The Roles of Men and Women - Term Paper Example

The roles of men and women in every day life has been on of the endless battles across humanity and time. In some cultures, it was men and the patriarchal society that gave way to that certain way of life, and in other cultures mothers and matriarchal societies emerged. As time went on, men went on to dominate the workplace and women became more as stay at home and do chores. This all changed one women finally fought for and got the right to vote. Women then began to express themselves as women, and no longer as a oppresses force under the male thumb. The differences in the roles of men and women relies heavily on culture and area. Some people view the roles of men and women as not much different, beside the obvious physical differences. Other people however, will tell you that men shouldn’t do certain things because they are male, and the same could be said about people thinking that way about females. Sexually equality is something I believed has not been perfectly achieved, with prejudice still existing against each sex in their own way. Men are often stereotyped into being brawny and not smart, and women as huge intellectuals. Men are thought to be hard skinned, and not very emotional, and women the other way around. These sex based stereotypes help form the roles each gender plays in society. As people evolve and change, these roles can also adapt and change with the culture of the people. There are basic physical difference between men and women, but socially and mentally, these differences should not effect how we one sex acts or is thought to act one way or another. A gender role, by definition is “is a set of behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). These behavior aspects can vary between different groups and cultures, with some groups holding males and females to different levels of accepted normality. Some people would consider these gender roles as “oppressive stereotypical expectations imposed by society”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role), which is basically what they are. Society imposes its own sets of rules upon people, and if you are male you must be strong, dill witted, unemotional, lazy, and laid back. And if you are a female you must be weak, smart, overly emotional, work conscious, and dedicated. However, I am sure some people know males AND females that could fall into any of these categories, therefore destroying all notions society holds on these genders as gender roles. However, the ideas of gender rolls stick, and people think some things are just not fit for a certain sex. The way people learn and distinguish these “gender roles” is by the process referred to as socialization. This is the process of “encouraging wanted and discouraging unwanted behavior” ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). Many different media outlets, be it parents, friends, schools, media, magazines, or even television all offer this stereotypical normal that certain genders are supposed to abide to. These outlets push gender roles upon people, and people feel they must try to fit these certain roles if they are that gender, even if they do not. How often do we see a television with a stereotypical characterization of a male and a female? Or a husband and wife? But all people cannot fall into that model, yet people still subconsciously strive for that perfect gender role. The view and discussions of gender roles is often split. Some people feel that mixing roles, and with that cultures as well is acceptable. However, you have people on the other side who want to remain culturally pure and the same, and do not want to mix ideas of cultures with other people. These people, referred to as xenophobes, are afraid of the influence of other cultures and wish to keep their culture pure and intact. The roles of people and their gender has long also been a debate of the nature versus nurture communities. One example of this would be how women are assumed to be better to take care of children. This is often an assumed belief, with people never really questioning it. Some scientific evidence backs these claims, saying that in past eras “the need to take care of offspring may have limited the females freedom to hunt and assume positions of power.”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). Could this have back lashed through the ages into the view of women we hold now? And if so, what was to make it the women who stayed behind and not the men? Was it simply because women gave birth that they were assumed to be better caregivers, just as some often assume today? Other debates also flare up over the difference between biological genitals and actual gender. Some scientists believe that one could have male genitals but have the “gender” of a female. Some study has been done to prove this care, but debate still goes on in the scientific community over the accuracy and plausibility of the results. In current Western society, most jobs can be held by men or women, showing that skills may not be actually related to sex at all, with most skills and opportunities of each sex overlapping with the skills and opportunities of the opposite sex. Truth be told however, the women in the family is often assigned the role of “homemaker”, and scientists are divided as to why this might be. Some feel it is part of the overpowering gender roles forced upon people by the media and families, other scientists believe it to simply be biology of the human body at work( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). Gender roles are compromised of many different aspects of a person, often including a gender’s “clothing, behavior, choice of work, and personal relationships”( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). However, these roles often change over time, and some traits may be allowed for one gender at one period in history and found to not be so in another period of history or culture. In current trends, new gender roles are also blooming. Gender roles such as “metro sexual”, a guy claiming to have feminine habits, or the stereotype of the gay man or women has also became part of the ever changing gender roles. Overly feminine men or overly masculine women are often slandered with the terms gay because they do not fit the normal models, but there are in fact gay people who do not fit the standers we oppose upon them, and straight men and women who may just have qualities of the other gender but are however straight. Another example of changing gender role is hair length. It is more popular today to see men with longer hair, and often times women with shorter hair, when in ages past it would have been abnormal to see women with short hair or men with longer hair. Culture also plays a large part in the roles men and women play in society. Certain societies may hold men especially to one job, but in the other part of the world that job forcer may be dominated by women. Culture, tradition, and other factors all encourage the culturally and socially acceptable gender roles, but these roles are not uniform throughout the world. Some cultures would also accept men and women to certain gender roles, but in other cultures this may be totally unacceptable. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role) Many women often referred to as feminists; see the gender roles as extremely oppressive upon women. Sexual discrimination is not yet unheard of, and for the most part, in many societies, the gender roles are very harmful upon women. But the gender roles are often harmful upon men to, who do not fit into that exact role of men and are thought of as different because they have different qualities than the gender role allows. Traditional gender roles also allows for the attraction between male and female, and many people do not any longer fall into this role. Bisexuals and homosexuals do not fall into this specific gender role, and are often thought of and discriminated against solely based on their sexual preference. Cross dressing is also a violation of most commonly accepted gender roles. Also, it is often thought that inside many homosexual relationships, one person takes on the dominate male role and the other person takes on the dominate female role. This is another example of a assumed stereotypical role, and it is often not the case. Often in homosexual relationships, the two partners instead take on more equal roles.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_role). It is also often inferred that one gay male in the relationship will take on female qualities, and this is another flawed idea of forcing people into gender roles. It is also often assumed that lesbians will take on masculine qualities as part off their gender roles. If this does happen, some people lay it to blame on the accepting of people to gender roles submissavly. The gender roles of cultures and societies go way beyond what most people think. The belief that one gender should hold certain features and the other gender not is a deeply held belief ingrained into our society. Some people would say that discrimination based on sex is dead. They would say that all sexes are equal, but that is simply not the case. Gender roles are often so submissive, and disrupting, that they force people to try to live by standard definitions of what it means to be an acceptable person of that sex. This does not leave into account anyone with different ideas or motives, and somebody who may not fit the exact mold of what other people would call the normal stereotypical gender role. These gender roles are harmful to both men and women, who often find themselves trying to struggle to fit into these molds pushed unto to us by various outlets and societal acceptable means. Discrimination is still around, with females often not being paid as much as certain males, and with men being treated different in scholarly settings. The number of men in college campuses across the country is dying, due on part to the school system inability to adapt to the different gender roles of males and females. Gender roles, while often accepted by many, even those who do not quite think they are, are contributing to the gender roles of males and females everywhere. Although these roles may not always be harmful, to the people who cannot fit into them, they are. The only differences between men and women is what lay between their legs, and technically the differences should stop there. The roles of men and women should not be defined by what is, or what isn’t hanging between their legs. Equality should be felt for everyone, of both genders. Read More