Role Theories, But More Precisely Gender Role Theory

Functionalism is one of the main principles involved in sociology. Emile Durkheim developed the functionalist theory. The method analyzes different parts of society and how they function individually to create a more stable society has a whole. According to Sociology in Our Times, "Functional perspectives are based on the assumption that society is a stable, orderly system. This stable system is distinguished by societal consensus, whereby the majority of members share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations." A functionalist society constitutes from the corresponding parts of society that carry out certain functions that strengthen the long-range stabilization of society. Institutions and structures emerge to help play a role in aiding society’s chances of survival. The organizations that add to the survival of the community include family, education, religion, government, and economy. The belief of the functionalist theory is if anything inconspicuous happens to any of the elements stated above, then all parts of society are negatively affected. Another factor that contributes to a stable functionalist society is the participation of the citizens who inhabit the community. To further the functionalist theory, Robert K. Merton divided functionalism into two different aspects of social institutions. The two functions include manifest and latent functions. Manifest functions are intended and excessively noticed by the contributors to society.

Gender roles, also known as gender stereotypes, are things to be considered appropriate to certain men or women and we are constantly surrounded by them without even realizing it. Cultural gender roles in America have changed over time, from when Disney animated films were first released. Women were only housewives at those times, they were responsible for cooking, cleaning, taking care of their kids, and other housework while the husband took care of

The functionalist paradigm is defined as a society system that consists of interrelated units, which each are responsible for performing a function that contributes to the overall operation of the society. The examples in the book and the Power Point are schools (education), government, religion and family. Each area is responsible for teaching, and shaping people’s behaviors,

What are gender roles? Gender roles are set of expectations, attitudes, and behaviors that are expected from a male or a female in a particular culture. We are socialized to these expectations from our agents of socialization such as media, parents, schools and as we grow up we see a platform that reinforces us to these expectations. The meanings attached to male and female are different and our society valued male over female. The man is supposed to be aggressive, strong, a leader and woman is supposed to be nurturing, submissive and passive. Traditionally the woman is supposed to cook, clean and take care of the household while the man provided for the family.The cycle continued and thorough repeated socialization women and men have started

Gender seems to be a hot topic in our society; many people feel the pressure to conform to a specific gender stereotype without really being aware of what they are or their influences on our perception. So what is a gender role? A gender role is the overt expression of attitudes that indicate to others the degree of your maleness or femaleness. A common gender stereotype in our culture has been that a woman’s place is as a homemaker, and caregiver, while men are expected to provide for their families. In today’s world women have been able to shed some of the more traditional roles, however the “princess” ideal still abounds within the

Gender role is generally defined as the expected behaviors, actions and emotional responses of males and females (“Gender-Gender Roles Stereotype”, 2011). There are three general forms for the gender role theory; evolutionary, gender schema, social role and object relations. The first refers to genetics playing the role of differences in behavior for sexual and reproductive purposes. Gender schema focuses on the cognitive patterns and socialization of ways in thinking of gender roles starting with childhood conditioning (“Gender-Gender Roles Stereotype”, 2011). Social role is the belief that males and females display different behaviors and take on gender roles due to societal expectation rather than biologically-related reasons (“Social Role Theory”, 2002-2017). Finally, object relations deals with

A role that everyone plays into, in each case, for each gender, once one learns to mute our own voice, we deny reality and when this happens roles take over, specifically gender roles (Lecture 3/8/2016). Once roles take over the real selves, the force us to give up a part of us. Gilligan finds that “patriarchal cultural norms drain pleasure because hierarchy leads us to cover vulnerability” (162), which requires individuals to accept a gender role over their real self, over their true voices, which is what pleasure is. In this case the social structures provide the possibilities for love through roles, which tells people exactly what to feel and how to act. In Chapter 4, of “The Managed Heart”, Hochschild (2012) brings up the concept of feeling rules, which he defines as, “Feeling rules are what guide emotion work by establishing the sense of entitlement or obligation that governs emotional exchanges” (56). In this case, culture is what has taught each individual how and when to feel; once again, it is all socially

Gender roles are a crucial aspect of society. Gender roles are attitudes and activities that are linked to sex by a society (Macionis 2016: 277). Children are constantly being directed towards the accepted gender roles of

