Gender Inequality In Michael Kimmel's Gendered Society

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Gender inequality is prevalent in all major societies. The way that I would describe gender inequality is the unequal and unfair treatment between the two sexes. Sex makes up the biological differences of male or female. While gender is learned through social interactions and behaviors applied to the sexes. As a result, from a very early age, we are taught to follow certain gender expectations. For this reason, I agree with the statement that inequality is the result of gendered systems in which we live. I will evaluate certain chapters by Michael Kimmel in his book Gendered Society, to help show how we use certain concepts learned from society to run our lives. In today’s society children are raised to be a certain gender and they are expected to perform certain gender roles.
In chapter 1 of his book, Kimmel discusses how these differences are applied to men and women. We are …show more content…

Instead of asking if the baby has all its toes and is overall healthy, the mother wants to know right away the sex of the baby. With this in mind, they raise them to act the way their gender should. This made me think about how much my culture and family influenced my gender identity. I was raised wearing pink dresses and playing with Barbie dolls. But I also would stray away from my expected gender roles. For a long time, between the ages five and ten I would run around without a shirt on. But then came the point where my parents said that I needed to stop doing that because I am a girl. Girls are expected to behave like civilized ladies. My father does not like when I use profanity and tells me that ladies should not curse. I questioned him by asking why is it that he can tell me how I should act, but I cannot really tell him how to act? He was taken aback by my argument and said that I made a valid point. I challenged the stereotypical views that men force upon

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