Social Construction Of Gender Roles

What is gender roles really about? What really makes it so important in our day to day lives? Well to first understand gender roles, you have to understand gender. The dictionary definition of gender is "either the male or female division of a species, especially as differentiated by social and cultural roles and behavior:" While Gender roles are more complex, they are something that society has shaped us to look at in a certain way. The sociological perspectives all help justify gender roles. They are seen as essential to society's makeup because the assigned roles work together. Men are, also, seen as dominant and women as submissive. These views are what make individuals in society act a certain way towards a gender because of the beliefs

Gender roles have been used as a way of raising children for generations. While they have not always been the typical “pink is for girls, blue is for boys” stereotypes that we have grown accustomed to, there have always been certain roles for men and women that deem what is appropriate and what is not. Although the idea of gender roles has existed for centuries, the stereotypes themselves have evolved, leading many to believe that they are a social construct. “Up until the beginning of the 20th century, pink was actually more associated with boys, while blue was more associated with girls—illustrating how socially constructed these associations really are” (“Gender and

The things clothes and toys teach children about gender is to behave in a certain way, boys are rough and tough, and can do anything, and girls are polite, beautiful, and they can do some things but not all. Because of the way society has depicted clothes and toys for children, boys learn at an early age that they are the dominate one, builder, the soldier and girls learn to be pretty, more passive and well behaved. In fact, boys and girls clothing and toys can play a significant role in what field of study, or jobs they pursue, and how they perform in society.

Like Material culture, Nonmaterial culture has also contributed to gender identity. Nonmaterial Culture consist of ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society. (Loera, 2017). When parents are expecting a boy, there is a high chance that some of his first cloths, blankets, and personal items will be blue. This is because the color blue is dominant and often associated with males in mainstream culture. There is also a preconceived notion that a little boy is raised to know that he should not cry, as there is belief it is a sign of weakness. The stereotype is that women will be more emotional.

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.

The myth of gender roles plays a pivotal role in This Boy’s Life- A Memoir by Tobias Wolff. Specifically, the myth of masculinity shapes much of the actions and experiences that occur. Toxic masculinity is commonly described as socially-constructed attitudes that describe men as being violent, unemotional, and sexually aggressive. The rules of masculinity that are implied in the memoir include displays of physical dominance such as fighting against others, use of weapons for power and control, domestic violence, and trying to win at everything. Sexual virility is discussed as bragging about sexual conquests and talking crudely about women around other men but generally trying to be hyper sexual. Another, key aspect of masculinity is to not show any emotion as others will perceive you as being weak which leads characters being unable to express how they feel about themselves and their conflicts. Males are taught to not get mad but to get even; this means retaliating by stealing or other means in order to get revenge. Within the memoir, Tobias’ perception of masculinity and his idea of what man should look and act like is demonstrated through Roy. Qualities that include being: “an expert hunter, conventionally handsome, [a mechanic or handy in general], does not need to talk more than needed, having a tattoo”(14). The myth of masculinity pigeonholes males from This Boy’s Life- A Memoir by Tobias Wolff by making them believe that they must act in a certain way in order to be

Gender roles determine the way society works, and the way it views people. Whether it is considered unfair or not, there are many factors that are created from gender roles. Almost all parts of English life from 1674 to 1913 was influenced by gender(Clive, 1.) This way of life made a lasting impression, causing the years to follow to develop and abide by what is known as gender roles. Although gender roles have become a lot more diverse in society, there are still stereotypes and misconstrued gender identity, gender-specific expectations, and gender-specific separation and gaps that still exist today.

