Gender Roles Are Ensuring For Children

The article titled "Girls Against Boys," published in the 30 January issue of The Nation magazine by author Katha Pollitt, brings to light pressing issues of gender discrimination and how this nation's education system has changed over the past forty years but still isn't up to par with where it needs to be with issues of gender equality. Pollitt exposes the views of conservatives toward feminism in the school systems of today. This article describes how changes in society are taking place, and what the future may hold for men and women in the world of employment and education.

In a society filled with gender stereotypes, children often adopt gender roles as they move from childhood to adolescence because of the many factors that influence their views to the point they will deny certain roles because it does not fit the gender bias. During the early years, boys and girls will usually be drawn towards gender specific activities. Playing house for example, they little boy will imitate going to work, while the little girl will imitate cooking in the kitchen and playing with the baby doll. Gender stereotypes are embedded in our culture as a social identity giving “norms” to how gender is defined. This paper is going to discuss the child’s earliest exposure to gender roles in the home from clothing, toys and expectations to society’s role in gender bias on early childhood development.

The first reason stay at home fathers are becoming more common is due to the transformation of gender roles and more specifically breaking the breadwinner norm that men have traditionally been known for. The breadwinner notion defines a man’s identity, with a man’s work wage used to determine if they are deemed a successful father or a failing father

Donna Laframboise and Stevie Cameron have written two very different articles on the topic of gender. Laframboise argues that today’s society treats boys worse than girls. Cameron argues that the poor treatment of women and the relatively high risk of physical danger has shown no improvement from when she was growing up to now. Both Laframboise and Cameron’s articles discuss gender, and the implications that it can have on a person’s life. Cameron displays the strength of her article by exclusively arguing her own point. Laframboise opts to utilize and disprove other’s statements about girls as her proof. Negating other arguments is only an effective tactic when an opposition exists. Arguing ‘who has it worse?’ does not help anyone, and in fact can be detrimental in cases like this. Both articles have their own strengths and weaknesses, but Laframboise hinders her article by prioritizing denying female struggle over substance.

The number of mothers and fathers who have a college degree and who have not finished high school is drastically different from 2-3% to 42-43%. Many of the fathers who have not been paying child support but are required to pay are institutionalized (2001). Many of the poor mothers who aren’t receiving some type of formal child support are more likely to rely on other cash assistance from the government (2001).

For years, women have fought to gain the same rights and treatment as men. Those women that have been fighting to gain equality have been held back and their opportunities have been stripped away from them due to the simple fact of being women. “Feminism is the belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes” (Scholz 2013). The feminist movement has been the key factors in helping women gain equal rights for those who have been underprivileged of their rights and equivalence that society refuse to give to them. A woman has every right to be treated equally to men and feminism is accomplishing this slowly. Feminism is not only beneficial to women, it helps both men, women, and children because it is allowing the communities

In the United States around 82.2% of custodial parents are mothers; 30.4% of them and their children lived in poverty in the year 2009 (Wolf, 2017). The gender gap in the workplace can keep a single mother from being able to fully get out of poverty. A single mother earns less than a single father does. In the year 2015 it was noted that single mothers earned 70.7% of the income single fathers had earned (Industry Week Staff, 2017). It is harder for a single mother, who may have never been married to begin with, to invest in schooling when she is trying to cover the costs of her children and

From a very young age, girls are held to different standards than boys. They are expected to act differently, strive for different things, and lead a more cleanly life. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, feminism was not yet a prominent idea. You wouldn’t see large groups of women, and some men too, crowding the streets promoting their beliefs that women and men should receive equal pay, women should be able to hold positions of importance in the workplace, and absolutely not that women should be able to hold a political position of any sort. An article that we read this semester focused solely on the evolution of types of feminism throughout the last few decades. In mid-1900, daughters were expected to uphold the duties that her mother performed

The challenging and discordant opinions regarding gender equality have origins in various schools of thought, across time and place. Modern feminism heavily borrow from these old ideas and expounds upon them. Feminist worldwide are renowned for the action they must continually take that challenges the negative societal and stereotypical norms

In today’s society, there are many common stereotypes inflicted upon women. The gender roles that we often face should be taken more seriously. The way that women are obliged to dress, act, and their expected appearance are all concerns that shouldn’t be taken lightly. We are taught growing up not to be exclusive or close-minded to people and their ideas. Why is that the subject of feminism and gender equality isn’t talked about frequently? We should teach young children the same thing we value in others, the belief in equal rights for all.

Today it is seen as more socially acceptable for women to assume roles that are defined as traditionally masculine than it is for men to assume roles that are defined as feminine. In my opinion, this is based on stereotypical roles that have been placed by parents when babies are born – stemming from their own parent’s stereotypical and traditional roles that have been modeled and observed by them personally. For example, at a very young age, children notice whether their mother will stay at home or work and viscera what their father does. Another example, for the majority I would say that once a couple finds out their baby’s gender the nursery room tends to painted in such a way based on whether the baby is male or female. Including, toys

In a world that has been dominated by men since the dawn of time, women have come a long way from resisting patriarchal interest by beginning to realize they are able to do and say as they please. Feminism focuses on gender social roles in which women have been rejected social power and various forms of self-expression. Women weren’t able to choose or say what they wanted because of patriarchal dominance and interest. While feminist analysis acknowledges the separate levels of social power given to women and men. It has altered over the years, women have had an increase in social powers although even today in the twenty-first century women still encounter patriarchal dominance. Today women are still thought of not being capable of achieving as high as a man. Women have a sense of feeling like they’re not good enough although they are capable

There is still little room for deviation from assigned gender roles and those who do not follow through are ridiculed. Feminism is not just a movement for girls who have felt the shame of the sow; it is just as empowering for the boys who have felt the humiliation of Simon and

I observed three different children’s television programs through watching and listening at times to see how gender roles were portrayed, specifically towards children. The first observation that I made that was consistent throughout each of the different programs where that the females were either: bossy, deceitful, or very gentle. Males that were portrayed within the programs were either: aggressive, confident, or passive. I noticed that when the girls were being bossy (or sassy) they were viewed as “just being girls” rather than mean or acting inappropriately. However, if the boys within the programs were acting assertive (or bossy) they were being portrayed as mean, and acting in an inappropriate way.

Throughout the last century, women have had to fight to have the same opportunities as men. Women have had to earn the right to vote, the right to have a career, and the right to autonomy. However, these are all rights that men have simply been given, which is why today’s feminists work to promote equality. Despite these efforts, feminism is often misunderstood and is interpreted with a negative connotation. According to a study conducted by Precopio and Ramsey (2017), “feminism is commonly recognized as a movement driven to grant social, political, and economic equality to both women and men.” The participation of others besides women is crucial to the spread of equality among the genders. Furthermore, the stigma and negative feelings surrounding feminism must be reduced in order for the ideals of feminism to have a greater impact.