Gender Roles in Society

When a person is born they are automatically separated and placed into their “section” of society just based on their sex. A person’s sex is what determines their gender role in society. This isn’t always the case though; it is not a constant definition to go by. The reason this is not totally reliable is because a person’s sex and a person’s gender are two different things. For example, a woman can be born with her sex being a woman but she may have the gender characteristics of a man. Meaning that she would prefer to act like and consider herself a man. Now why would this have anything to do with a person’s role in society? Why would being a woman in society feel different than being a man? There are multiple answers to these questions and also a lot of different ways to look at it. Most people would agree that men and women are viewed differently in society. They each have different jobs or roles that others think they should be doing. There are a lot of stereotypes that go along with a person’s sex and gender (Blackstone, 2003).

For men there are a lot of ideas that they should be the “man of the house” and work to support their family. Also, they are expected to be tough and less sensitive to situations. When a man does not fit under these categories it is considered out of the norm and wrong. This type of things also applies to women. A woman is considered to be a sensitive more dramatic person. They are expected to be housewives and stay at home moms who cook and clean all day. I hear jokes constantly about why women are out of the kitchen. These are just common stereotypes that people think of when they think about a man or a woman.

 

With all of these different ideas of what a “man” and a “woman” is, there comes the stress and standards a person has to live up to in order to be considered “normal” or successful. When a man feels like he needs to make a lot of money to support his family and always feels that need to become a leader, he is going to be very discouraged if he does not live up to those standards that society has set for him. This can cause a lot of stress and issues for the man. This same type of situation can happen to a woman. She could feel like she is not living up to the standards society has for her by maybe not having children.

Now what if these roles were switched? For example, what if the woman was the one with the steady career while the man was the one staying at home and watching the children? This would not be considered normal to a lot of people in society. This could make the man and woman feel uncomfortable if they were confronted about it. The only reason this would be considered strange is because of the gender roles society considers normal. The woman is seen as the nurturing and caring one who raises the children and the man is seen as the one working with a steady career supporting his family.

 

This is not saying that a man and a woman cannot both have steady careers while raising children. This is actually becoming more and more normal as time goes on. It is now considered pretty normal to see a household with two working parents who are a man and a woman and who have children together. It is still common to see a man have the want to earn more money than his spouse though. There is still that need and want for a man to feel like the leader and supporter of the family.

I know that at times I have definitely felt this gender role idea play a part in my life. As a woman I tend to choose more paths that lead down the “woman” gender role in society. This could include my choice in career and even past choices I have made about small things in life. For example, I wear clothes that are considered normal for women. This is a very small thing in my life but it still drives me towards that gender role in society. I know I act more like what society would consider a woman than a man. All of these small things add up and would put me in the gender category of a woman in society.        

How do you think people would act and believe if the gender roles did not exist? Or if maybe the idea between a man’s gender and a woman’s gender were switched?

Citations:

Blackstone, Amy. 2003. "Gender Roles and Society." Pp 335-338 in Human Ecology: An             Encyclopedia of Children, Families,Communities, and Environments, edited by Julia R. Miller, Richard M. Lerner, and Lawrence B. Schiamberg. Santa Barbara, CA:ABC-      CLIO. ISBN I-57607-852-3