Gender Roles Essay

Gender roles of diverse cultures have differed immensely throughout history. The evolution of gender roles first began in the Paleolithic Age and then began to transform with the transformation of the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age. Women in Mesopotamia, India, Greece, China, and Rome were not treated as equals and viewed as inferior to men. Cultures like Egypt and Persia had similar laws for women and treated them with more respect out of any of the other cultures.

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

From birth, one's sexuality is shaped by society. Cultures institute behaviors that are to be seen as the societal norms, which work to constantly reinforce societal expectations of how genders should act in relation to one another. Although some may argue that one's sexuality is an innate characteristic resulting from genetic makeup, there is a large amount of evidence pointing to its social construction instead. Through the power differences between males and females, established gender roles, and drastic economic shifts, society establishes sexuality and reinforces the behaviors that are expected of its citizens.

     Femininity and masculinity are topics that have been debated over in our society extensively, through psychological research and day to day interaction with people. Children learn from their parents as well as society the concept of “feminine” and “masculine.” The majority of people tend to believe that these conceptions are biological but I believe it is more cultural. From birth, female children are shaped by society as being sweet, caring, loving, and delicate and usually associated with the color pink. While male children are shaped by being tough, aggressive, and competitive and associated with the color blue. As these children grow, the boy is given a football to play with and the girl a

Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades,

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?

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.

“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”: few of our cultural mythologies seem as natural as this one. But in this exploration of the gender signals that traditionally tell what a “boy” or “girl” is supposed to look and act like, Aaron Devor shows how these signals are not “natural” at all but instead are cultural constructs. While the classic cues of masculinity—aggressive posture, self-confidence, a tough appearance—and the traditional signs of femininity—gentleness, passivity, strong nurturing instincts—are often considered “normal,” Devor explains that they are by no means biological or psychological necessities. Indeed, he suggests, they can be richly mixed and varied, or to paraphrase the old Kinks song “Lola,” “Boys can be

When a child is born, it does not know anything about the world. As it gets older, the child learns morals and values from the people around it. One concept children learn is the role of gender in their lives. Young boys and girls are given different messages about what they are and are not supposed do in social situations, causing them to act and dress differently from one another. Gender is not something tangible that happens; it is something perceived by American society. Only by teaching children that there is no difference between men and women can the world have true gender neutrality.

Collins, R. L. (2011). Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Go? Sex Roles, 64(3-4), 290-298.

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

Gender stereotypes often come from many different sources; some of those sources are television, movies, books and society. We typically hold these stereotypes whether we know it or not, and it affects the way we think. Most of the time people hold themselves or their partners accountable for living up to these expectations. One of these common stereotypes is a male being the provider in the relationship. Traditionally speaking, we often associate the male figure of the relationship as the provider. Males are always stereotyped to ensure the financial safety and stability for their family. If he fails to provide for his family we assume the relationship is broken or failing. A providing male typically feels superior and according to Zuo (2011) research of the Effects of Men’s Breadwinner Status, a man’s breadwinning role has been viewed as a core part of his masculinity. Men 's beliefs are found to be strongly associated with the breadwinner status (Gerson, 1993; 1994; Izraeli, 1994; Wilkie, 1993).

Roles in gender has to be determined before we are even born. Once a child’s sex is revealed, he or she will be placed into certain roles. Before we are even determined to be a male or female, we received 23 chromosomes from each parent. Of the 46 chromosomes, 45 are unisex. It is not determined until the six week which chromosome takes over and determines the sex of the child. As children get older, it becomes noticeable the differences that occur. It has been shown that women will mature quicker than men. A woman will develop their puberty about two years before a man. Also, they will live about five years longer than a male.

The textbook identifies four approaches to gender development: biological, interpersonal, cultural, and critical. Define each theory. Then answer the following question: which of the theoretical approaches to gender do you find the most valid? Be sure to include at least two examples from your own experience as well as two scholarly sources to back up your claim.

The social constructionist viewpoint on gender and sexuality seems to be the one of the most plausible ways to study and examine the topics. Although biology no doubt has an impact on attraction, and quite possibly gender, society influences the choices of everyone, and whether a person realizes it or not, society shapes their identity. The structure of society and its norms influence everything a person does, including their gender and sexuality. Gender is already considered to be a social construct, and sexuality is well on its way to be considered such as well. People regularly embody something that fits a certain gender categorization in society, usually something within the binary, and then identify with that gender. But, looking