Gender Roles : Sees Behind Trees By Michael Dorris

Traditional views of women have existed since the first known civilizations. Typical gender roles would include women taking care of the children, cleaning the house, preparing meals, and taking care of her husband; all while the husband works and supplies his family with what they need. Although there is nothing wrong with these traditional gender roles, times have changed and a lot of women are expanding against societal norms and doing more with their life than just the housekeeper. Women are achieving higher education, obtaining stable careers and financial stability for themselves. They are also choosing to not have children, or they will still return to work after their maternity leave. This era of revolution for women is taking the world

In contrast, America has significantly changed its gender roles in the past. Women historically would take on the household chores and childcare, but there has been a gradual change towards a more equal distribution of responsibilities. Men are becoming more involved in household duties. They are erasing the traditional roles and creating a more balanced family environment. There is a strong social emphasis on equal opportunities for both genders.

The role of women and men changed throughout the American history. Many people have different beliefs about the roles that women and men should have. In the 1800’s men would go out and work while women stayed home and take care of the house. In this current time it could be the opposite. Some women still stay at home while men go to work, some men stay at home while women go to work, or sometimes both the man and the woman in the household work.

Many strides have been made on portrayal of women through television, books, magazines, movies and social media. Prime example is the comics that are in our reading have women on the cover, combating evil in hardly anything. Women are portrayed as weak and less authoritative.

Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex. Gender roles are never comprehensive, even within a single country, and they are always historically and culturally unpredictable. Gender roles in the United States for one cultural group likely is not true for another cultural group. Similarly, gender roles in the United States have changed drastically over the time period. Gender roles has been the historical evolution from a single family income in which only the male spouse works and generates income, to dual family income or a family in which both spouses generate family income. The shifting gender roles in the past years has been huge. It happened so quickly

In relatively recent years, gender roles have changed because women are able to take on roles that would be considered something only a man should do. These changes in gender roles are a good thing because it gives women opportunities they never had before. For example, it was believed men were the supporters of the family but it has become more and more common for women to help support a support and in some cases be the only spouse who brings in income. However, these changes are seen differently in diverse cultural images. Twenty to forty years ago it may have been extremely common for women to be stay at home mothers and not play a significant financial role or no role financially in the household. In those generations where this was common, it may be looked down upon that women are taking the lead as men used to. Within the last century the

Even though things are different in today’s modern society, gender roles do give each sex their own jobs and specific roles. For example, the woman in the household is expected to clean while the male is expected to do the yard work. This eliminates any sort of confusion between who has to do what in the house. Although this can be true, we don't have to stick to our roles assigned to us by society. Each person can pitch in a hand wherever it is needed, maybe the husband can cook once in a while and help out with the laundry. The wife doesn’t have to stay home all day cleaning the

Gender roles is a very controversial topic in today’s society, especially when it comes to working. 100 years ago, in Europe, women were working long hours in factories. Women also worked as nurses, cleaned wealthy people 's homes, worked the fields, and were craftswomen. In other areas, women have been working the fields, handicrafts, and workshops. Meanwhile, 100 years ago in the United States women were expected to stay home and take care of the family/home, while the men went out and worked an average of ten hours a day for six days a week, compared to the traditional five day weeks and 8 hour days.

When thinking of gender roles in society, stereotypes generally come to mind. Throughout history these stereotypes have only proven to be true. Major historical events have had a huge impact on the way men and women are seen and treated. In this way, women have always been secondary to males and seen as the fragile counterparts whose job is to take care of the household and most importantly, be loyal to her husband no matter the circumstance. Gender roles throughout history have greatly influenced society. The slow progress of woman’s rights throughout humanities led to an explosion of woman’s rights throughout the 20th century and that trend will only continue on into the rest of the 21st century.

In this context women are the keepers of household tasks which include the raising of children. Children spend most of their early years with their mothers therefore learning most of their skills and values from them as men are not normally involved By that time the child’s core values are ingrained and the influence from the father is ephemeral. This is supported in the poem by the metaphor “by night our windows moth our children to the flame of hearth not history.” The metaphor compares the attractiveness of moths to light at night to the attractiveness of children to their mothers when they are frightened. The night symbolizes the object that scares the children as they go running to their most comfortable idea in their mother and not to their father. This shows the impact that women have on the children of society and the future of society as they mold the children who will grow up and seize the reigns as the next

Men fix the car and redo the roof, while the women clean the house and watch the kids. Perhaps it is the other way around? Before, gender roles were passed on through generations, but recently things have been changing. Traditional gender roles of men and women are not relevant in today’s society, due to changing times as seen through non-traditional families, more women pursuing higher education, and families being more open-minded.

Many men and women today are choosing to take on nontraditional gender roles. People are embracing their individuality and living their lives in a way that contrasts what many have been raised to believe. Regardless, in our society, the traditional roles of men and women in regards to the family have always been clear, the man goes to work and is the financial provider for the family while the woman stays at home, watches over the children and monitors the cleanliness of the house. However men and women have realized in recent years that both gender are capable of their opposites duties regardless of what society believes. A plethora of the population have began to break the “rules” of gender responsibilities and stereotypes.

Women in American society have endured numerous struggles to fight for equality throughout history. Today American women have come a long way by narrowing gender gaps and becoming successful in aspects of life that are prominently male dominated. Although American women are living a better life than they were years ago, they still deal with inequality when it comes to the workforce, income, politics, domestic duties, and sex. The reason women are not equal to men in these aspects of life are because men hold most of the jobs in the STEM fields of work, make higher incomes than women in the same level of employment, dominate congress and the government, not looked upon to take care of the house duties, and are praised for sex rather than shamed like women are. Living as an American woman today is far from difficult but in contrast, living as an American man is still substantially better.

It is to what degree this is taken when the differences between cultures are made visible, in some countries, women are seen strictly as caregivers who have no opportunity to get a job or make a name for themselves because this role is left specifically for the men. While in other places around the world, these ideas are changing, women are becoming just as much a part of the workforce and society as men. Like many other countries’, the United States’ gender roles have shifted greatly over the decades as family and professional roles have become more equal. Up until the 1980’s men were the primary breadwinner and disciplinary figures in the family while the women were the caregivers who stayed at home and kept the house. As time went on, women began receiving higher education and even began working more outside of typical “women’s jobs” such as secretaries, teachers and nurses. Today, men and women are fairly equal when it comes to work and receiving education, according to a Time article, studies even show that women are more likely to obtain a college degree than men (Feeney). It is also being more and more common to see women in high authority positions and holding public office, some have even embarked on the path to be elected the leader of our country. These steps are huge strides for women, not only in the race for equality, but in abolishing some of the most common gender

Traditional roles include anything from, men are supposed to be powerful, strong, and the breadwinners of the family. Whereas women, should be polite, petite, and the primary caretaker. If these guidelines are followed correctly, society deems that the individual has fulfilled their gender destiny. “Success in gender assignment has traditionally been defined as living