Traditional Gender Roles In Society

There were a few television shows that reinforce the traditional gender roles assigned to both men and woman. “I Love Lucy”, “The Jeffersons”, “Goodtimes”, “All in the Family”, “My Wife and Kids”, and “Fresh Prince of Bell Air” were all traditional gender role television shows. All of these shows had the men working and the women were taking care of everything at home. “The Jeffersons” were a little different than the rest because they had Florence there to do all of the housework and Mrs. Jefferson didn’t do much at all around the house unless she wanted to of course. Another show was “The Brady Bunch” this show was also different from the rest because although they had Alice there to help Ms. Brady because she had a lot of children,

Society expects men to be brave and strong. They are expected to be in charge of their families by making the most important decisions and supporting them financially meanwhile, women are dependent and cannot achieve much by themselves. One can go back to after 8000 BC and see that men hunted animals meanwhile women stayed at home to care for their children and gather fruits and plants (Reilly). All of the early imposed leadership expectations have been a part of what has shaped the gender expectations in the present society. Even though men and women are capable of performing the same tasks, traditional gender roles keep both genders away from gaining social equality. One can see a difference when both genders are compared in education, employment, child care, domestic duties, and marriage. Although women have made many advances leading up to the amount of equality present in the 21st century, men still manage to have more rights and do not have to fight for equality.

In the US, values are often based on outdated traditional gender ideals that no longer fit our culture. It should be taught in society to accept someone who may not have the same interests that match their traditional gender role. In order to keep the US from continuing on the path of a more angry and judgemental country, we need to make it clear to both men/boys and women/girls, that its okay to be both strong and sensitive. It needs to be shown to everyone that there isn’t anything wrong with liking something considered ‘feminine’ or ‘masculine’

Broadly conceptualized, gender roles are what our society expects and values in their community. They shape our behavior and values, thoughts and feelings, even going so far as to denote a person’s worth. Gender roles are present in everyday situations. In the past they strictly dictated the behavior of people in the community (the right to vote, occupations women were allowed to work in), though in the recent past have become more subtle and more successfully challenged. In some instances they are learned consciously, in others they are more subtly ingrained in our lives. Put simply, they are ubiquitous not only in intimate partner violence, but in almost every part of our lives.

Education and employment go hand in hand now a day in order to become financially successful in life. These are two unmistakably major parts of society today. In order to become successful a good job is needed, and in order to get the job a good education is needed as well. But women especially need to emphasize more in these two subjects than men; due to past gender discrimination which brought on Equal Employment Opportunity Laws and challenges dissimilar from men’s: such as physical problems which effect their earnings, and that change their education habits.

Our world is always changing. Each generation’s experience in life is different from the last. A grandmother’s life was different from her daughters, and even more so than her granddaughters. This is not a disadvantageous aspect of time, without change, we cannot progress as a society, and without progression we become dissolved into oblivion. That being said, this means society can never stop changing. Looking back at the past, especially in more recent years, society has made vast progressions towards gender equality; we can see this progression, for people rely less on gender roles, women are given more opportunities in the workplace, and each age group is clearly more progressive than the last.

What would you expect if there were no social norms dictating the roles that are ideal for people based on their gender? In the current world, social norms are so entrenched in our society that we cannot ignore them. The society has differentiated individual roles to either male or female roles, an indication that though an individual has a unique body and personality, one can never be fully autonomous but will be trapped in the role assigned to him or her by the society. Since I feel comfortable about my life, there is nothing in her arguments implied on my personal life. However, it implies that this is the case for the society around me. Judith Butler states in her essay “Beside Oneself; On the Limits of Sexual Autonomy” that “...when we speak about my sexuality or my gender, as we do (and as we must) we mean something complicated by it. Neither of these is precisely a possession, but both are to be understood as modes of being dispossessed...” (Butler 115), showing that my social location is mainly constructed along gender performance and physical vulnerability by the media, family and the community.

