Gender Roles, Culture and Sexual Identity: What is the Relationship - Essay Example

This means that gender roles can be taken to mean behavioral traits or norms that are widely and conventionally considered suitable for male or female persons. On the issue of sexual identity, one’s sexual orientation is usually and on a large scale influenced by the society in which one lives. With this in mind, it means that the cultural background has a significant role in molding one’s sexual identity concerning how one perceives of him or herself, as well as the character, traits they carry.

As a result, the culture of an individual has a lot to do with one’s sexual orientation or sexual identity considering that an individual’s identity determines how he or she is attracted to members of the society. Culture defines how people in a society or community interact with each other and governs social relationships that are found within it. As a result, it is culture that defines what roles are suitable for which gender and how one can or cannot act in respect to his or her sexual identity.

For example, the relationship between culture, gender roles and sexual identity can be seen in cases of the modern, conventional, conservative society, where certain genders are not allowed to participate in certain tasks. This is as evidenced when the society does not allow men to dye their hair and handle it in a feminine style, as well as do their nails and paint them. This is the typical influence of culture and gender roles, where males are expected to participate in rough jobs that involve plenty of manual labor, unlike feminine gender roles, which are more suited to be gentle towards them.

Thus, this makes culture disprove of males who engage in the feminine gender roles such as doing and painting one’s nails. In addition, gender roles, culture and sexual identity are closely related bearing in mind the role of society and its total way of life, also known as its culture, in determining gender roles. In this case,