Gender Inequality And Gender Roles

What is gender roles really about? What really makes it so important in our day to day lives? Well to first understand gender roles, you have to understand gender. The dictionary definition of gender is "either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior:" While Gender roles are more complex, they are something that society has shaped us to look at in a certain way. The sociological perspectives all help justify gender roles. They are seen as essential to society's makeup because the assigned roles work together. Men are, also, seen as dominant and women as submissive. These views are what make individuals in society act a certain way towards a gender because of the beliefs

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a gender role is defined as the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. In modern day America, gender roles have been slowly dissolving, but nonetheless is still very much relevant. In our society, women have the capability of doing everything a man can do, but, in the eyes of some, women are still seen as the inferior gender. In general, women are still associated with the responsibilities of taking care of the household and the children. They are also perceived as being fragile and submissive. On the other hand, men are associated with being the primary breadwinner and were viewed as being strong and brave. In most civilizations, these associations have been and

Although gender is a socially constructed idea, it is often suggested to be a natural phenomenon. Society plays an important role in reinforcing gender roles in a way that disguises itself as natural, and is thus accepted without question. The United States’ gender system emphasizes gender hierarchy and a binary system that forces individuals to conform. In order to progress gender equality, it is important to denaturalize these social constructions of gender.

Throughout history, gender roles have been the foundation that determines the course of a civilization. These gender roles have undergone a change over time. It is important for every society to re-evaluate its preconceived ideas of gender and determine if that is still the norm for their society. When people think of gender roles we typically have set stereotypes in our head of what that means. Much of the time, what we believe, is not what is actually true. It is often argued what is right and what is wrong.

Gender roles have played a major part in society. According to the book “The Psyche of Feminism” “A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that are considered to be socially appropriate

In present day all around the world, society has certain expectations for the actions and behaviors of males and females. There are many factors in our everyday lives that contribute to the gender norms that society has set. This essay will discuss how situations in life can play a part in how people treat other people based on their gender. It is believed that males are the leaders of our world, but in present day woman can do as much as men can do. From The Journal of Marriage and Family, Hu states, “Differentiated gender roles in adulthood are rooted in one’s gender role socialization. In order to understand the persistence of gender inequalities in the domestic sphere, we need to examine the gendered patterns of children’s housework time.”(2015, P.1). Gender roles are society’s expectations of the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females that they must be taught. These roles define how females and males are viewed in society, their household, and workplace. In The Journal of Sports behavior by Hardin, he states, “Although gender role differences from biological and “Natural” exists in popular consciousness, research has long demonstrated that instead, many are long time socially constructed… Individuals understand their gender because they are given names and treated in particular ways, such as dress in pink for girls and blue for boys, that reflect social construction of gender. Bandura's social cognitive theory is key in understanding the factors in socialization”(2009, P.3). Bandura's theory of of social cognition is that behavior, environmental events, and cognitive factors are the main keys that shape attitudes and actions of an individual. Although, gender roles play a very big part in our society, specific genders are treated differently while dealing with peer influence, media influence, as well as employment.

Gender roles have caused strain over decades to not only females, but recently males as well. There are many attributes that humans have associated with each gender, causing a divide between sexes not only with each other, but also separating the two into almost completely different species. Due to this categorizing which is placed on gender, there can be a declining value of a person or even a higher hand given to the one gender which is seen as more powerful to society.

Gender roles have existed since the inchoate of time. “A gender role is a theoretical construct in the social sciences and humanities that refers to a set of social and behavioral norms that, within a specific culture, are widely considered to be socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex” (Princeton). Gender roles, gemerally, differ from culture to culture and from time period to time period.

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.

For centuries, there have been many societies with stereotypical gender roles that usually involve the men holding the positions of power and the women doing the domestic chores. Historically, men are usually considered to be the stronger of the two sexes and in most societies, it is up to the men to take care of the family. During the twentieth century, women in America began breaking boundaries when they earned the right to vote. More recently, there has been a breakthrough with gender roles as women are beginning to take charge in the workplace. Now, gender roles are not as defined and clear.

Gender inequality plays a critical role when it comes to social progress. As a woman,

For many years, society’s view of gender was a simple matter of assigning the appropriate roles for both men and women. In this way, they are defined in an important way based on their gender. However, many studies over the last decade have altered society’s view by showing how gender is a cultural invention. These studies have also demonstrated how men and women are shaped by the culture and environment they’re born into and that what is expected of them may differ from what we deem to be appropriate in our culture. In today’s world, we still are dealing with the same problems that we were hundreds of years ago. These problems being equal rights between men and women, along with breaking away from societal norms revolving around what is expected

One can see that gender is actually a social label that is produced from social expectations (Ore 99). These "gender norms" have led to the distinct inequality and oppression of women. Due to these norms, women are seen as incapable of being political or rational because their social duty is to stay at home and take care of the children (Glenn 23). The social creation of gender surely undermines the severe communal disadvantages that females take on. Humanity must forget these general notions that have been brainwashed into every day life.

We live in a progressing society with one never ending battle, it’s a global battle. A clearly determined line from both involving parties reveals to us the ancient war of genders. A society which has overcome many social indifferences yet gender roles is a highly controversial and complicated topic. It seems this generation is caught in the crossfire of the final frontier of this ancient war. An increase in fundamental changes in gender roles is resulting in manipulating society and altering gender boundaries; females are breaking out of traditional restraints. As with all changes, there are positive and negative attributes; females are advancing and closing the inequality division between males but have traditional roles been underestimated?

Throughout the past few decades, the gender inequality discourse have became a dominant feature of international, national and local policy debate on the subject of economic development. This policy concern has emerged as an area of scholarly research which seeks to show that improving gender equity leads to economic growth.