The Importance Of Gender In Society

“A gender-equal society would be one where the word 'gender' does not exist:where everyone can be themselves.”-Gloria Steinem. Men and women are equals. One issue facing our society is fair pay. The fair pay for women well it

Gender is defined as the state of being male or female. In most instances, this state is determined based on the biology of an individual’s genitalia. Those born

Since ancient times, people have thought that men should give priority to their jobs and the society and women should take family as the core. As a result, men and women are created and have different definitions. Gender is actually made by the society and its meaning is also created by the society. I do not know such a definition is good or bad. The good one is that distinction between men and women makes the society get balanced development. Women and other family members take care of the family and men make more contributions to the family and society. But the weakness is that some feudal and extreme cultures would develop the distinction of gender into discrimination. In many developing countries, women are considered to be lower than men. The distinction of gender can exist, but it should exist

The role of women in society. By traditional standards a woman’s role in society is to be a care taker. Obliged to keep her home clean, and her husband fed. She’s expected to keep quiet, and to always remain in a woman’s place. Never to vocalize her thoughts, beliefs or ideas. She is never to dare challenge the wrongdoings of oppression that maybe inflicted upon her or her people. Especially not in the same way that a man rises against his oppressor. In the photography above there is a constant display of women. Women that did not adhere to societal norms or expectations. The photography above symbolizes the true strength that all women withhold. Throughout the remainder of my rhetorical analysis, I will further expose the reasoning and what I believe to be the story in which the photographers were trying to convey through their photography.

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.

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.

Gender roles are determined by both societal culture and the result of biological makeup. Media as an impact on the decision of what your role will be in society. Your decision on what you want to be is formed through the span of grown and observing what happens in society. Your biological makeup can also guide what you gender role is because it categorizes you into male or female.

Gender roles govern the way that most of the world’s population interact with one another. Many African cultures uphold deeply patriarchal gender roles which dictate how women and men interact with one another. Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, a staunch feminist, gives readers a look into Nigerian gender roles in her short story Birdsong. Her writing in Birdsong and her TEDtalks explore and expose how these gender roles are harmful and how important it is for many stories of young women of color to be heard.

To understand gender differences within language and society, we must first realize how our genders were divided. The division between the sexes began with the agricultural revolution that transformed human civilization that is believed to have taken place between 8000 and 7000 B.C.E. The consequences of agriculture and the ability to harvest and store food, eliminating the need to hunt and gather, were life changing. Settlements began to develop and gender roles were forming. Men would tend to the fields and the herds while women had a tendency to remain close to the homes, becoming the caretakers of the children and households. As civilization developed, the work done by the men away from the home grew to be regarded as more important than the work done by the women. Due to this newly found perception, “men came to play the more dominant role in human society, which gave rise to the patriarchy” (Spielvogel 4-5). This mindset has been fortified in human culture and has defined gender roles in societies throughout the centuries.

Gender roles in any society dictates specific standards by which each individual (based on gender) is expected to act. Proper decorum based on sex, is manifested in the way men and women verbally express themselves, reason, act, and participate with each other. These differences in social expectations have impacted the way in which humanity perceives family responsibilities, job allocation, entertainment and even tangible products based on masculinity or femininity. Yet, based on the scientific principals set by Charles Darwin, evolution is inevitable. Gender roles in today’s culture seem to be obsolete. Socioeconomic factors have forced the hand of evolution, tarnishing the guiding lines of gender roles and responsibility. Society should evolve and stop trying to push the so-called typical gender roles because it can hinder the growth and development of today’s and the future’s society.

From the moment we are born we are put into one of two categories, boy or girl. We are never asked or considered to be anything but. No in between, no blurred lines. And because of the society we created, we attach extensive stereotypes to each of those genders. This is simply known as gender roles, or more specifically; “a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex”. This includes all kinds of stereotypes, like, that women should stay home, cook, and be “girly”, and that men need to be strong, the sole provider of the house, and “manly”. Not to say you can’t be those things, but those roles can be very constricting for most of the population. Gender roles can be so restricting that they affect our lifestyle, workplace, and mentality and self image.

A social construction is something that is created by society and believed to be natural. Social constructions are both a myth and a reality because social constructions aren’t natural, but it has real effects on the people who experience them. What society identifies as masculine and feminine is the social construction of gender. For example, masculinity and femininity is closely tie to being a man and a woman, respectively. In our society, men are supposed to be aggressive and unemotional, while women are supposed to be soft and gentle. This social construction of gender affect individuals lives because it makes those who don’t fit into these gender roles feel as if they aren’t the ideal man or woman. Women and men can both develop problems

Men and women are different in many ways. Biologically it is caused by how the brain acts and how it is wired. Men and women’s brains process things differently and control different parts compared to the opposite gender. The biological differences between men and women affect how they process emotions, stress and the differences in how the two brains are wired. The differences of the brain between the two genders make it easier for scientists and doctors to identify the way the male and female brains work the same, and different.

Society today places many ideals when it comes to proper behaviours regarding gender roles. These are considered societal norms that are widely debated and controversial. Society has created a norm, which encompasses specific expectations and rules that change the daily lives of men and women, giving them specific tasks and behaviours to abide by. These standards are known as gender roles, which are defined as distinguishing actions, thoughts, and feelings of males and females. Gender roles are said to be a result of nature, which is a natural process, every male or female is to follow. On the other hand it can be a result of nurture, which changes ones way of thinking and adapting their lifestyle to fit their environment. Either way gender roles are a part of someone’s life from the moment of their birth, as they develop, and long after that, this proves that gender roles are influential to a person’s life and development. This essay examines how media such as music, family life, and different parenting styles encompass gender roles and teaches behaviours regarding them. Therefore, gender roles define males and females are a result of nurture and not nature.

The social role which I feel that I occupy and that I am going to focus on in this essay is the one of a women in this society. I believe I have been socialized into this role for numerous reasons. Throughout this paper I will explain how I think I have been socialized into this role.