Gender Roles : Modern And Fast Passed

Gender roles are defined differently by people and are usually centered on opposing conceptions of femininity and masculinity. They are a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. Gender roles now compared to back in the day have very much changed, but there still remains a strong influence as to the way a woman should act and how a man should act. In places such as America, now, women and men both have jobs and can still balance spending time with their family and taking care of children whereas back then, women were housewives and were not able to hold a job because that was the man’s responsibility. The traditional roles of men and women are also looked at, as well as behaviors of men and women that are considered socially appropriate. Gender roles vary greatly from one culture to the next, from one ethnic group to the next, and from one social class to another. But every culture has them, they all have expectations for the way women and men should dress, behave, and look.

The roles of men and women in society, though they vary slightly from culture to culture, have been forged in such a way that that they have been ingrained in us, while being nothing more than a social construct, and we appear to be unable to shake them. Although we do try to be accepting of change, the very thought of an adjustment in our perceived gender roles typically results in a reaction that is a cross between a cringe for some and a furrowed brow for others.

In many shops, there seems to be an obvious separation between boys and girls items, for example, the birthday cards, books, clothes, and toys. This is shown in a variety of ways the boy's items are mainly the color blue and the books have pictures of either action figures, superheroes or tools. Whereas the girl's items are mainly the color pink. The books show pictures of fairies, princess, and Bratz. The cards also have the theme of the color pink for girls and blue for boys. The girl's cards have a lot of sparkles and pretty pictures whereas the boy's cards are covered in camo kind of illustrations and also have action figures on the covers. The children's clothes are separated into sections where there are labels for the boy's clothes and labels for the girl's clothes. The girl's clothing is all pretty and pink, it is covered in sparkles. Whereas boys clothing has camo patterns, blue colors, and pictures of action figures.

Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.

Gender roles in children’s literature are linked to gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes have always been a part of society and are seen in almost every aspect

Gender roles are society’s concepts of how men and women are expected to act and are shaped by cultural norms. Over the years society has influenced the way we think about gender norms through numerous media outlets; film, television, music videos, internet, etc. To support my argument I will use three class texts. “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference” by Audre Lorde, “Reading the Slender Body” by Susan Bordo, and “The Problem of Speaking for Others” by Linda Alcoff. Through those readings you will see how society affects our view, how gender roles are socially constructed, and how history shapes what is considered normal or acceptable.

There are a lot of things constant in life; like education, family, and work. In all of these constants there is a constant of there own; gender stereotypes. These standard based on gender that can be seen as far back as shakespeare and is clearly noted in Shakespeare's Macbeth, which emphasize on how males should act. The ideas of how women should act and presented in Judy Brady’s “Why I Want a Wife”, From the time of Shakespeare of the late 1900s you can see a distinct way men and women are portrayed. Even though women can now hold a job and can vote there was a time where the stereotype was that women couldn't do any of these. As times change so do the stereotypes of each gender.

Gender stereotypes are often prevalent in children’s literature. Children’s exposure to what is considered typical gender roles at such a young age can often have detrimental effects on children’s perception of gender roles as they grow up. Recent studies have shown that sexism in children’s literature “contributes negatively to children’s development, limits career aspirations, frames their attitudes about their future roles as parents, and influences their personality characteristics” (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, & Young, 2006, 757). We can see examples of sexism throughout history if we take a look at some children’s picture books – Winnie the Pooh, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Cat in the Hat, and Fantastic Mr. Fox all feature a predominately male cast of characters. While the prevalence of female characters has increased throughout history, it doesn’t seem like female characters are anywhere close to catching up with the amount of male characters portrayed in the typical children’s book.

In an attempt to eliminate stereotypes, women have fought and made a place for themselves in a ¨man’s world¨ only to find themselves living a double life. Women have a harder time than males living up to society’s stereotypes. Media and social pressure have caused women to fill, not only traditional female roles, but expectations of society. Women are expected to be feminine and proper while also being able to maintain a steady job, On the other hand, men have been relieved of most of the hunting and gathering stereotypes and the pressure is on them to allow women to fill their traditional roles. The new stereotype of a woman is a feminine traditional male.

Gender roles are based on different expectations that individuals, groups, and societies have individuals based on their sex and based on each society’s values and beliefs about gender Gender roles have and have not altered dramatically over time, they have stayed consistent for very long. Both women and men sometimes are being held to their traditional expectations. Men and Women haven’t changed society's expectations of them. In source 1, an excerpt from partners in ideology “ Chapter 7, Gender stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity” pg 161-166 states that there is very little evidence that shows change in men’s expectations. “Evidence indicated very little change in hegemonic masculinity and strong representation of the four themes of

Though Hannah Höch may be a jack-of-all-trades in the art realm – having dabbled in painting, drawing, printmaking, textiles, pattern making, and photography - she certainly is a master of collage. A German artist of the 20th century, Höch is primarily known for her turbulent romantic relationship with Czech artist Raoul Hausmann, one of the founders of the Berlin Dada movement. Hausmann credited himself and Höch as the inventors of photomontage. Höch uses her collages to comment and critique the unstable sociopolitical state in Germany at the time. Her collages also highlight the growth of mass media and new technology. Perhaps most importantly, Höch challenges the concept of modern femininity and gender roles through her work. As the only female Berlin Dada artist, Hannah Höch takes a unique and important perspective on the social and political changes occurring in 20th century Germany.

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

Children’s literature and picture books are often entertaining and interesting to read as a child and even sometimes as an adult. However, there is a myriad of children’s stories that significantly influences children of their perception of other races and the opposite gender. In fact, “at ages 3-5, children begin the processes of actively learning to distinguish the sexes and of forming gender stereotypes [Powlishta, Serbin & Moller, 1993]. Therefore, the gender roles and the number of female and male characters portrayed in the books probably have serious effects on these children’s gender role development and self-image” (Hamilton, Anderson, Broaddus, Young, 2006, p. 45). While this specifically referenced gender issues, serious effects would also transpire on children’s development and self-image if gender was replaced with racial groups. A plethora of children’s literature portrays stereotypes and gender bias, and this can negatively impact not only females, but also racial minorities and males.

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.

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards