Gender Roles: Attitudes and Behavior

Over the years gender roles have had specific definitions created by society. Gender roles determine how males and females should think, speak, and dress. Also, gender roles can be defined as the behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society. Gender roles are already developed before you are even born, you're are taught during childhood and usually goes on through adulthood. There is such a wide variation in modern gender roles that are no longer accurate to define them narrowly and traditionally.

Starting from birth, parental treatment of children depends on their gender and the behaviours expected. Parents start early in treating their male and female children differently. Studies have shown that parents actually respond more quickly to infant girl's cries than to their infant boy's. Parents also tend to cuddle up with girls more than they do the boys. They are also more likely to allow boys to try new things and activities. For example, learning to walk and explore, unusually girls wouldn't be allow. Parents tend to fear more for the safety of girls because society designed that protection.

Gender roles influence men and women in almost every aspect of life. This has not helped our society, where we raise boys to be providers, uncompromising and demanding, and where we raise girls to be submissive, passive and to cater to a man's needs. You simply can't rely on stereotypes about men and women anymore.

In today's generation, modern men and women aren't labeled to one specific type of role. Instead, both genders have personal ambition and seek successful careers. These changes in the roles have created hard challenges in many categories. Society has created changes embracing the differences between both genders. Gender roles were once set on certain acts and behaviors. The old traditional roles of a woman was as a wife and mother nurturing, compassionate, caring, and supportive, but know has changed to a business and supporting role. The characteristics of a man and woman have been different in the past but seem to be emerging. Women had a certain look but know due to the changed in gender roles females believe in the prided and have self worth, just like a man mindset.

Although, gender roles are changing to modern time, old traditional roles were still viewing the drawn lines between men and women. What is male? What is female? Answers to these questions may depend on the types of gender roles experienced by a person as a child. Gender roles were defined by that society with the behaviors and attitudes expected of man and women. For instance, traditionally men were the one's working outside the home and served as the breadwinner for the family. Males actually held some of the most powerful jobs in society, including doctor, lawyer and politician. As for women, they were expected to be stay at home mothers, raising their children and cooking evening meals while waiting for their husbands. They typically worked as a secretary, a nurse, and other stereotyped female positions.

Gender roles have set a certain view and presentation on how are you specific kind is supposed look and behave. Through my research I came along a Ted talk for the youth. A young female, Erin Rose, explains her own difficulties and experience in her life on these gender roles evolvement.

Erin Rose truly inspired me and really made me understand these changes in society that we once defined. Society tends to label certain aspects to a certain gender, When I was in middle school I was called difficult because I wanted to play the leading role of a pirate even though it was only meant for a boy (Rose.) From the moment were young, we are already set views how girls are only supposed to play with barbies and boys only play with trucks. These are the typical old gender traditional representations on the way gender roles were designed. Rose continues, I was called bossy when I was captain of the track and field team and I would want to run a practice the certain way, but when my male cocaptain would state the same exact thing no one would say word. Females are always targeted, which has actually always been an issue. The higher level how males are superior and more respected is still war today us women fight because the way gender roles were designed.

Where we are today, we live in a society where stereotypes and misconceptions are common, which I believe is a horrible thing. Now, we are starting to push away what society has once labeled on us. We have now took away the traditional expectations of men and women. In today modern society men and women have swapped the roles and are starting to stray away from the stereotypes. Rose brings a great point at the end of her talk, we shouldn't define our children and limit them to ways how they should act or think.

Gender has always been labeled a certain way, men are supposed to this, and women are supposed to that. Modern time has evolved to both genders having similar ideas and duplicate mindsets to success. Today's men and women don't really uphold a specific type gender role. Both genders execute strong ambition and great straightforward goals for their life careers. Instead of couples collaborating their success these changes with the roles has lead to a whole new set of challenges that actually divide couples.

This aspect focusing and studying more on a relationship type view. Now there couldn't possibly be sayings for example, males can only do this and women can only do that. Issues now being thrown as both male and female are both with successful jobs have the struggle is with, Joint bank accounts or separated? Kids and family, who'll pursue a full-time career? Who'll do the cooking and the cleaning? (Bejanyan.) The gender role labels have banished and now the couples don't really know how to act. A woman wants to prove she can be independent and a man wants to feel needed.

