Gender
Theme
“Gender” refers to the cultural construction of whether one is female, male, or something else (Kottak 2013: 209). Typically, based on your gender, you are culturally required to follow a particular gender norm, or gender role. Gender roles are the tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes (Kottak 213: 209). The tasks and activities assigned are based upon strongly, seized concepts about male and female characteristics, or gender stereotypes. Gender stereotypes…are oversimplified but strongly upheld ideas about bout the characteristics of males and females (Kottak 2013: 209).
My Perspective
Truthfully, I prefer the current gender roles over the traditional gender roles of the 1950s. I prefer the current gender roles over the 1950 gender roles because the gender roles of today are shared more than they were back then. With 1950 gender roles, typically, the men were the ones who worked and brought home the check and the women were the ones who stayed home and cooked, cleaned, and took care of the kids. Times are different now. Gender stratification has changed greatly. Both men and women currently have more freedom, human rights, prestige, personal freedom, and socially valued resources
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One being, that you can be of more help to your significant other, and the other being, that it can broaden your skills making either you or your children more independent than dependent. The only con of sharing gender roles that comes to mind would most likely be confusion between stereotypical gender roles, which could also prove to be a valid opposing view. It could confuse the gender roles and have your children associating more with the opposite stereotypical gender role; for example, your son associating more with stereotypical female gender roles and your daughter associating more with stereotypical male gender roles. However, that would only occur if there is not a balance of sharing gender
Many parts of history show that the 1950’s was a time of great turbulence and unrest in both politics and social life. All this unrest was caused by major historical events, including the Red Scare/McCarthyism and the Cold War. However, although many aspects of life in the 50’s were in such disarray, gender roles were not one of those aspects. In fact, there was a very narrow, strict idea of what it meant to be a male and a female during this time. The following discusses what was considered proper gender roles in the 1950’s and how these roles vary compared to the gender roles portrayed in the 1955 movie, Rebel Without a Cause.
The world was a very different place sixty years ago. The men came home from the war to take back the work force from the women and sent the women back into the home to follow traditional domestic roles. All aspects of life had to be cookie cutter perfect, to include the gender roles. The roles of both genders have been portrayed by the BBC Television show, Call the Midwife, as they use to be in the 1950’s. The men were the breadwinners of their family by working arduous hours, protect their family and home, and have zero contact with feminine things and activities; the women were expected to get married early, always look their best, and never indulge in their aspirations for a career outside of the home unless they were single.
The social perception of women has drastically changed since the 1950’s. The social role of women during the 1950’s was restrictive and repressed in many ways. Society during that time placed high importance on expectations of behavior in the way women conducted themselves in home life as well as in public. At home the wife was tasked with the role of being an obedient wife, caring mother, and homemaker. Women publicly were expected to form groups and bond over tea with a slice of cake. All the while government was pushing this idealize roll for women in a society “dominated” by men. However, during this time a percentage of women were finding their way into the work force of men. “Women were searching their places in a society led by men;
Due to the idealization of domesticity in media, there was a significantly stagnant period of time for women’s rights between 1945 and 1959. Women took over the roles for men in the workplace who were fighting abroad during the early 1940s, and a strong, feminist movement rose in the 1960s. However, in between these time periods, there was a time in which women returned to the home, focusing their attention to taking care of the children and waiting on their husband’s every need. This was perpetuated due to the increasing popularity of media’s involvement in the lives of housewives, such as the increasing sales of televisions and the increase in the number of sexist toys.
also managed to prove that they could do the jobs just as well as men
The 1950s was a time when American life seemed to be in an ideal model for what family should be. People were portrayed as being happy and content with their lives by the meadia. Women and children were seen as being kind and courteous to the other members of society while when the day ended they were all there to support the man of the house. All of this was just a mirage for what was happening under the surface in the minds of everyone during that time as seen through the women, children, and men of this time struggled to fit into the mold that society had made for them.
“Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in all forms” (Baptiste). Just as in the past, feminism continues to act as a controversial issue among men and women. In the 1960’s, women finally addressed workplace inequity and created woman organizations to achieve equality. In the early 1960’s, the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act set a milestone for women’s progression towards work equality. Though women have made great leaps towards true equality, women still face many challenges and continue to be categorized as the subservient gender.
Most of the time these issues are taken lightly, and go unnoticed until someone or some group pays attention to the inequality and typical roles. It becomes interesting when roles are reversed in society to see how others react to those situations. Society seems to be getting more comfortable with female success, and less obsessed with women staying home to do housework. No matter how successful, there is always a struggle for dominance. It also seems to depend on how children are brought up as to how strongly those individuals strive to achieve their specific role. It will be interesting to see as society changes over time how the defined gender roles will continue to change as well. Whether it is the conflict of success, supremacy, or need for perfection roles will sustain time just as they have from the beginning.
On the surface, the post-war age of the 1950s seemed like the American Dream come true: nuclear families, traditional gender roles, and abstinence (“Women in the 1950s”). Underneath, gradual actions of nonconformity would set off a shift in societal standards, like the movement of tectonic plates initiate earthquakes. Though women gained some political rights, due to the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the early 20th century, their positions in jobs originally intended for men were challenged once the soldiers returned home from the war; Consequently, women were rendered housewives, yet again, and resumed the illusion of the American Dream (“Causes: Women’s Suffrage Movement”). In such an age driven by misogynistic outlooks, poet, Adrienne Rich,
Gender roles have always been present in society, especially when it comes to women. Traditionally, women were expected to stay at home to clean, cook, and care for the children while men were expected to play the role of breadwinner. Though women in the 1970’s attempted to branch off from the norm, television media forced the illusion of a continued anticipated gender role society by portraying women in the old fashioned housewife role. An issue arose with media powers when someone had something to say. In 1981, Legos made a controversial statement when they released the ad of a young girl in overalls playing with Legos. In this time period, girls were expected to wear pink and play with dolls; boys played with Legos. Legos moved a nation by deceiving the expected roles of men and women.
Back then, gender stereotypes were very much prominent in how people thought about men and women, so evidently, this notion was transferred into our media, specifically, television. As a result of this, female TV characters were depicted as loving and caring but ultimately, were always portrayed as the housewife who was always confused, weak and fragile. In the 1950s, television created a female character: Lucy who was the “model” of a woman who wanted to explore the public sphere of work life to be a singer, actor and dancer. So she would create these plans to achieve these jobs but always ended up failing and eventually going back home.
This week’s reading focus on changing gender roles in the 1950’s in culture, and political upheaval. In the African Girl for Paris, gender, and the role of a women shows a view of women to be under her husband and follow what he says. However, that did not really happen, and it appears that there is a change of gender given that African wife [name] does what she wants rather than her husband’s want her to do like domestic work. Ultimately, she leaves [why]. Then changing from the play is fashion which tells two stories of national culture, and anxieties over women’s work and mobility. During the social struggle, there was conflict over imaged public space, and this struggle falls on to the ideas of urban fashion for women. Fashion is a powerful
Gender Roles are expectations regarding proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females. Gender roles apparent in work and in how we react to others. Gender Roles determine how males and females should think, speak, dress, and interrelate within the perspective of society. Normally, a boy is thought how to fix and build things; while girls learn how to cook, and keep house. Children are applauded by their parents when they conform to gender expectations and adopt culturally accepted and conventional roles. All of this is reinforced by additional socializing representatives, such as the media. The Hiraj’s of Hindu religion are looked upon for their gender and sexual
Gender, on the other hand, refers to the sociological differences between male and female. This teaches males and females to behave in various ways due to socialisation (Browne, 1998). Example: masculinity and femininity. Girls are supposed to show their femininity by being non-competitive, sensitive, dependent, attractive and placid. If and when some girls don’t succeed in keeping this image, they will be referred to as a tomboy.
Gender is how an individual defines themselves as being a male or female. There are several different aspects of ones gender that include; gender identity, sexual attraction, biological sex, and expression. Gender can be used as a social mask, to show the world how one defines themselves.