Gender Roles in Society - Essay Example

?Client’s 20 September Two ways a woman can get hurt was written by Jean Kilbourne, she is an award winning and has time and again presented the challenges faced by women. Two ways a woman can get hurt sheds light upon how media presents women in advertisements and in other forms. She is aghast that women are presented as sex objects in advertisements and she also points out that this has a devastating effect on young children watching these advertisements, the same children grow up thinking women to be nothing more than sex objects and they start exploiting women and the same also becomes a vicious cycle. The author also points to the fact that women are shown to have an orgasm when doing their hair and this is extremely serious according to the author but the advertisements take this least seriously and the same has serious ramifications on the mindsets of the people watching these advertisements. Men and women are treated very differently in our society and this is a very serious issue, women are subjected to torture and often treated as nothing more than sex objects, on the other hand men dominate in almost every area, these differences still prevail in our society but we often turn a blind eye towards them and move on. There is little doubt about the fact that our society is full of stereotypes, girls and boys are both brought up very differently from one another. Girls are taught to be sensitive; on the contrary boys are made rough and tough. Parents play a pivotal role in passing their beliefs on to their children, the way they think matters the most and the same also reflects on the thinking of their children. We live in a society, in which sons and daughters are treated very differently, pink is considered feminine and blue is considered an ideal color for boys. Boys are given much more freedom than girls; this is often fought against by the mothers. Boys make their own groups when they reach infancy, such groups operate independently but when girls make such groups they have to be dependent on someone to operate effectively. A girl who displays masculine traits is considered abnormal and a boy who displays feminine traits is considered abnormal, this is very stereotypical thinking and something which must change very soon. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and boys on the contrary engage in activities which suit their gender. “While both mothers and fathers contribute to the gender stereotyping of their children, fathers have been found to reinforce gender stereotypes more often than mothers.” (Ruble, 1988) These were some of the socio-cultural and biological factors which affect gender role development. Sexuality and Sexual Orientation “Sexuality has three stages: Desire is an interest in being sexual. Excitement is the state of arousal that sexual stimulation causes. And orgasm is sexual pleasure's peaking. A sexual disorder occurs when there's a problem in at least one of these stages.” (Sexuality) Sexual orientation refers to the disposition of men towards women and vice-versa. This attraction gets redefined at times when men get attracted towards other men and women get attracted towards other women. Sexual orientation is very closely connected with personal identity; one chooses an ideal partner depending on their compatibility and gets romantically involved with that person. There are many factors that can easily influence sexual orientation. Loneliness and sadness is the most common cause of homosexuality, child abuse can also significantly alter the sexual orientation of a person. When peers reject a person during his adolescence, the person becomes lonely and starts seeking the company of someone who can help. Weak masculine identity is another cause of homosexual temptation, fear and mistrust is another common cause which can determine one’s sexual orientation. Some people become sexually compulsive and that is how their sexual orientation changes. Trauma during childhood is another common cause of homosexuality; other important causes include narcissism and anger. These were some of the most important factors that have a significant bearing on sexual orientation. Our society is becoming more and more men-oriented society, women have never been given enough respect and this is perhaps why so many marriages never workout. In a relationship both the partners have to make sacrifices and both should complement each other but this can only happen when there is perfect understanding and coordination between the pair of them. Women have already proved their worth, they have absolutely nothing to prove but it is sad that they still have to struggle against the stereotypical behavior, this behavior should change and the sooner it changes the better. Very rarely do we see a man crying in TV shows this again is because the way men are perceived to be in our society. They are supposed to be strong and they are not supposed to react emotionally towards a particular thing, this is the best example of stereotypical thinking and the broadcasters only show what the audience wants to see. Audience would never appreciate a man crying in a TV show, it would hurt their stereotypical thinking and sentiments this is why we always refrain from calling a spade a spade. This exploitation of women must end because it has been going on for decades; women must be respected in the society and must never be seen as sex objects. They should not feature in erotic advertisements which impact the mindsets of children negatively. It is time to bring about a drastic change and to restore parity in the society, women have suffered a lot in the past and we must ensure that they do not suffer anymore in the future but bringing these changes remains a big challenge. References Ruble, D. N. (1988). Sex role development. In M. H. Barnstein & M. E. Lamb (eds.) Developmental psychology: An advanced textbook, 2nd ed. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Sexuality (2012). American Psychology Association. Retrieved from "Two ways a Woman Can Get Hurt": Advertising and Violence, Jean Kilbourne Read More