Gender Roles And Expectations

Gender roles put an idea into children’s brains about the way society dictates how men and women should or should not act. These stereotypes can be harmful, as they often lead to sexism and misogyny. While gender roles may deem what is appropriate for each gender, they can also set expectations of people in society, some of which can be unachievable. This can put a pressure on young children that can follow them through their education and career. Gender-based stereotypes are also dangerous in the sense that if someone refuses to conform to traditional gender ideals, most of the time, they are ridiculed and harassed.

Gender norms, a controversial topic that is prevalent in this world today, is based on acceptable and inacceptable roles that are considered “normal” for male and female genders. Society places stereotypes on almost anything- if not everything- that has to do with gender. Roles that are done by a specific gender group that seems to be abnormal will be judged and will come with a cost. Working against gender norms can result in several costs including bullying, criticizing and rejection.

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.

Our society’s gender roles are constantly evolving and changing, all in the name of “progressive thinking”, though not all for the good. With a new “social norm” appearing every few years or so, it comes as a surprise that it

Your _____ depends on whether you were born with distinct male or female genitals and a genetic program that released either male or female hormones to stimulate the development of your reproductive system.

Many cultures and communities that exist around the planet, and each one has their own gender roles and social norms. People within these communities are raised barakaided by these stereotypes since the day they are born. The categories for these genders are passed on from generation-to-generation making them more difficult to defy. Children in their early childhood begin connecting the building blocks of specific characteristics to certain genders unknowingly because of the environment they are exposed to. With everything from children’s toys to snack packages displaying gender specific characteristics is what is leading to gender stereotypical terms that are heard on a day-to-day basis in common areas. The consequences to such classifying

This course has given me plentiful information about how men and women live their lives differently due to societal expectations, gender norms, inequalities and above all the pressures of fitting into the gender binary. As a class, we discussed how children are often born into a family that has this ingrained concept that their child will either be a masculine boy or a feminine female. This is known as the gender binary, which is the idea that there are only those two categories a person can fit into, and they have opposing qualities and traits. An example of how this is placed into a child’s life even before it’s born is a gender announcement party. If the child is a girl, the color pink will be uncovered, and if the child is a boy, the color blue will. One may not see this as a negative thing, however from that point on the parents are often expecting their child to stay within the gender norms, to try and raise a normal child in a normal family. What exactly determines if your child is normal? Society, society decides what is expected of a person and polices anything and anyone that veers into a different path. What is typically overlooked or turned a blind eye to, is the fact that these early implanted gender expectations can turn into inequality, and more specifically justifying inequality. Since we have this idea in our minds that men and women have opposing traits, then we begin to think that for specific tasks and jobs, there

Gender roles have been a big part of society since the eldest known cultures in history had existed. It is not only applied to an individual’s behavior, but to their appearance, their way of thinking, their ideals, and, in some cases, their importance in society. In today’s society we see people stepping outside the binary realm of gender to assume identities that better fit the perception they have of themselves on a psychological level. Because of situations like these, gender roles have proven to be obsolete in modern times; but back in the time where it was only male or female, black and white, or strong and weak, people’s duties, rights and assigned characteristics based on their gender were the way many cultures and belief systems were

A great percentage of people in today's society would agree with the consensus that manhood is and should be based on masculine features and ambitions in order to be accepted as a manly male; Paul Theroux begs to differ in his formal essay, “Being a Man”, as he contests this norm by avidly stating that forcefully adopting manly attributes while growing up is “emotionally damaging and socially harmful” (Theroux). He strongly exemplifies his understanding to the reader through personal experiences and ridiculing the silly gestures that both men and women make, and remain faithful to, in order to substantiate their purported gender roles in society.

Ashley, thank you for your post. I can easily relate to how you perceived gender roles. Even though I grew up with the general idea that the male was the bread winner, my mother worked part time. However, my grandparents that were heavy influential in my life, I knew my grandmother never worked. My grandfather was the bread winner and my grandmother handled to the domestic duties of the child rearing and home. So, in essence I had to perceived notion that the males were the prominent providers in the family.

The society we live in today has expectations for everyone from birth till death. These expectations can make us become a person we never thought we would be, or a person we are glad that we became. You can call these many expectations your gender role which is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable or appropriate for a person based on your actual or perceived sex. Everyone living in society today has them to fill. Gender roles do not always have a positive impact on a person. When you are growing up your parents always told you to be who you wanted to be and to chase your dreams. The requirements your suppose to fill while perceived as a male or a female make

There are billions of people in the world with many different ethnicities, backgrounds, religions, and beliefs. There are many families with their own characteristics and ways of running their home, whether they are Hispanic, Native American, or African American. Perhaps they are in upper class or maybe they live below poverty. They could be a Muslim or Catholic and perhaps they believe education is not the key to success, but the real key is hard work. Regardless of these variations, one factor that plays a role in all aspects: gender. When a person is born, they are automatically dressed in either blue or pink. The newborn is either boy or girl. Have people thought about why girls wear dresses or why boys wear jeans and sneakers? There is more to what culture tells us, when it comes down to how we play our gender roles. It is really about how our bodies are naturally made that determines our gender role. It is not, society that tells a person they can be a mother because only women can give birth to children. It is not culture that makes men stronger or bigger, it is hormones and the natural structure of males to have more muscle

There are certain jobs that are not ‘acceptable’ for a woman, because she is a female. A woman should not dress and act a certain way because she is a female. These traditional codes of gender are complications for women because they are being defined as powerless, submissive, and delicate beings by the media. Although these definitions are not true, it still makes people treat women as if they were babies or flowers. This traditional code is more damaging for young women and little girls because they are seeing in the media how a woman ‘should’ act. They grow up and restrict themselves from certain lifestyles, sports, and other diverse activities because the media says they aren’t feminine enough and woman should not participate in them. It’s important for woman to break this traditional code so they can live freely without being judged and criticized. All women who break the traditional codes by participating in sports, dressing in ways that are not feminine, and other various actions are often criticized by friends, family members, peers, and strangers. These criticisms and judgments are one of the ways that cause women to limit or force themselves to make a balance between their masculinity and

I enjoyed reading your post. I can relate to your post where you stated that your father to this day will not allow you to cut the lawn. This holds true in my family. The females are being allowed to sweep, rake, clean the garage and pull weeds. The one task we were not allowed to do, is to cut the lawn. I always thought it was ridiculous. If we the girls to do all the other chores, then why not cut the grass.

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.