How My Sex, Gender, And Race Ethnicity Influenced My Concept Of Family And Traditional Gender Roles

"You're such a girl!" is something we hear quite often. But we don't exactly analyze its importance. Every man or women act and behave differently, and that is because of gender roles, "instructions for how to behave and appear as a woman or man (Wade and Ferree 2015; 61). We all "do gender", the ways in which we actively obey and break the gender rules of our society." (Wade and Ferree 2015; 61). We don't always obey these rules and regulation, we're all humans, and we all make mistakes, but it's other peoples reaction what's most interesting about breaking them. Once we break these rules, there is something known as gender policing, "responses to the violations of gender rules aimed at promoting conformity. (Wade and Ferree 2015; 71).

Our gender has an effect on every aspect of our lives, varying from how we view ourselves and other people to how we interact in social and civic life. It also impacts the way we set our goals in opportunity areas such as education, work, and recreation. Gender socialization starts at birth then manifests through family, education, peer groups, and mass media. Gender norms are automatically placed on us, where women should learn how to be nurturing, sensitive, emotional, passive, and always hold a man’s position higher than hers. On the other hand men should be overly confident, aggressive, dominant, and view women beneath them. This paper uses various readings to show how these gender norms are supported and challenged in today’s society.

Another interesting statement I would like to bring to the surface is Alvarez writes in her book that “boys are born men but girls turn into women” (72). This made me think of the BBC YouTube clip we watched in class. Within this video a mother, father, and daughter are getting prepared for their daughters sweet fifteen. One of the first things I recognized in this film was that the father a male was speaking about and for the females when they were in the same room as them listening to what he had to say. This is a problem in itself as the male voices his and silences the women, in addition, he is speaking on a subject that he does not even fully understand, women. For arguments sake a women would never speak about a man and what it means to be one. This power dynamic within this family is troubling and shows the dominance of one gender over

When my mother stayed at home nurturing and caring for my siblings and I without working to secure a job. I assumed that was females destiny in life to stay at home, but I did not like that idea I had to stay at home and be a servant to a man. Yet, the society told me I had to stick with that notion in another to have a happy life. Fortunately, things fell apart, as I grew older, I began to realize that it was tough for females to accomplish or success in the same career as men. Additionally, when I was in high school, the girls thrived in class, I never knew that the male teacher disliked the idea that girls were succeed than the boys. The men were filled with rage that they decided to confront the boys in the class and told the boys it was a disgrace against manhood. Once the teacher left, the boys were angry and said lots of awful hated speech towards the girls. They stated that girls, should not be in class and they should stay at home clean the house and raise their children. Nonetheless, I decided to fight back with that hateful speech and sooner or later the girls joined in. Finally, we won the argument. Regardless of the victory in class, I realized that the mainstream media portray women in a despiteful manner, low wages income, and nurturing the home. Although, things are changing gradually, ladies should still strive to make sure the equality last in the

Throughout women’s life, they are faced with many stereotypes and situations which dictate how they act and how people see them. A problem with this is that, by thinking that women follow certain stereotypes, society starts to believe that women will only act a certain way, and they don expect them to do masculine things such as being a police officer or

Ever since the beginning of history, women have been discriminated because of their gender. They were not allowed to attend school much of the time, couldn 't vote, couldn 't possess anything and couldn’t even work for themselves. Such denial of freedom has made females seem weak and unequipped for making their own decisions. Kids start to take in their sex roles at an extremely young age. Boys must identify what men do, what they like, and even how they think and feel. The girls do the same as they take in the parts for the women.

What does it mean to express ourselves as women? Gender shapes our interpretation of what it is to be at home within ourselves. As James Baldwin eloquently reminded us, “The world’s definitions are one thing, and the lives one actually lives is quite another” (Baldwin, ). How can we be sure of the complex nature of our gender identities and gender expression, be genuine, when we have been socialized into looking at the world through the lens of a binary gender system since we were born? It seems to me that the definition and expression of womanhood are constantly evolving, and that is good news.

