What Are Gender Roles?

Gender roles are defined differently by people and are usually centered on opposing conceptions of femininity and masculinity. They are 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. Gender roles now compared to back in the day have very much changed, but there still remains a strong influence as to the way a woman should act and how a man should act. In places such as America, now, women and men both have jobs and can still balance spending time with their family and taking care of children whereas back then, women were housewives and were not able to hold a job because that was the man’s responsibility. The traditional roles of men and women are also looked at, as well as behaviors of men and women that are considered socially appropriate. Gender roles vary greatly from one culture to the next, from one ethnic group to the next, and from one social class to another. But every culture has them, they all have expectations for the way women and men should dress, behave, and look.

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a gender role is defined as the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender, determined by the prevailing cultural norms. In modern day America, gender roles have been slowly dissolving, but nonetheless is still very much relevant. In our society, women have the capability of doing everything a man can do, but, in the eyes of some, women are still seen as the inferior gender. In general, women are still associated with the responsibilities of taking care of the household and the children. They are also perceived as being fragile and submissive. On the other hand, men are associated with being the primary breadwinner and were viewed as being strong and brave. In most civilizations, these associations have been and

The term gender roles refers to the behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender. In society, we see males being taught that they should be the ones to bring in the income and be in charge of the household, while women are taught to stay home, take care of the children and be domestic. This concept has been a prominent factor in medieval life and continues to be prominent to this day. Gender roles have not changed since the medieval period, men continue to wear their “masks of masculinity” and dominate the workforce, while women are still expected dominate the domestic sphere.

Throughout history, men and women have been viewed in utterly different spheres. Men have been, and still are, believed to be the hard working individual who is in charge of “bringing home the bacon” and supporting the household finically. On the other hand, women are expected to have little to say, the house spotless, supper on the table, the children bathed, fed, in bed, and educated, all while maintaining a flawless hairdo and makeup. These stereotypes seem a bit offensive nowadays, but if you really consider it, it has been and most likely will be this way for our entire existence.

Gender roles are the roles that men and women are expected to occupy based on their sex. Traditionally, many Western societies have believed that women are more nurturing then men . . . . One way that a woman might engage in the traditional feminine gender role would be to nurture her family by working full-time within the home rather than taking employment outside of the home. (Blackstone)

Throughout history, gender roles have been the foundation that determines the course of a civilization. These gender roles have undergone a change over time. It is important for every society to re-evaluate its preconceived ideas of gender and determine if that is still the norm for their society. When people think of gender roles we typically have set stereotypes in our head of what that means. Much of the time, what we believe, is not what is actually true. It is often argued what is right and what is wrong.

These gender roles have been present for many generations and it is clearly very hard to get rid of. But it is important to know why they originally existed - survival. With women doing one set of tasks, and men doing another, this organization kept structure and helped both groups survive. But as times changed, a lot of these values were kept and were manipulated for the good of one group,

On this site, there is an article called, “What Are Gender Roles and Stereotypes,” which goes over gender stereotypes along with providing definitions and examples of men and women who have had stereotypes against them. At the beginning of the article it talks about gender roles, which are roles that are given to people based on their gender that dictate how they should act. For example, if you were a male, you are expected to be strong aggressive, and be in charge of the household, while if you are female you are expected to act feminine and be

To begin, gender roles are the expected behaviors that are associated with one’s sex (Croteau). Reiterating, women played the role of the nurturer for most of history. They cared for their children, kept the house tidy, did some farming and some labor but never as much as the men. When more defined jobs came into play they still incorporated a role that depicted women as a caregiver. During the 19th and 20th century, the medical profession was considered suitable for females. Even then, men for the most part worked in the hospitals as nurses. Home nursing was thought to be more proper for women (Women’s History In America).

Equality between men and women is more than a matter of social justice .gender roles is a way of characterizing and labeling other in society. Gender roles include attitudes, actions, and personality traits associated with a gender within that culture. Gender roles determines over all how men and women should act, speak, dress, and think. Gender defines masculine and feminine roles on society. Social influence parents, teachers, peers, movies, television, music, books, and religion teach and reinforce gender roles.

Gender roles have held a dominant position in our society since the beginning of humanity. From birth children learn from their parents and society what “feminine” and “masculine” consist of and the responsibilities that come with either one. Gender, rather than being a biological concept is cultural one, varying from culture to culture. Both males and females are categorized by certain mannerisms, behaviors, and interests that society has set forth expecting them to follow such rules. Women are expected to play the role of a housewife making sure the home is a livable space and taking of the children while on the other hand, men are expected to be the ones who provide income for the family.

Gender roles are the standards set by a society for each of the genders. Most people will not have a problem with the gender roles established but they can be very harmful to some people. Basic gender roles consist of women being associated with the color pink and men being associated with blue. Roles like these set the norms for our society and determine in the long run what is acceptable and not.

Gender roles, ways people are expected to conduct themselves, are based on norms created over time by society. They have been portrayed countless ways and recently may have started to change for the better. However, roles assigned to females and the idea known as “gender stereotypes” can be compared and found to be just as much similar as they are different. Maybe even more.

“Gender roles are items that are considered appropriate or inappropriate for that gender such as clothing, behaviors, thoughts, feelings, relationships, etc.,”

What are gender roles? According to the dictionary, gender roles are "a set of behaviors that indicates one's gender (dictionary.com)". In the story, Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe, demonstrates the effect that gender roles have on the tribe of Umofia. Society should not have clearly defined gender roles because it restricts people from being who they really are and defined gender roles also prevent people from being able to form bonds with other people and their own families.