The original standard roles may have been limiting, but still provided some certain guidelines and shared expectations. Sharing expectations and a mutual understanding of what each person's exacted role is going to be in a relationship can definitely save two people a great deal of misunderstanding and arguing. However, rather than blaming each other for the situation, men and women are willing to work together to learn about their new roles. In our modern time where a man can cook and a woman comes home from a long day at work. Could it be that the gender roles we've worked so hard to break out of for so many decades may have actually helped reduce relationship conflict or actually created a great deal of disagreements. Successful relationships learn to agree and share tasks.

In a work aspect the assumption are about power, position and organizational structures. Throughout time, gender roles have always had differences in the workforce. Woman have always been treated unfairly and never superior to men. Men have always been viewed as the masculine hardworking home supporter, but women overlook as just the sidelines supporting their success.

In the late 2000s there were several concerned individual that questioned whether the economic downturn had a effect on traditional gender roles. Women had to deal with earnings less than men when it came to pay wages. Unlike men, women always had difficult times trying to advance to higher positions within their companies. Americans have made great steps in accepting and adjusting to new definitions of gender roles. Part of the cause is the increased number of women in the workplace. According to labor statistics in 2010, White men now account for about 44% of all workers while white women and women of color make up 46% of the workplace (Detroit.) Women's biggest issue was being stereotype in the workforce to the ""Mommy Wars."" Creating battles between working mothers and stay home mothers. Which usually resulting to each side declaring an stating that the other side is irreparably harming their children. This certainly doesn't really state all these changes have been completely easy. Men also have struggled when it came to their pride and what masculinity meant to them if they were not the dominant breadwinner. According to statistics in an article, More than 80 percent of the jobs lost during the recession had belonged to men, which led to women holding the majority of jobs in the United States for the first time ever (Edmonds.) Now with their husbands unemployed, women would now take on the role of breadwinner, while the men would take care of the home duties.

Gender roles have certainly shown its lines fading. Though change is still in the air, there's no doubt that men and women's roles have become less strictly defined, and many families have made the male and female roles more similar when it comes to jobs, housework and childcare.

Stereotypes on social media have destroyed the actual definition of each gender role. Social media has a huge influence on society, displaying how people should look and act, which has drifted further and further from traditional men and women traits. Social network websites, like Facebook enable users to upload self-created digital images. Therefore these platforms are interesting the viewers, producing an sighting how these genders can perform any typical way in society now.

I believe social media has been created to influence people and manipulate their audience to think how you should and should not present yourself. People like to copy what influencers state and do. A panel used a literature review of pictorial features associated with gender traits, and a sample of Facebook pictures to assess gender stereotypes present in Facebook images on traits emerging in greater prominence in pictures of males included active, dominant, and independent. Those prominent with female users included attractive and dependent (Rose.) Now that we've had women actually voicing their pride, these women in the industry have developed a way to have these young ladies more independent, than dependent. Now male influencers are showing all these men how staying home with their children and be more nurturing is important as well.

These stereotypes on how gender roles have a certain way of looking at actually changed due to the influence of social media. Social media really displays itself in away people comprehend on their own terms, therefore gender roles are presented and tweaked. For example Facebook, there are digital images on the way a male and female were supposed to act or be seen as. This explains the impact social media has, a loud voice and everything people see on the internet, people want to do. That's why I believe gender roles have been influence to the standards it is today.

In modern society, the wide variation in modern gender roles are no longer exact to the definition it once was. Over the decades, gender roles for men and woman have changed dramatically. Gender roles are influenced by social beliefs that have been in use for centuries. Gender roles are not clear cut categories that can be applied to everyone in society. No longer are men expected to do the hunting and women expected to do the gathering, as stereotypes were once socially defined. A dramatic transformation has taken place, changing men and women's lives, creating a more balanced view of roles and responsibilities that generations will continue. It will take time to sort out all the implications of the changing gender roles of society, but new expectations should result in better workplaces, better relationships, better schools, and better lives.

Did you like this example?

1873

99