throughout the book, there is a constant conflict of being a female and keeping one’s freedom. Many of the men on Mango Street beat their wives and/or daughters and confine them to the home. Sally and Esperanza’s great-grandmothers are two examples of the mistreatment of women by men. Out of fear that Sally will run away, like his sisters did, Sally’s father abuses her as a means of control. In the chapter “What Sally Said”, Esperanza says,”But Sally doesn’t tell about the time he hit her with his hands just like a dog, she said, like if I was an animal” (Cisneros 92). Sally later ends up in an equally abusive and controlling marriage, which leaves her just like every other woman; by a window. Then there is Esperanza’s great-grandmother who was forced to marry and spend the rest of her life leaning out a window in sadness, dreaming of all the things she could have been in life. It is because of these things that Esperanza wants to escape; abusive relationshionships, confinement, helplessness, and fear. She refuses to comply with the expectations that society has set for her as a woman. For Esperanza, defying this gender role and remaining an independent woman is an act of dissent, and almost

Because some believe females have limited means of power and control, many women in poverty stricken communities choose to marry a man provide for them, believing they cannot provide for themselves. In The House on Mango Street, Esperanza spends the period of the book finding out that the traditional role for a woman — little education, early marriage and children — is all too often a trap lined with unhappiness. Because it was expected to not finish high school as a female, most women rely on marrying a man to provide and help escape the struggle of life in poverty, as most are unable to due so without ever receiving a full education. Esperanza’s younger sister, Nenny, possesses the traits of independence and separate ideas that are different from most people in her community; “Nenny says she won’t wait her whole life for a husband to come and get her….she wants things all on her own, to pick and choose,” (Cisneros 88). Esperanza explains that most think marriage is the way to get out, whereas Nenny doesn't believe a man is the key to living a happy and successful life. However, other women in more desperate situations choose to take marriage as the alternative route, such as Sally, Esperanza’s friend from school. Regardless of still being a girl, Esperanza observes that Sally wants to be taken away by a man, escaping her current home situation where her father beats her, and mother covers her bruises and scrapes. Her guardians parenting contributed to Sally’s desperate need to be loved, resulting in her eagerness to find a husband. “Sally got married like we knew she would, young and not ready but married just the same…she married him in another state where it’s legal to get married before eighth grade...she says she is in love, but I think she did it to escape,” (Cisneros 101). Esperanza explains

Esperanza grows up in a Hispanic environment, herself being Mexican. Many Hispanic cultures have the same view on life when it comes to women. These cultures believe women should stay home and take care of the house, kids, and husband. These standards determine how women live their daily lives and does not allow for independence. Additionally, these standards are a challenge for women who dream big and want to achieve more in life than staying in the kitchen. The women on Mango Street are portrayed as lacking independence and are trapped in their houses, due to their husbands following society’s cruel expectations on these Hispanic women. In The House on Mango Street, the reader meets a young woman who is different than the majority of the women on Mango Street. Esperanza introduces Alicia, a young lady who is a victim of cultural expectations, “Alicia, whose mama died, is sorry there is no one older to rise and make the lunchbox tortillas. Alicia, who inherited her mama’s rolling pin and sleepiness, is young and smart and studies for the first time at the university. Two trains and a bus, because she doesn’t want to spend her whole life in a factory or behind a rolling pin.”

Power and gender expectations are an important element of sexual risk taking behaviours. Gender beliefs like 'the more sex I have, the more manly I will be' or 'always listen to what your boyfriend wants even if you don't want to so he doesn't break up with you', pressure many females and males into engaging in sexual behaviour that they may not want and as a result, increase their risk for unexpected pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.

Orlando by Virginia Woolf addresses the issues of gender conformity and expectations through time; in this case, three centuries during the Elizabethan Era in the area around Europe. The main character, Orlando, experiences a gender change during his lifetime to become a female and that drastically modifies the way that she lives. Through the motif of Orlando’s gender change and androgyny, Orlando experiences both life and love, which is not common for men and women regardless of the time period.

In society women are not guaranteed the same rights that men have, due to the problem that they are not viewed as equal.

Primarily, gender expectations for men are used to show power, control, and typecast the characters as manly. The men in the tragedy, including the serving men, are shown degrading women and using them to look better. During the quarrel between the serving men at the beginning of the tragedy, the rape, and murder of “women, being the weaker vessels,” are used to show superiority between the two feuding families and the insignificance women play. In the conversation, the serving men, are talking about the disputing families and what they would do the Montague maids to show that they are more powerful. Women are also not treated as humans, they are treated as “vessels” or objects to be used to do all the housework. Due to this lack of representation

Since the beginning of time women have been socially seen as pure, innocent, mature, and caring. Women of every age were seen as objects to society. In society women had to stay home, help around the house, and wait until marriage to have sexual relationships with men. Throughout time women expectations from society have changed. Women now have more freedom, and the will to do and say whatever they want. Although women’s expectations from society have changed some people still treat them different. They are seen as sexual objects, whores, bitches, and all these other deliberate words. Like in “A Rose for Emily”, “The Love of my Life”, and “The Company of Wolves”, all of the women have different stories in society.

Should our biological sex determine our personality? In modern society, they do. From birth, we are assigned a gender and are socialized to conform to certain gender roles. Even when the babies are still in the womb, we put gender expectations on them. For instance, boys like blue while girls like pink. Gender expectation impact men and women in the areas of employment, dating, and marriage.

Throughout much of history, women have been viewed as inferior to men. In the 1800s and early 1900s, women were not allowed to hold the same jobs or

Although in Western culture expectations of gender have changed, there are still gender expectations that exist within Western cultures. Women are still expected to be the caregivers, soft, and weak while Men are expected to be strong and powerful. Instead of families letting their children pick what they want to play with, “they give girls baby dolls to play with to enhance maternal and caring feelings and give boys sporting equipment which emphasizes feelings of power, aggressiveness, and leadership” (Moet 1). Children associating themselves with these activities foreshadows what their future holds for them. These early gender preparations influence the children's understanding to strongly develop that role. These traits become robotic to children and influence the ‘normal’ gender identity for a particular sex and how to behave as a male or a female. Educationally, Western culture engages in believing that boys are better at math. Western society places a heading on women that their educational values are being a wife and mother which deemphasize their intellectual abilities. Unfortunately, young women engaging in getting an education feel turned down because they fall into the trap of believing boys are better at math than girls which causes them to achieve lower math scores. The discouragement does not come from “boys are better than girls at math but because boys think they are better at math” (Davis 3). Young women are beginning to question whether they have the

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards