Gender Expectations from Society Essays

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,

In most cultures, boys and girls are treated very differently. Despite the differences of gender, upbringing creates gender behavior, including aggression and gentility; societal stereotypes of gender, and most importantly, gender-based discrimination.

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.

There are many differences between a boy and a girl. Usually when they are young, the parents let them do what they desire within reason. As they grow older, it is the mother’s assignment to show the daughter how to become a woman, and it is the fathers to show the son how to become a man. In “Boys and Girls”, the narrator is older than her brother. Therefore, she is gratefully doing the son’s duties until he has grown up and matured. “Wait until Laird gets a little bigger, then you’ll have real help.” (775) The lead character did not like this idea at all. She enjoys working with her father out in the yard, and does not want to be a girl, but more a tomboy as a result that she does not have to work in the house. That is why she goes outside during any chance she attains. “I just get my back turned and she runs off. It’s not like I had a girl in the family at all.” (775) During this time period, young children had more freedom than young adults. For this reason, the protagonist is annoyed by her brother because he receives more freedom than she does. Meaning that he can do whatever he pleases, while she is the one taking care of his future responsibilities. “Swinging himself sick on the swing, going

Avoiding the Norm In our society men and women have not always been equal, and even today we still strive for equality. Traditional stereotypes for both genders have been around for decades. Traditionally men were the breadwinners, financially taking care of their families.

Gender stereotypes have been around since the beginning of time. Typically men were expected to provide for the family while women took care of the daily duties around the house. Gender stereotypes play a huge role in fixing economic gender equality, women and men should be encouraged to have similar jobs in math and science i.e. not only men need to be engineers and not only women need to be nurses. Those stereotypes have a direct impact on the salary gap present today. As women enter the workforce into full time potions men need to be more willing to take over domestic tasks and raising a family and upkeep at the home can be difficult for a working women.  Helping with domestic tasks is great way to encourage women to enter and stay in the

From a young age, boys and girls are told to act a certain way based on their gender. The norms they are told often contradict each other, with boys being told to be confident and girls compliant. As a UNICEF report from 2008 describes, “Children start facing norms that define ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ from an early age. Boys are told not to cry, not to fear, not to be forgiving and instead to be assertive, and strong. Girls on the other hand are asked not to be demanding, to be forgiving and accommodating and ‘ladylike’.

For example, what is being taught who teaches us, and how they teach us? Schools are like old factories that distribute gendered individuals, which imply that women and men are different and unequal (205). A great example of how gender inequality is perpetuated through the education system can even be rooted by how the classroom is designed. Areas are sex segregated by invisible but real boundaries; everything is divided to where girls should play and where boys should play. The way boys are girls are treated by their teachers displays the inequality, boys receive more attention from their teachers just because they are more impulsive, reckless, and loud, and how they don’t challenge girls as much as boys (Kimmel 208). Also, how boys are still imposed to act more like girls in the classroom, they have to stay calm, raise their hands; classrooms are more feminize (Kimmel 213). At the same time, something that is very much active is how when boys put girls down as they often do at that age, teachers ( females usually) often ignore the situation and do nothing about it. Teachers also urge boys to try harder, by constantly encouraging positive support. Overall, the traditional gender stereotypes that girls are good and boys are bad still exist today (Kimmel

In the past men were viewed as having to be strong, responsible and be in charge to make the decisions at the best interest of his household. The men used to work outside of the house in order to support his family. But after a while men started going towards the more traditional female jobs and they were viewed as weak and were judged about their masculinity. After a few years it became more common that some men wanted to stay at home with the kids either on paternity leave, or permanently as a stay at home dad which was giving them the more traditional female role (“Changing”). In a 2008 survey, about 56% of men said that they did at least half of the cooking in the house, which was an increase from 34% in 1992. In the same survey but a different question 53% of men said that they also did at least half of the house cleaning which was an increase from 40% in 1992. It is evident that over time as society has evolved that the gender roles for men have

     Femininity and masculinity are topics that have been debated over in our society extensively, through psychological research and day to day interaction with people. Children learn from their parents as well as society the concept of “feminine” and “masculine.” The majority of people tend to believe that these conceptions are biological but I believe it is more cultural. From birth, female children are shaped by society as being sweet, caring, loving, and delicate and usually associated with the color pink. While male children are shaped by being tough, aggressive, and competitive and associated with the color blue. As these children grow, the boy is given a football to play with and the girl a

These ideals teach young children that “females are nurses and males are doctors, that the mom stays home to clean the house, cook, and take care of the children while the dad goes off to work to make money and provide for the family”(Source B). Gender roles are learned by the younger generation to be accepting and conform to it. Gender roles also influence the careers people select. Jobs that require “caring, comforting, and serving behaviors” are labeled as a woman’s job and stereo-typically do not have a high male employment”(Source B) and likewise men enter jobs that require physical or mathematical skills as they are believed to be better in those fields. By setting expectations and roles that each gender must accept, it affects each individual dramatically. Most individual have their own personality and goals in life. Sometimes those goals are turned into unachievable dreams because society tells them that their goal is not for their gender. One example from personal experience would be my aunt. She was a really strong women who hoped to become a police office when she was a kid. However, due to family and society pressure, it turned her away from pursuing her dream because it was

The textbook identifies four approaches to gender development: biological, interpersonal, cultural, and critical. Define each theory. Then answer the following question: which of the theoretical approaches to gender do you find the most valid? Be sure to include at least two examples from your own experience as well as two scholarly sources to back up your claim.

Within and across different cultures, we can find great consistency in standards of anticipated gender roles. In the United States, like many other countries, males are expected to be independent, assertive, and competitive. Females are expected to be more passive, sensitive, and supportive. For example, when a woman gives birth, she is the one that is expected to stay home and take care of her children while the father goes to work and is the breadwinner for the family. In society, it is more acceptable and common to see the women stay home and take care of the house and children while the husband goes to work instead of the other way around. Stay at home dads are not as common as stay at home moms. However, it is up to the individuals on what they decide as a couple. Because of this, gender appropriate behaviors can be seen because of sex segregation and starting at young ages.

In the words of pop singer and ardent feminist P!nk, “Women have fought so long and hard for our rights and equality, and now all our attention is put on being a size 0.” P!nk’s hit song “Stupid Girls”, released with her 2006 album I’m Not Dead, provides a commentary on society’s perception of a woman’s role and how women respond to that perception. She rejects the foundations of the stereotype that women exist as subordinate to men, while challenging the behavior of women who conform to these societal expectations in order to please men. Although she composed the piece to encourage women to take pride in intelligence, the song has come under critique for “slut-shaming” by stereotyping women who focus on external appearance, labeling them as “stupid”. The piece simultaneously demeans and empowers women, demonstrating just one of the many flaws in the feminist movement that exist today.

Males and Females no matter the age face gender stereotypes everyday of their lives. As we are brought up we are taught to be our own individuals with our own ideas, but society tends to break that down. When we think about school, Gender Stereotyping doesn’t really come to mind, but if you think about it that’s where is all begins. In school, they have “dress code”, wear everyone falls under, meaning you can’t just wear whatever you want. Also, in schools when it comes to activities boys are pushed more to do outside activates compared to girls that do inside activities. Overall kids themselves start to separate themselves into two categories, boy with boys and girls with girls. Even though males and females are different, we should still take the time to teach kids that they aren’t put into two separate categories, but that they should be the person they want to be.