Gender Roles and Their Effect on Women

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Throughout the history of society, women and men both have faced the constricting roles forced upon them, from a young age; each gender is given specific social and cultural roles to play out throughout their lives. Little girls are given dolls and kitchen toys, little boys are given dinosaurs and power tool toys, if one was to step out of this specified role, social conflict would ensue. Contrast to popular belief, sex is a biological construct, and gender is a social construct specifying the roles men and women are to follow to be accepted into society as “normal”. The effects of gender roles have had on women have proved harmful over the decades. Although the woman’s involvement in society has improved throughout the decades, patriarchy in society and oppression toward women are still prevalent through the social ideologies widely taught and believed throughout America, which has limited women and stereotyped them consistently.
Since the beginning of society in America, women have held a subordinate role. Arranged marriages were prevalent in early America as well as widely practiced forms of gender roles. Women could not hold an education, work, or dress for themselves. Husbands ruled the family and their wives, and acted in ways as if they owned them. Often women were left in unhappy, abusive relationships for the sake of reputation. Divorce was illegal, and later on in America when legal, was looked down upon by a majority of society. Although some women held some political power, like Abigail Adams, it was indirect and only held because of the role of the husband. By the 1700’s, America established an identity that came with many rules, regulations, virtues, and beliefs. Mercantilism and trade accelerated with the steps t...

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...ity of both sexes, but underneath the first layer, full equality has not been reached. Many stereotypes and much discrimination are blindly thrown out onto women because of the effects of gender roles and patriarchy on society.

Works Cited

-"What Is Rape Culture?" BuzzFeed. Buzzfeed, Inc., 5 Feb. 2014. Web. 25 May 2014.
-"Professional Women: Vital Statistics." Fact Sheet 2010 (n.d.): n. pag. Department for Professional Employees, Apr. 2010. Web. 25 May 2014
-Maxwell, Zerlina. "Rape Culture Is Real." Time. Time, 27 Mar. 2014. Web. 23 May 2014.
-The Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 2004. Print.
-Booker, Renee, and E. E. Hubbard. "What Is Patriarchy?" WiseGeek. Conjecture, 04 May 2014. Web. 26 May 2014.
-Buchwald, Emilie, Pamela R. Fletcher, and Martha Roth. Transforming a Rape Culture. Minneapolis, MN: Milkweed Editions, 1993. Print.

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