The Role Of Traditional Gender Roles On Women

The fight against sexism is not a new fight. Women have been fighting for equal rights, as well as fighting for their lives, culture, and values to be just as important as men's. On August 18, 1920, women were granted the right to vote; but this was only the beginning. From then to now, the role of women in society has significantly changed due to women standing up for their rights at protests and rallies, as well as on social media. While “The Good Wife’s Guide” focused on the promotion of the traditional gender role of women and defined appropriate emotions for women, “The Revolt of ‘Mother,’” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, represents the start of the resistance of the traditional gender role of women that we see in society today.

biologically men are women are mandated into their specific roles. He supports his position by giving

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.

Traditional gender roles are typical roles for men and women based on biological and social differences. The book describes two benefits of traditional gender roles for males as: Higher Income and Other Job Related Advantages and Less Domestic Work and Marital Stress. Men are expected to always provide a stable income for the home. As personal experience in my household, my dad’s paychecks were always higher than my mom’s. He worked as head of security of a grade school making over $3,000+ a month, meanwhile my mom working as a homecare nurse made only $2,000. Because my dad’s income was higher, he was always expected to pay majority of the bills such as rent, cable, lights, car notes, and insurance. My mom paid for the smaller bills such

Stephen Mays writes an article,” What about Gender Roles in Same-Sex Relationships?” Mays explains how he overheard a conversation between two friends. The friends are gossiping about two gay guys that are walking ahead of them on the sidewalk. One of them ask “Who do you think is the girl in the relationship?” Mays said “ I couldn’t help but to frown at the girl and shake my head”(718). He did not agree with this question, he believes they are both men. I believe the two girls ask a question that most people want to know when they see two gay men.I recently was on a traveling page and a group of guys took a picture together. A lot of people were commenting on this post. Most of the comments were asking why aren 't there any women in

The larger group was Dominated by all males, which is another thing I didn’t expect. You would think that the group would have at least one or two females in it, statistically speaking. The smaller group was female dominated with two females and a single male in it. I observed the male and he didn’t seem to follow his gender role4. This made me think because I have a gay friend and homosexual men seem to familiarize with females more easily than heterosexual males. Also I noticed a trend that most gay men spent most of their time being raised by their mother with a more distant or even non-existent father figure. It is probably not fair to make assumptions about the lone male in the group, but I’m assuming he fits in this stereotype5. The other thing I noticed about this group is that they all seemed to be equal; there wasn’t one that put themselves before the others.

In society, heterosexuality is a principal method of organizing institutions and regulating individual behavior. A culture based on ideas of heterosexuality values relationships that are between men and women; as a result, sexual contact occurring between same sex individuals is seen as deviant and labeled as homosexual. In her book, Ward explains how straight white men can have sex with other white men while retaining their heterosexuality in addition to gaining a masculine appeal. Ingraham and Namaste’s discussion of heteronormativity, heterogenders, and supplementarity aids in understanding why straight white men are not labeled as homosexual and how this functions to reproduce inequalities based on race, gender, and sexuality.

He expresses how much he appreciates the compromise of being in a same-sex relationship. Not ¨associating certain actions with very classic ideas of masculinity or femininity,¨ allows both men to be who they want. Mays critiques about the gender stereotypes towards gay people, and another source validates his argument. In the article, What Gay Couples Get about Relationships That Straight, author Brigid Schulte expresses why gender roles are ultimately non-existent in same-sex relationships. Men in gay relationships are more likely to discuss what each partner can manage and do to provide stability to the relationship. (What Gay Couples). This allows couples to avoid gender roles and equally contribute to the relationship. Overall, equality within any relationship is said to be essential because it paves the road for a long-lasting bond.

In S. Mays article, what about gender roles in same-sex relationships, published by Norton, Mays discusses same-sex relationships, and why no one is considered the girl in the relationship. More male gay couples are stereotyped about their identity then same-sex female relationships. This is simply because the roles a man does makes him look feminine. The life of typical same-sex relationships is characterized by appearance, masculinity and femininity.

Examine the impact of traditional gender expectations on the specific roles individuals adopt within groups There are many traditional gender expectations that are significant and have an impact on both males and females on the specific roles that they adopt within groups. Traditional male expectations include, that males are expected to be the family provider, for example working full time and giving money to their family so that they can buy their basic daily needs for example food and clothing. Men are also expected to protect woman and his children, for instance, in cases where they are placed in unsafe situations. Traditional female expectations include that they are expected to follow their husband’s ideas, plans and decisions without arguing and to keep everything in their household clean and tidy.

In 1990’s the film American Beauty would portray the gender roles as an undefined decade as where the men would be the breadwinners and the women would be a stay and home wife. In this family, both Lester’s and his wife Carolyn worked to maintain this family. Even though Lester is drawn out to be the man in the house it seems that he gets no respect from his family. They seem to think that they don’t need him. It seems that the wife and husband Carolyn and Lester have taken the classic dominate role in the family. Carolyn has taken the submissive female role while Lester is taking the dominant male role. Also in this film, homosexual relationships are being portrayed as a change in gender roles. If there is the same sex that is in the same

The heterosexual imaginary is immensely ingrained in our everyday experience that most people, including feminist sociologists, has become inclined to conceptualize and theorize based around the heteronormative. The heterosexual imaginary acts as an invisible framework at play that structures our thinking processes and in which constructs our social identity. For instance, the inquiry of a survey taker’s marital status in most social science surveys come to show that our recognized and appropriate social identity is formed around heterosexuality. That is, any deviation from this heterosexual norm would be considered abnormal and be marginalized. To a minimal extent, this focus has served the interests of women because of the lack of activism

Queer theory questions creations of normal and divergent, insider, and outsider.2 Queer theorists analyse a situation or a text to determine the relationship between sexuality, power and gender. Queer theory challenges basic tropes used to organize our society and our language: even words are gendered, and through that gendering an elliptical view of the hierarchy of society, and presumption of what is male and what is female, shines through. Queer theory rejects such binary distinctions as arbitrarily determined and defined by those with social power. It works to deconstruct these binaries, particularly the homosexual/heterosexual binary.4

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.

As a result, society has devalued heterosexual males and homosexual males that don’t fit into the construction of gender that society deems appropriate or inappropriate masculine behaviors (Epstein, D., 1998). In particular, within society heterosexual males are ridiculed for choosing a position that is a non-traditional profession (Evans, J., & Frank, B., 2003). For instance, nursing traditionally is a female profession but heterosexual men are being ridiculed for obtaining a position as a nurse. Taylor, Dwiggins, Albert, and Dearner (1983) states, from society 's perceived conception of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors, male nurses continue to question their own masculinity which they expressed of not equaling up to other men. Under those circumstances, heterosexual men feel the need to reinforce their masculinity (Villeneuve, 1994). Research examined males behaviors when they felt their masculinity was being challenged males would draw more attention to them and display aggressive like qualities (Villeneuve, 1994).