Gender, Gender And Social Norms Essay

1. Why did Cato object to repealing the Oppian law? What was the basis of his objections?

As individuals, we are all given assigned aspects that define us. Race, gender, and social class are just a few of the characteristics that make us who we are. We also choose to take on certain aspects that reflect our own interests such as careers, fashion, and fandom. When our chosen and assigned aspects come together, our own identity is formed. These parts eventually impact and affect each other with the idea of intersection. The interconnection of being a woman and belonging to a certain career cross and act on each other in ways that are mostly negative. Many women find being successful in their careers very difficult especially women who are based into a male dominated industry.

Norms in society are the expectations of actions in specific situations. Social norms keep human social relations and behavior stable. Norms are “rules” that have developed within a particular society taking into account its values, culture and way of living. Sometimes, it is even the case that individuals do not have a choice and rarely recognize that fact that social norms have arbitrary origins because they have experienced this during the ongoing process of living (Clinard and Meyer 2011:10). Thus, gender norms are sometimes seen as limiting, disenfranchising and oppressive. People who are in less-favored or less-accepted norms are sometimes pushed to “deviate” from the norm in order to achieve some form of “liberation” from their

MacKinnon’s categorization of gender fails to take into account the difference in sexual desires. Within the socio-legal context, the regulation of sexual activities generalizes patterns of norms and marginalizes those who do not fit within this binary. This results in the suppression of natural masochistic desire and identity. As suggested by Rubin, feminist critiques of gender hierarchy “must be incorporated into a radical theory of sex, and the critique of sexual oppression should enrich feminism’ (Rubin 180). Rubin argues that the feminist critique of protecting women due to their status as subordinates effectively displace their sexual liberation (Rubin

In this session, I will discuss the gender roles in my family. The definition of gender role is the degree to which a person adopts the gender-specific behaviors ascribed by his or her culture (Matsumoto, D. R., & Juang 2013, 156). For example, traditional gender roles recommend that males are aggressive, angry, and unemotional. It goes further and explains that the male should leave the home every day to make a living and be the main wage earner. The traditional gender role for the female purpose is to stay at home and care for the children. It explains that the female is to be nurturing, caring, and emotional (Matsumoto, D. R., & Juang 2013, 156). These traditional roles for female and male are the opposite of one another. It is believed that the culture is likely to influence our perception about gender role in a family. In my family, my parents utilize the traditional gender role. Growing up, my father went to work every day and my mother stayed home with me and my sister. I believe my parents were influence by their parents and their culture to be traditional gender role parents. My father explained to me that they chose traditional parenting role because both sides of the family utilized traditional parenting gender roles. I believe my parents felt pressure to obtain the gender roles of the mother staying home with the children while the father worked. However, when my younger sister was old enough to go to school, my mother started to work. It was believed that when

The Traffic in Women: The “Political economy” of sex by Gayle Rubin is an exploration of the origin of women’s oppression. Rubin’s main objective is to arrive at a more fully developed definition of the sex/gender system, otherwise referred to as “mode of reproduction” and/or “patriarchy”. She further develops her definition through the analysis of the work of Levi-Strauss and Freud from a marxist perspective. Rubin provides the following preliminary definition of the sex/gender system “A set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed sexual needs are satisfied.” (159) She attempts to add to her definition of the sex/gender system through the analysis of the overlapping work of Claude Levi- Strauss and Sigmund Freud. Despite implications with their work, Rubin believes that both Levi-Strauss and Freud provide conceptual tools in describing the sex/gender system. Rubin looks at a Marxist analysis of sex oppression, as well as, Engels theory of society which integrates both sex and sexuality. Furthermore she incorporates aspects of each theory addressed into her own working definition of the sex/gender system. By shifting between Marxist, structuralist and psychoanalyst explanations of sex oppression, Rubin is able to construct a multi-dimensional definition of the sex/gender system that is not only inclusive but also provides a basis of which to build from.

Prior to reading the article Doing Gender, I have never paid attention to the concept of doing gender. I found it interesting how these roles go so unnoticed because they are so enforced in our society. We never stop to think or questions if an individual’s actions are masculine or feminine. For example, some of us are just so use to having our mothers cook and our dad’s do all the heavy lifting but we never stop to think why is it like this or what does this represent.

Many professions are traditionally occupied by one gender over the other, identified as occupational segregation (Hoffnung et al., 2013). Furthermore, Hoffnung and colleagues (2013), state that females are often perceived as carrying the burden of parenthood and general domestic chores, often in positions such as domestic labour. Whereas males are traditionally employed in positions with lower social demands, in more quantitatively and physically demanding positions. During the last thirty years there has been a notable increase of females into traditionally male roles,

Real Lives of Most Men." He says to a friend of his "This must be a

Gender affects every aspect of our life, from how we feel about ourselves to how we feel about others to the goals we set in education and work opportunity to our role in social life. It has a significant impact on the way we dress, the way we express our feelings, the things we do, and the nature of all of our relationships with people around us. Gender norms and gender roles have always existed in our society. Gender roles are tasks and actions assigned to genders by a culture. Gender norms are not always exactly the same when comparing cultures.

Ironically, when we were given this assignment I had the perfect opportunity to violate a gender norm. I attended my cousins’ baby shower this weekend and all the guests were in for a surprise when my cousin began to open her gifts. I decided to buy my new baby boy cousin a pink onesie and a dollhouse. When my cousin pulled the gifts out of the bag everyone had puzzled looks on their face. My cousin even asked me if I had given her the wrong gift. Everyone thought I was crazy for buying a baby boy what is deemed as girl things by society. In the world, we live in pink and dolls are for girls and blue and cars are for boys. If you buy your child anything that society deems for the other sex you break many gender norms. I received a lot of

Men and women are different. How different depends on what stereotype one chooses to believe. Although it has been argued that some stereotypes are positive, they are never beneficial. Society creates gender stereotypes and perpetuates them through societal institutions. In this paper the roles of gender will be analyzed regarding education, public policy, and the workplace. How education shapes gender, the gender norms in government, the law, policies, and the role of gender in the workplace will be discussed.

My beliefs and view on the gender ideology towards work and family is more weighed on one side (Masculine) and partly on the other (Feminine). It is evident that the ‘Masculine’ gender is more dominant in our society and because of this; there is more expectation and responsibility for the masculine gender. However, there is a continual inclusion trend in which we are witnessing the feminine gender assume some roles of the masculine gender. But overall, the masculine effect is still dominant. I personally feel that there should be a good balance of work and family responsibility by the men. It is necessary that the ‘Men’ are mostly responsible for taking the role of the breadwinner of the family therefore, the working hours of the men would have to be met as required by the employer. For example, working 40 hours a week is the minimum in the US but varies in some other places. In a case whereby the man has to take an overtime shift just to meet the needs of the family.

Gender socialization and gender roles have always existed in society. When analyzing gender roles, they are not always equal or consistent when comparing cultures, however, the expectations of females and males are often times clearly defined with a little to no common area. The Japanese culture is an example of the defined gender roles that change over time. According to Schafer (2010), because “gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females”, they must be taught (p.357). These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. When examining gender socialization in the Japanese culture, it is important to analyze how gender roles are

Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender. Family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role.