Reflective: Why Women Choose to Stay Single

Through my experiences with people of many backgrounds, as well as my education, I have learned to separate the idea of sex and gender. I still maintain certain traditional views regarding gender, however I’ve come to the realization that the social constructs of men and women are not, and should not, be as rigid. In my opinion, I have acknowledged that there are differences between ‘men’ and ‘women’, however these differences should be used to uplift one another, rather than to tear the other gender apart. For example, a family unit in which the man decides to take on the responsibilities of the

In Stephen Mays’ essay “What about Gender Roles in Same-sex Relationships?” published in They Say I Say, the author discusses how people often assign gender roles automatically, even with gay and lesbian couples. Mays stresses the concept of femininity and masculinity, and also shows the difference in their roles, supports them with vivid imagery, and gives a rare example of gay male preferences, all while using the correct diction when referring to personal experiences. Although the author reiterates gender roles and their effect on same-sex relationships, he gives clear examples that support the idea of masculine or feminine qualities.

Our society’s gender roles are constantly evolving and changing, all in the name of “progressive thinking”, though not all for the good. With a new “social norm” appearing every few years or so, it comes as a surprise that it

For centuries now, women have been bombarded with an infinite amount of conflicting and overwhelming messages about what it means to be a woman and which behaviors are considered appropriate, especially regarding sexual behavior. Traditionally, women have always been defined in relation to men. Men are seen as strong, while woman are seen as weak. Men are superior and women are their subordinates. This is exemplified by the fact that “masculine” traits such as strong, non-emotional, and competitive are considered socially desirable traits, while “feminine” traits such as docile, emotional, and passive are not. We evidently live in a society that is not only sexist, but also undoubtedly racist. The white woman typically appears as virtuous and pure, while the woman of color typically appears as unclean and tainted. If the woman of color also happens to be poor, she appears as being even more worthless. Therefore, in the United States, femininity as a concept is inextricably linked with concepts of race and class. In the present paper, I discuss the effect that this is having on women and their sexuality, the events that have paved the traveled path towards gender equality, and current issues plaguing women today, such as the attack on our reproductive rights and our value as women.

In ‘Till Debt Do Us Part’ by Mary Loftus, she explains just how Americans in a relationship are affected by money in a positive and in a negative way. Well over sixty percent of women and male enter a marriage with some debt, which places tension on the relationship and takes the focus away from future financial goals (99). Concealing your financial transactions can cause legal issues and can be detrimental to your relationship, and can ultimately weaken the relationship (100). Women and men both grumble that the other isn’t doing enough to provide financially, which affects their relationship (101). The idea that men are supposed to work and women are supposed to be housewives like many years ago, can go against the couple if the women earns a lot more and can cause unnecessary hostility (102). Marriage requires effort from both parties, even with the abundance of issues of money, couples should plot their financial lives rather than avoiding it (102).

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.

A woman’s only job is to stay at home, take care of her family, and pleasure her man. What is a man’s job? “Men, they do everything,” quoted a fellow male classmate, “Men get the real money.” But it is the twenty-first century! Women are no longer expected to stay at home; they have taken roles as teachers, doctors, C.E.O.s, part of the military, and the list goes on. As for men, it is now acceptable for them to stay at home, take care of their families or even become nannies and nurses. Will Meek, creator of website “Psychology of Men”, defined gender role as a set of attitudes, behaviors, and self-presentation methods ascribed to members of a certain biological sex. Gender roles have changed throughout the course of American history;

But even in today’s world, many researchers and professors still see some sort of link between marriage and the oppression of women. An article from Psychology Today, written by Professor Noam Shpancer Ph.D. uses modern data to demonstrate the argument that Stetson made well over one hundred years ago. Shpancer’s article, titled Is Marriage Worth the Trouble for Women?, is best summarized as extending Stetson’s arguments of marriage being oppressive in nature, while also bringing new information about the inherent fact that benefits to marriage like “increases in health, wealth, and happiness that are often associated with the status—go disproportionately to men,” (Shpancer 1). Shpancer’s article also provides clear indication about whether or not marriage is oppressive, and it “appears to provide support for the notion that women experience the institution of marriage as oppressive, in large part because it emerged from and still carries the imprint of a system of female subjugation,” (Shpancer 1). Shpancer’s work provides excellent insight for the topic areas of marriage, oppression, and so