Within the American culture, our youth are taught that the masculine roles of the male has traditionally been associated with their role of being strong and dominant and the feminine role of a female has traditionally been associated with their role of being the follower and the nurturer. Children learn the gender roles beginning at birth through the socialization process. Historically our society has always identified male infants with blue and female infants with pink, however, with the turning of the 20th century more neutral colors are being thrown into the mix. More expecting parents are adventuring away from traditional blue and pink and choosing the neutral colors such as green and yellow. Children learn gender socialization through family members, education, other children and social media. Each reinforces the gender role by displaying and maintaining the normal expectation for each genders behavior. Our youth are taught at an early age of the separate expectations of each gender. Parents often teach the role not knowingly but through association. Boys are associated with trucks, toy guns and superheroes that teach them motor skills and independence, whereas the girls are associated with baby dolls, dress costumes, and toy kitchens which teaches them nurturing and social

Gender or sex roles are the expected patterns of behavior assumed to follow from a person's sex. Gender roles are not natural. They are formed by and vary within society, culture, geographic location, politics and time. There is a strong relationship between the social construction of gender and compulsory heterosexuality. People are programmed into certain gender roles and social categories through socialization and interaction with others.

Unconsciously, we have all been affected or can relate to the effects of gender role stereotyping. From the day we were born, we are labeled as either boy or girl. Although, society has changed its norm in gender roles, many of our traditions have not. In the gender stereotype, we commonly relate a boy with the color blue, and a girl with the color pink. Gender roles have been instilled in us from past generations, due to the way that society was. Gender labeling is still influenced today through children’s toys, where toys are designed differently according to each gender. Through media, society persuades into the ideology of how gender role should be considered acceptable or not.

Rivers, Caryl, and Rosalind Barnett. "The Truth About Girls and Boys." (2013). Print. analyses of women, men, and society. They tackle a new, troubling trends in the idea of gender: learning styles, brain development, motivation, and "natural" inclinations of girls and boys being so different.

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. Also known as sex roles, these particular roles have a division between men and women. Our society is the determining factor in how each sexes depicts their role through their actions, clothes, characteristics, etc. There have been, and are, many issues facing both men and women in our society relating to traditional roles that they play. Whether it’s related to how both dress, talk, and socialize, none is worse than being told you don’t fit in. Our society now relies so heavily on how society and other people view them, that they base their roles around that fixed comfort

Gender roles are personas that one may take on to fit one’s biological gender. Each person wishes to be in a state of order in society and gladly would fall in line to be more feminine or masculine. As a majority of these two ideas develop from an early age, a major influence to each individual occurs in one’s school. The average student in the United States of America will spend “1,620 hours a year receiving their education” (Chalabi). In a school setting, the gender roles that are put upon the students include girls to be

Children learn from their parents and from society the concept of what gender is and how to identify a male and female. Many of these learned concepts are cultural. Gender roles are the characteristics, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that society expects of males and females. Gender roles in our society have changed significantly in current times, for example more woman working in various fields, especially those that were once held exclusively by men and a lot more men deciding to stay at home taking care of their children, while their significant other works outside of the home. In response to Eckert and Ginet's assertion that "Being a girl or being a boy is not a stable state but an ongoing accomplishment, something that is actively done both by the individual...and by those...in the various communities to which it belongs, " I believe that being a boy or a girl is a self-discovery. There are plenty of other qualities one can find about themselves, more beyond than just being a male or being a female. An example would be a female who enjoys doing masculine things and is good at sports or a male who enjoys doing hair and makeup. I believe it is never a stable state because not everyone is a society norm of a male or a female and I personally feel like it affects children and teenagers negatively because it puts pressure on them.

In many ancient cultures, women were the caretakers of the home and men were the protectors and the main “breadwinners” of the family. Women were expected to cook, clean, do laundry, take care of the children, and do any household chores. Men were expected to work hard and to take care of the family’s needs. Males were suppose to act tough, strong, and be “manly” while females were suppose to be pretty and kind. In these ancient cultures, gender would define how you were expected to act and the roles you had to complete in order to be accepted by society. To be accepted into today’s modern society, people still have to follow the roles that are automatically associated to their gender and are criticized if they do not complete them. Gender is extremely prominent and salient in modern society and has been for thousands of years and because of this, gender roles have been affecting how people act, think, and make decisions. Due to negative gender stereotypes, people who do not follow their gender role can be criticized and reluctant to participate in things that do not fit their gender.