Gender refers to being male or female. It is usually used to determine the cultural and social difference between men and women. Gender roles are expectations of how males and females should behave, what attitudes they should have, what activities they should do and etc. according to their culture (Witt, 2016). Years ago, males and females had specific roles that separated them from each other. Males were known to go hunting to provide food for the family, and females were to stay at home and take care of the kids. Nowadays, those gender roles have no function in the society anymore because of how the quality of life changed over the years. As women entered the workforce in 1960s, they equalized themselves with men economically. As they started working along with men, the gender roles no longer could be applied to them, therefore, they have no function anymore. However, still today, stereotypes exist that separates women from men, usually with the intentions of degrading either of the genders to make one gender more superior over the other. These stereotypes are mostly about degrading women. They can be seen or heard of in stories, movies, commercials, advertisings, books, videogames and etc.

Gender stereotyping is essentially associating certain characteristics or behaviors to either men or women. Gender stereotyping can be found in many media outlets including magazines, movies, and T.V shows. Women are normally portrayed as more emotional characters and tend to have domestic roles, while men have more authoritative roles and seem to appear more frequently (Browne, 1998). Gender stereotyping can lead to subconscious negative or positive behaviors towards a certain sex. Gender roles have been commonly recognized in

A gender role is simply a behavior that may be learned by a person that is so called “accepted” into society or a cultural normality. For example, men are known for supporting the family the most such as keeping the food on the table and being most of the income that comes into the household. Women on the other hand are normally looked upon as house cleaners, childcare givers, and less responsible jobs inside the house. Gender stereotypes are a little bit different; this is a way of seeing someone, as they appear just based on their gender. (Rathus, 2010, p. 526) Such as some men like to watch sports or play them, not all men watch or play sports but people assume so. Women are normally the ones who are seen but not heard. That is not always the case; some women like to be either the center of attention or want their voice heard, eliminating the stereotype of women being dependent on men for everything.

Two main roles that are created in society is femininity and masculinity. Every aspect of how a society works depends on this very aspect. Creating roles for each role that can better themselves and make things acceptable to how life should be. Femininity is the quality of being a female. Masculinity is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally

A gender role is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as, “The role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. (English Oxford Living Dictionary)” Common gender roles are pushed upon children from birth such as, boys play with trucks and girls play with dolls. These roles are intermingled in every aspect of society, including: haircuts, clothing, toys, and much more. People are trained up with these gender roles impacting every part of their lives. However, these gender roles go far beyond physical items, and impact emotions as well. People have always had the expectation that men are tougher and more capable then women, who are seen as weaker and more dependent upon others. Gender roles have changed and evolved over time, the division of household labor is based on gender. Traditionally, women stayed home and done most of the domestic household labor, while their male partners worked outside the home to provide the family income. Over the past 30 years more and more women have joined the workforce, but are still responsible for the majority of the household chores. (Gender - Gender Roles And Stereotypes) Things as simple as work are full of gender roles. There are some jobs in which males have preference over women and vise versa. There is almost no part of life that is without gender roles. I believe that they are important, however, I believe that we rely on

One of the ways to view the world sociologically is by Structural functionalism. This theory views society as one complete unit with everyone working together to do their role. Everyone relies on each other to make sure everyone does their role to have the society run smoothly. Since everything is looked at as a whole the parts are studied as to how the contribute as a complete thing to the society. This type of theory also relies on norms, values, and beliefs; this keeps the society running smoothly. “Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), one of the founding fathers of sociology, was a structural functionalist”, (Claerbaut, ch. 2). The main structures in this type of society are Politics, religion, education, family

Gender roles are widely accepted societal expectations about how males and females should behave (Rathus, 2010, pg. 447). Gender roles create a difference in the way that masculine and feminine behaviors are accepted among society. Gender roles are often depicted as just a part of who a person is and help better define the difference between male and female. When society begins to use these gender roles as norms we often see those who don’t fit into the correct role become ostracized by society. When these gender roles become rigid they can become gender stereotypes. These stereotypes are fixed and oversimplified beliefs about the way in which men and women ought to behave (Rathus, 2010, pg. 447). One of the most common gender stereotypes is that men are the breadwinners and women are the homemakers. These stereotypes also carry into emotions as well, women being more likely to feel sadness, fear and sympathy, while men are more likely to feel anger and pride. Another area where gender stereotypes can be observed is in the work place with women taking jobs such as nursing and teaching, and men holding jobs in fields like medicine and law. (Rathus, 2010, pg. 447).