The feminist movement has made great strides in fighting for equality and therefore femininity or female behavior has evolved. Risman reaches a conclusion that the term “doing gender” is widely misused and as time progresses; people are “undoing gender.” The “doing gender” theory lead sociologists to believe that genders benefited the individual, especially the woman. In the case of marriage, in “undoing gender,” husbands and wives were happier in their marriage. Therefore the typical actions men and women do are not based on “doing gender.”

Beginning in the 1970s, a cultural debate has raged over the function of the traditional family in American life, a debate that has subjected the roles of fathers, mothers, and even children to intense scrutiny. Freedom of choice, self-fulfillment, the emergence of blended families, feminism, the sexual revolution, and social rebellion against traditional family forms—all of these have facilitated a widespread cultural experimentation with different family structures. Feminist activists have argued that the traditional family is outdated and even damaging to adults and children. Some have even argued that women and children do not need men; in fact, families are better off without them. Advocates for radical marital change welcomed the

In chapter nine of The Real World, Ferris and Stein (2014) describe the construction of gender and sexuality in society. They start out by defining sex and gender are not interchangeable, but sex is biological and gender is defined by social or cultural aspects (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 243). Furthermore, gender inequality was introduced into the chapter by expressing that in the past, females had less power in society because of their biological differences from males (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p. 246). Although, biological differences are not the only reason why gender inequality exists in society today. For instance, from a functionalist perspective, certain characteristics make women and men better suited for certain jobs (Ferris & Stein, 2014,

This essay focuses on how Maretelle Ludik’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection and how it relates to how heteronormativity is viewed in modern society. Firstly I will define what is meant by heteronormativity and provide the difference between sex and gender. Secondly I will give an overview of one of the readers discussed in class and an external reader, furthermore I will discuss how heteronormativity and gender has evolved over the years. Thereafter I will dissect Martelle Ludik’s Spring/Summer 2016 collection and show how it relates to heteronormativity and gender. Lastly I will provide a conclusion that will summarise my argument.

Throughout today’s society, almost every aspect of someone’s day is based whether or not he or she fits into the “norm” that has been created. Specifically, masculine and feminine norms have a great impact that force people to question “am I a true man or woman?” After doing substantial research on the basis of masculine or feminine norms, it is clear that society focuses on the males being the dominant figures. If males are not fulfilling the masculine role, and females aren’t playing their role, then their gender identity becomes foggy, according to their personal judgment, as well as society’s.

In our project, we used our project, we used evolutionary theories of sex to investigate the factors that people considered when choosing an intimate partner. We focused on biosocial theory and structural powerless hypothesis. The biosocial theory referred to the idea that men are always physically bigger and stronger than women and women are really only physically important for childbearing. These gender stereotypes interacted with social experiences, such as picking a romantic partner for physical characteristics only, and result in the creation of gender roles in many societies. Structural powerless hypothesis focused more on the idea that preference for a mate with financial resources is a major component when you are choosing a mate. This hypothesis claims that men and women both wanted financial resources but since women are supposedly not able to achieve as much success in the working world they instead end up marrying a man to achieve financial security.

Men are meant to bring home the bacon and women are meant to take care of the children and the home. This traditional stereotype of female dependence on men for financial resources still holds true in today’s literature on financial literacy between the sexes. “As boys and girls grow up, they are exposed to different opportunities to learn and improve their financial competencies, such as different access to labor and financial markets, and therefore they may develop at different levels of financial knowledge and different financial strategies in adulthood over time” (OECD, p.81).