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Society influence on gender roles
Society influence on gender roles
Society influence on gender roles
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While examining the question of how my life would be different as the opposite gender, I reflected on the treatment of boys and girls at a young age. I began to question how it affects key elements of their personality and the importance of the expectations that others place in their lives. Often a female child is forced to conform to ideals of femininity and these pressures continue into their adult professional and personal lives. Furthermore, I will exemplify the manner in which, a woman achieving success in a predominately male field, earns accolades disproportionately to those of her male counterpart. There are many factors in whether my life would be different or the same and I will give examples through everyday situations.
In “Being a Man”, by Paul Theroux, the writer notes the way mothers encourage their young daughters to have a coquette attitude and look for approval of their appearance to please adults (45). Expanding on his observation, the boys are encouraged to show what they can do physically, by going outside getting dirty and exploring their surroundings without in...
Although society claims that we are in the age where there is gender equality, it is clear that women are still not of equal standing than men. In our society, women are of lower status than men. Such as in the workplace, a male employee’s project proposal is favored over a female employee’s proposal because a male superior believes that women cannot construct ideas as well as male employees. This is a result of how our culture has influence our view that women are less superior than men. Our male dominant culture taught us that women are not as capable as men are and that between the two genders, the man is the superior.
Lianne George’s article “Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters Like This?” (2014) focuses on the societal issue of an increasingly earlier development of young girls. George states that companies facilitate this early development by producing adult like goods for children that push an adult mindset and behaviour. Through the use of various examples George argues that this trend is ill advised and should not be continued.
Young children are typically raised around specific sex-types objects and activities. This includes the toys that that are given, activities that they are encouraged to participate in, and the gender-based roles that they are subjected to from a young age. Parents are more likely to introduce their daughters into the world of femininity through an abundance of pink colored clothes and objects, Barbie dolls, and domestic chores such as cooking and doing laundry (Witt par. 9). Contrarily, boys are typically exposed to the male world through action figures, sports, the color blue, and maintenance-based chores such as mowing the lawn and repairing various things around the house (Witt par. 9). As a result, young children begin to link different occupations with a certain gender thus narrowing their decisions relating to their career goals in the future. This separation of options also creates a suppresses the child from doing something that is viewed as ‘different’ from what they were exposed to. Gender socialization stemming from early childhood shapes the child and progressively shoves them into a small box of opportunities and choices relating to how they should live their
"Ways That Males and Females Are Treated Differently." Mills College: Personal Pages Directory. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. .
Running around barefoot, playing outside, and getting dirty were a few of my favorite things to do when I was younger; however, things have changed drastically since then. Now, at eighteen, all of the activities I used to enjoy make me want to cringe. Often, girls are encouraged to look and act a certain way based on what society’s expectations are at the time. Throughout adolescence girls tend to drift away from their old ways. Romances, body changes, and tensions with parents are all factors in this time of change. In Mary Pipher’s Saplings in the Storm, she claims that adolescents must adapt to stereotypical gender characteristics in American culture.
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
Gender stereotypes are common in the United States today, even though many men and women have been working hard to defeat it. The task is made difficult however, when society in general implants the idea of gender roles into the mind of a child. Two authors, Judy Mann of The Difference and Bernard Lefkowitz of Our Guys face the issue of gender roles and stereotypes, and how they affect our lives today.
Ariana Grande was interviewed over the summer after her break up with rapper, Big Sean. During the interview Grande talks about her past relationship with Big Sean and also talked about the double standard for women’s sexuality that is in place. She talked about the ideal double standard on how a man is glorified if he sleeps around and is encouraged to do so. However she found it frustrating that women who engage in sexual activity is seen as “loose” or even how women feel ashamed and/or embarrassed if and when they talk about sex. Her main argument in the interview was centered at that women should be able to make mindful choices when they decide to be intimate and sexual with their partner (Greer, 2015). Women should not focus
‘Boys will be boys’, a phrase coined to exonerate the entire male sex of loathsome acts past, present, and potential. But what about the female sex, if females act out of turn they are deemed ‘unladylike’ or something of the sort and scolded. This double standard for men and women dates back as far as the first civilizations and exists only because it is allowed to, because it is taught. Gender roles and cues are instilled in children far prior to any knowledge of the anatomy of the sexes. This knowledge is learned socially, culturally, it is not innate. And these characteristics can vary when the environment one is raised in differs from the norm. Child rearing and cultural factors play a large role in how individuals act and see themselves.
As one looks through society, one starts to see many cracks and loopholes where one set of standards does not apply the same way for men as it does to women, and vice versa.
"Learning to Be Gendered" is an article written by authors Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet, where they examine the reasons behind why children are assigned gender roles in society. In the text, they explore how behavior and language are used to identify a child's gender and the unnecessary stereotypes and sexism perpetuated by this. The authors also address the pressures and expectations that are placed on children to fulfill various gender roles. They attack the theory that children fall into their gender roles due to behaviors and biological reasons. Their article outlines the difficulty to escape the gender stereotypes that have overtaken society and also demonstrate a clear presentation of problems and solutions to this issue. I also think that the article bases its arguments on
When you think of a CEO of a company or of world political leaders, do you think of a man or of a woman? Many, if not most of us, see these positions as being held by men. In this essay, I will explain why women are still not equal to men. In the first paragraph I will discuss inequalities that happen in the workplace. The second section will show the differences that occur within the athletic world. Thirdly, I will explain the differences in education and home life. Even though we are approaching the twenty-first century, women in our society are still not equal to men.
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them, they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s gender and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision, whether accidental or genetic, can affect that child’s lifestyle views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors. It is always said that boys and girls are complete opposites as they grow.
In many cases, women’s achievements are measured according to male oriented standards. I would like to argue with a more diverse approach to this cause. If humanity is comprised of both men and women, and we are equally dependent on each other for humanity’s survival, why are men and women not viewed as equals? These old attitudes are drilled into us from birth. If boys were taught mutual respect as they grew up, gender equality becomes a natural way of life. In the same way girls would need to be taught to set high goals; that they can reach as high as humanly possible. Unfortunately, typically male values and traditions have, over time, shaped the culture in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) fields. This has created, in many ways, a hostile learning and working environment for women. From time immemorial, women have been regarde...
Through various cultures, there can be great consistency in the standards of desirable gender-role behavior. At a very early age, children go through the process of gender socialization and learn what it means to be a boy or girl in society. These behaviors and attitudes are generally instilled at home and then reinforced by the child’s friends, school life and exposure to media (Witt para. 1). The ultimate actors, however, are the parents. From their influence as role models, a child may be pushed towards activities and commitments that are meant for their specific gender. Some may wonder why they lean them toward such standards. In fact, with the conformity of gender roles come a wide variety of variables to consider such as possible discrimination,