Gender roles - Research Paper Example

Gender roles Introduction The perception of a man and a woman vary according to the cultural background of the society. The definition of the man and the women is different according to the societies and it depends on the conditions implied on the man and women by the society. The gender roles are the expectations of the society on the men and women of the society in the field of attitudes and behaviors. The gender roles have assumed great significance in the modern world with the empowerment of the women in the society. The roles have changed and there has been a rise in the number of women in the workplace. In the USA, 47% of the working population is made up of the women. Companies are changing the policies for facilitating the women to work. Sexual harassment has become an important issue and the men are more concerned in their behavior with the women. Gender roles come from the upbringing of the individuals. There is a difference in the physicality and the mental set up of the men and the women. Women are tender and the men are considered to be more outgoing. The traditional roles of the society were based on these principles and the women were considered to stay at home and the men were perceived to work. With the recent changes in the society the women have been more outgoing but in the family front, the situation is the same. The women still takes care of the household though they work in the offices. There has been a massive shift in the gender roles of the society and there has been a problem in the families. The males are not open to the idea of the success of the females and this leads to the differences between the individuals. (Gender roles, n.d.) This has brought the debate whether the traditional model of women staying at homes and the men working were better for the society. Traditional gender roles In her article, “Traditional gender role attitudes and violence against women” the author Milinda York states the traditional gender roles of the women. In the American society, the women are dominated and the men are more outgoing. The women stayed at home and the men go to earn income for their family. The women are the chief decision makers at home but the males approve most of the decisions. This was the traditional gender role of the men and women in the American society and this was responsible for the rise of the sexual assaults and the domestic violence against the women. There were chances of women getting into the workplace but the chances were limited. There was bias against women in the workplace. However, with the development of the rules and the regulations, the women were allowed into the workplace and were given the same importance of that of the men. (York, 13th November 2007) There has been a rise in the number of women working in the organizations worldwide. However, there has been an effect of this in the family life. The women are perceived to take care of the families despite their status of work. The women in the modern society end up having to take care of multiple roles. The family consists of the children and the husbands and in some cases includes the parents. Therefore, it is a difficult proposition for the women to take care of the families after fulfilling the responsibility at the workplace. The condition is worse in the low-income group families where in some cases the women are the sole earners of the family. It is difficult for the women therefore, to take care of the family responsibilities. One of the main concerns in the family is the healthcare. 48% of the workingwomen have children at their homes and the responsibility lies with them for the health related problems of the family. 80% of the working mothers have to take care of the health related problems in the home. The situation is more acute in the case of the single mothers. In then case of the health related problems of the children most of the working mothers have to forego work and stay at home. 50% of the working mothers have to stay at home and 39% have to call someone to attend the child. It has been seen that a much lesser number of men (30%) miss work relating to the health problems of the child. The women who miss the work for the health related problems of the children do not get paid. The low-income level groups of mothers are the most effected in this regard. This leads to the concerns over the work related activities. It has been seen that most of the working mothers have concerns that their colleagues will not understand their problems and fear of being mistreated in the workplace. In addition to the children in the family, the women are also responsible in monitoring the health conditions of the other family members. The family members may include the elderly people or disabled. These pressurize the women in maintaining the balance between the home and the family. The low-income level group families have these features and the conditions of the women in these families are very bad. The pressure of the work and the families lead the women to suffer from illness and diseases. Nearly 20% of the workingwomen show the symptoms of illness and weakness. The women do not have the facility to take care of their health. The schedules of the work and the family problems prevent the women to access the health facilities, which can make the condition of the women deplorable. The