Gender Roles

Gender can be defined as “sex roles” which are conditions that one considers to be for men or women. People tends to mistake it with sex or thinks that they are both the same. We discussed about the patterns of gender which how the authors of The Kaleidoscope of Gender describes it as “regularized, prepackaged ways of thinking, feeling, and acting” (Spade and Valentino,2017). It becomes an identity for us. We believe that there is and can only be two genders, being masculine for men and feminine for women. These roles has been forced onto us since birth: blue for boys, and pink for girls. You can see the roles being push onto a person throughout one’s life, but we don’t notice it since it’s “normal” to us.

Although men and women have significant biological differences, the question whether gender-specific labels stems from these biological differences or are gender constructed remains a polarised nature versus nurture debate. Whether it is through the process of socialisation or genetic make-up, “gender identity” is given from a person’s birth, determining how a person culturally interacts and the expectations society places on them. Along with a “gender identity” comes a whole set of “norms”, “values” and so-called “gender characteristics”, which are supposed to define the differences between a male and a female. According to the World Health Organisation (n.d.), the term “sex” is often used to define the biological and physiological

Since the beginning of time, gender has always been divided into two categories, either male or female, with few instances that have stepped in between. As civilization has evolved, it has began to learn that this division is a lie, and that it is disgusting, disgraceful, hurtful and untrue at its rotten core. This is because this “division” has never counted for anything but a label and a set of roles as a stereotype, which was unjustly assigned at birth in a societal attempt to conform each and every unique soul into a shape that they cannot fully fit. There should not exist such standards and expectations that do not account for anything besides what one's body has to say, without asking the mind of the thoughtless vessel known as the body.

Typically, sex and gender have been described as a package deal; one reflects the other. However, this is false and has become a popular topic in today’s society. Sex is defined as “the biological characteristics that distinguish males from females” (Henslin, 2014). Therefore, a person’s sex is determined by their physical traits, such as a penis or a vagina. Gender, on the other hand, “consists of whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females” (Henslin, 2014). Gender norms vary between cultures and are not based off of physical traits.

Throughout history, the ideologies of male and female roles in marriage have changed drastically. Spanning all the way from the 1800’s when a woman’s task was to never leave her kitchen right up until today’s modern society where women are more liberated than ever before, finally able to break free from the chains and shackles placed upon them decades ago. Within a marriage, there are a significant number of tasks which must be carried out for it to run smoothly. As such both spouses must provide not only an intellectual and physical function for the partnership, for example, the ability to manage housework, but also an emotional function so that the marriage does not end up becoming anything more than a basic living agreement. As a society,

I never really put much thought into the difference between gender and sex. I, like most people, would have assumed that they were the same thing. After reading Multiple Choice: Gender, Orientation, and Sexual identity by Heather Corina, it made me think about my perception of these two words. I also now believe that they are in fact different. This article put sex and gender in a different perspective to me. Gender is characteristic of a person that they choose to identify as. This may or may not be different then their actual sex, which is the anatomical characteristic of people that we were born with (Corina, 2007). The broader aspect of this article challenged my way of thinking rather than just one small aspect of it.

This class focused on sexuality, gender roles, and gender expectation and how it is all related. All of these we discussed are a big part of human sexuality. We talked about how gender roles are put on a person before he or she is even actually born. Gender roles are established as soon as we are assigned a gender by color. If you are a boy more than likely you are going to be associated with baby blue. If you are a girl on the other hand you are identifies as pink.

From the day that we are born our gender is influenced to partake in certain gender roles depending on our sex. One’s sex is distinguished by biological characteristics that set us apart, while our gender “consists of whatever behaviors and attitudes a group considers proper for its males and females” (Henslin 292). Males are influenced to partake on more aggressive roles to show power and dominance, whereas, female are influenced to partake on more nurturing and subservient roles. However, if one fails to do so they are labeled a feminist “not masculine/feminine enough” or gay/lesbian.

Gender roles in any society dictates specific standards by which each individual (based on gender) is expected to act. Proper decorum based on sex, is manifested in the way men and women verbally express themselves, reason, act, and participate with each other. These differences in social expectations have impacted the way in which humanity perceives family responsibilities, job allocation, entertainment and even tangible products based on masculinity or femininity. Yet, based on the scientific principals set by Charles Darwin, evolution is inevitable. Gender roles in today’s culture seem to be obsolete. Socioeconomic factors have forced the hand of evolution, tarnishing the guiding lines of gender roles and responsibility. Society should evolve and stop trying to push the so-called typical gender roles because it can hinder the growth and development of today’s and the future’s society.

The media plays an important part in the everyday life of today’s people. Media such as television, radio, press, internet and so on. The way people receive artifacts and knowledge today is greatly dependent on media, especially television. Does media effect the way people’s view of the world and the people in it? Yes it does, the formation given to us via the media is based on data they have gathered and how we choose to interpret it is how it has an effect today because not everyone will interpret information given to them the same way. Society’s view of different gender roles in society is greatly affected by the media, not every source is going to portray the same message therefore people develop different perceptions, ideas, views on who

In today’s society, gender has become a hot topic. More and more people have decided not to conform to the constraints of society and that includes gender, seeing as how gender is just another example of society’s constructs. People have adopted the ideas of androgyny and have even gone as far as to consider themselves gender nonconforming and raising genderless babies. Despite how times and rules of gender are changing, there is still that part of society that believes people should be classified as men and women and should stick to their gender roles and expectations. Along with gender roles and expectations, comes gender differences—the idea that men and women are different, and boys and girls are different and gender roles, expectations,

I have realized that culture has played a significant role in creating a perception for myself and my family. The Pakistani culture that my parents were raised up in, they have tended to understand it and be able to continue their life with those ideas. Therefore, when the topic of gender is thought about, upon many experiences in my life, I know I have had many barriers and even situations where I did not agree with regarding gender.

Ever since the dawn of time, women and men have been associated with specific gender roles that can be seen controversial in the eyes of many. Traits and roles associated with a specific gender can be either innate or learned over time. Looking into the deeper concept of gender roles and stereotypes, it is clear that these fixed gender roles are not naturally born with, but rather taught, learned, or influenced by external forces.

The present essay will analyze on gender roles playing an important part in everyone’s life. Gender is something that society expects one to habituate. Gender roles have evolved in raising inequality such as in workforces and incomes. Anthropologists distinguish between gender and sex by saying that gender has to do culturally and that the perception of sex is biologically cultural. In most popular cultures, many believe that the idea of gender is binary, where individuals are expected to characterize and behave as a male or a female. However, there has been a recent identity that individuals step out of this binary system and categorize themselves as transgenders. Ultimately, there have been challenges against the binary system of gender norms

In order to help the readers to thoroughly understand the issue, it is necessary to acknowledge what “sex” is composed of and what “gender” is made of. In the article “Doing Gender”, Candace West and John Zimmerman clarify that “sex is ascribed by biology: anatomy, hormones, and physiology” (175). At the same time, they also argue that “gender is an achieved status which is constructed through psychological, cultural, and social means” (175). Thus, it can be said that sex is the difference of the body’s organs and reproductive system that biologically characterize one body from another. Meanwhile, gender helps people differentiate “men” and “women” by solely looking at based on their clothes, their actions, their hobbies, and relationships that society push one to form “his” or “her” self-identity. There are always two sections in the shopping stores, one for male and another for female. Therefore, a person would typically look at those tags and decide where to go. A male can be seen picking clothes