From the moment the first American settlers stepped off their musty ship and laid foot on the fertile soil which makes up our great nation, women in America have almost always been seen as inferior when compared to their male counterparts. What’s more, Americans have a rich history in oppressing those we deem to be “lesser.” In terms of women, this oppression has taken on many forms throughout the years. From not being able to go to school to receive a proper education, to being denied suffrage, to being criticized for how they look or what they wear, women have encountered obstacles that men can sometimes only imagine. We as a nation have a defining past in which women were, and sometimes still are, expected to look or act in a manner defined as appropriate by men and even by each other. Nowadays, it seems as though we are attempting to compensate for the years of mistreatment by sending positive messages of acceptance to young girls and women alike. However, while one-half of the population is being praised for their uniqueness, there is still another half who are being left to fend for themselves in the shadows. Men and boys, though always perceived as the strong and indestructible members of society, are not given the same encouraging spotlight as women and girls. We live in a world where problems related to self-image and self-worth are gender-neutral; they do not merely seek to harm a single sex. Why then, does society typically only remind women how truly special they

I personally liked the article for this particular discussion, because it portrays the same way gender roles are developed and played out in American families. However, it is sort of the opposite of how Katniss lives her life in District 12. Essentially, American families will have a male head of house hold with a wife and a couple of children. Therefore, the man will conduct the heavy lifting and the woman is usually taking care of the house work. Furthermore, the gender roles of our society can correlate with how Katniss lives if the man dies and the woman has to take on the role of head of house. She would have to learn to do the heavy lifting so to speak. Katniss learned to hunt and protect her family because their was not a man to fulfill

Throughout many civilizations men have almost always been viewed as the superior gender. Society has often perceived men as stronger, smarter, and better when compared to women. Many women during the 1900’s began to speak out against these predominate views of sexism. They strew away from their subordinate occupations of mother and house keeper, and began to make decisions for themselves. It was a struggle for women to gain the support of society.

Too often I have been called bossy. Too often I have been told my opinion does not matter. Too often have I been told to sit down and hold my tongue. Too often I have been called aggressive simply because I choose to voice my thoughts. Too often society has told me that because I am a woman, I am the lesser gender. However, despite what society has constantly told me and everyone around me, I have learned to overcome the inherent sexism with a single tool: a suit.

Gender has been a highly relevant topic of discussion in recent years, with more and more individuals being aware of the gender roles that society places on individuals. With education has come activism, and the question of how individuals perpetuate these roles. Women, in particular, have faced harsh criticisms based upon stereotypes placed on them. Essentially, there are four main ways that typical gender roles placed by society can be classified or broken down into. The first classification is based upon personality traits. When looking at the expected personality traits, in order to fit women should be meek and quiet, whereas men are supposed to be dominant. Seeing as this is the norm, outgoing women who go

has begun to form. When we meet a new person, we are instantly judging whether they are male

Gender roles, the public image of being a particular gender that a person presents to others (gender roles, n.d.), have seen many changes through the years, especially in families. The changes can be seen in many aspects, including television shows, from the traditional family in the I Love Lucy sitcom of the 1950s to the plethora of shows about women and men who balance working and family life of the 2000s. A traditional family can be defined as “… the ‘natural reproductive unit’ of mom, pop, and the children all living under one roof… (Ball, 2002).” The 1940s, a period dominated by this type of family, were primarily a time of single-income families where the father was the ‘breadwinner’ and the mother the ‘homemaker (Hayghe, H.V., 1990).’

In American society, there is an obvious gender hierarchy in which men are viewed as strong, powerful, and valuable while women are viewed as weak and timid. Women face this challenge every day, and more prominently when they are trying to go against the hierarchy. Regardless of how many social norms or “power ceilings” that women break, they constantly face messages that perpetuate stereotypes, which reinforces this gender hierarchy. At the same time, men are also facing similar, gender-related pressures. Because men are on the top of the social hierarchy, there is an expectation that they be strong, brave, and confident. This causes an undue burden on the men that are unable to fulfill these gendered expectations.