women are the major caretakers of the family and this has a bearing on the gender roles of the society. Therefore, the conditions of women are of prime importance to the society. However, due to the severe pressure, the women are not able to take care of their health and this may jeopardize the conditions of the society. This condition is mainly visible in the low-income group of the families where the women are often the sole earners of the family. (Oyn & Ojeda, April, 2003) Another concern for the change in the gender roles is the survival of the institution of the family. With the increase of the number of workingwomen, it cannot be denied that the institution is under severe pressure. The increase in the workingwomen happened after the World War II when the increased demand of the society led the companies to recruit more employees. The condition has not changed since and the number of the women in the employment scene has increased. The increase of the women in the working scene gives rise to the rejection of the marriages. Women may prefer the independence rather than to start a family. Another cause of concern is the increased divorce rate of the families. The financial stability of the women had allowed her the independence to renounce a partner over the adjustability factor. However, it has to be stated that the increase in the workingwomen may increase the number of marriages and the decrease of the divorces. The prospect of the increased paychecks with the combination of the husband and the wife may prompt the rise in the marriages. At the times of the downturn of the economy, the working women will give more stability to the income of the family thus giving divorce a less chance. The fertility of the modern working women have also decreased given their work pressure and their preference of work over the family matters. Most of the women in the families work more than their husbands when the office hours and the domestic hours are combined. The increased pressure on the women has given rise to the concept of the single mothers and there are huge problems in the transition of the responsibility of the mothers. The modern trend is that the women after the divorce went back to their mother’s house. But with the increased financial independence most of the women go to start a new home. The divorces have increased relating to the work pressure and the effects ion the children have been degrading. The psychological set up of the children has been affected with the number of divorces and the base of the society is on the verge of collapse. (Levitan & Belous, n.d.) Conclusion There are various problems of the workingwomen. The main problem is the degradation of the family ties and the breaking of the family. In most of the cases the women cannot take the pressure relating to the work and the domestic chores. It has been seen that a workingwoman works more than her working husband. The mental and the physical pressure on the women takes a toll and in many cases the family ties are broken. The marriages are also less in number because of the financial independence of the women. However, the men in the society have tremendous responsibility of maintaining the family ties. To develop the society, the mental set up of the men has to change and they should help the women in the domestic chores. They should be more encouraging to the workingwomen. The laws should also change giving more preferences to marriages. The law states that there is a charge on the marriage. Moreover, the benefits received by a couple are similar to a single though the payment of the taxes in case of the couples is more. The laws should encourage the marriage. This can help the recent problems of the society. The traditional gender roles are not good as there is no financial stability. With the newer gender roles, there is financial stability, which can lead to a prosperous life. References: 1. Gender roles. (n.d.). FAQs.org. Available at: http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html (Accessed on 22nd April, 2010) 2. York,M. (13th November, 2007). Traditional gender role attitudes and violence against women. American society of criminology. Available at: http://www.allacademic.com/one/www/www/index.php?cmd=www_search&offset=0&limit=5&multi_search_search_mode=publication&multi_search_publication_fulltext_mod=fulltext&textfield_submit=true&search_module=multi_search&search=Search&search_field=title_idx&fulltext_search=Traditional+Gender+Role+Attitudes+and+Violence+against+Women%3A+A+Test+of+Feminist+Theory (Accessed on 22nd April, 2010) 3. Oyn. R and Ojeda.V. (April, 2003). Women, work and family health: a balancing act. Issue Brief. Available at: http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:CIuFTmzQ58kJ:www.kff.org/womenshealth/loader.cfm%3Furl%3D/commonspot/security/getfile.cfm%26PageID%3D14293+women+work%2Beffects+on+family&hl=en&gl=in&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShGbShyB4rmuzxujnXmQ3gCaL-J9W1snOIvOYc8lcztAxxyqGsX2d1vVRErYQ-CFM28lMGh8V8X7YNgOGQg4vj05oCr40ZvZjex0J-uv1ZprsnEt-XOptveEV0lkP9SQK8CBUp7&sig=AHIEtbRW68vVgSnyGoWUbGE6QKcBvs0mzw (Accessed on 22nd April, 2010) 4. Levitan. S and Belous. R. (n.d.). Working wives and mothers: what happens to family life. Available at: http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1981/09/art4full.pdf (Accessed on 22nd April, 2010) Read More