From the instant we are born, we are born into a world of conformity and obedience. Early in our lives, we look at authority figures like parents or teachers as these sentinels of guidance, as omnipotent beings with unwavering precision in their lessons. The concept of socialization is very perplexed, and it’s difficult to identify the variables that shape our development as we grow. As children, we communicate with the world free of inhibition, and find no fault in any of our actions; we could throw a tantrum and no one would bat an eye because it is socially acceptable for a child to have minimal restraint on their emotions. Over the years, we eventually become embedded in the norms of our culture, and mature to our respective social

“We have begun to raise our daughters more like sons… but few have the courage to raise our sons like our daughters.” This quote was said by the wonderful Gloria Steinem who was a lecturer, political activist, writer, and feminist organizer. For a long time men and women were put into gender roles even as young children; little girls would wear pink while the little boys would wear blue. Recently some of this has changed. Most women and many men are trying to change the stereotypes we put on our genders. Men are wearing makeup, women are cutting their hair short, and everyone are wearing rompers; however many people do not want this change, and most of those people are men. Men do not want a change to happen because that would mean they would have to share power with over twice as many people. With women not doing their “duty” men would have to learn to cook and clean as well as work a job; which is what many, if not all, women do today. The main reason that women are more likely to try to stretch or break gender roles than men is because society tells us we are better off to be manly. All in all, the world is changing and I believe it is for the best and should be accepted and appreciated.

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.

Have you ever heard the expression “act like a lady” or “real men don’t cry” and why do you suppose that is? The answer to the question is gender roles; society has created an ideal set of rules and behaviors that both men and women need to follow. These roles have been passed down from generation to generation to the point where both men and women are finally questioning why they have to live by a certain standard. No one knows for certain how gender roles came about or when they were created. These roles have been oppressing and crippling men and women because most of them have been told to act a certain way their whole life; gender roles are another form of judgment and need to stop. Men and women today have been blending and blurring the lines of gender roles which is an important breakthrough in order to move forward as a society.

"Gender roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that are socially appropriate for individuals of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture, which differ widely between cultures and over time". There are traditional gender roles in almost all the cultures in the world and have existed throughout history. The traditional gender roles might influence us positively and negatively as we live and have grown within our society.

When comparing the roles of women and men from the earliest ages in humanity, the roles of men has remained relatively the same for generations, while women’s roles have undoubtedly undergone tremendous reforms. The traditional roles of women could be exhibited as early as the Paleolithic age, in the era of hunter-gatherers where women were to stay near their dwellings and gather crops while the men were to go out and hunt animals to feed the family. This notion developed into the traditional roles of men being the protectors and breadwinners of the family and women being the mothers and caretakers which were known up until the mid-1900s, when this outlook began to shift. Correspondingly, the man in the family was also expected to be the head of the household and make all major decisions and handling finances and things as such. This was prevalent in a majority of places globally, with some cultural exceptions such as the Touareg tribe of the Sahara desert. Unlike most Western societies, the Touaregs believed the woman was to be the dominant partner in marriages and in the family, controlled the finances and property, and even allowed women to have multiple partners as well (Patel). Of course, this was unheard of in the West, where female sexuality was seen as taboo at the time and was viewed as a threat to the patriarchal system that was traditionally adorned. Comparatively, the perception of female intelligence prior to the 20th century has been undermined, as women’s

It was not until I entered high school when I started to understand what being a younger sister means. Growing up, I felt that it was my job to tell my parents the mischief that my brothers were getting into. Most of the time, my brothers would threaten me not to tell on them and it would lead to conflict which seemed to last for years. While our one year overlap in highschool, my brother Tom and I found this unique relationship that we possessed through trust and actions. During the first few weeks of my highschool career, Tom made it apparent that because he is the older brother, he will have my back through my freshman year. This made my role as a “little sister” clear, but with this role, do traditional gender roles appear without meaning to? Through experience and facts, being a little sister means that you take care of your brothers and your brothers look out for you.

Today we live in a world that continually stresses to us that, "All men are created equal." While this sounds great at face value, further inspection tells us that this is far from realistic and sadly may never be. One can examine any aspect of society whether it be race, religion, language, level of education, sexual orientation or economic status and notice that there are numerous characteristics and factors of identity that enable others to treat others differently. This truth may not be pleasant or make one feel all warm and fuzzy inside, however it is our society’s reality, however dismal it may be. Even if the statement above as to the equality of all men were true, how about women? Clearly women have made tremendous strides towards