Conventional Gender Roles - Essay Example

Some companies have reviewed their policies to embrace changes that have occurred concerning changes in gender roles. The attitude and behavior of how men and females are expected to act within the society have been changing tremendously, and some have a positive effect on the development of the society while others generate negative effects to the society (Lindsey, 120). Traditionally, females were expected to earn less than males in society, but it is no longer an issue in society today. Gender roles are learned through the socialization process. The way a child is brought by the parent determines what roles the child will learn from the parents. Usually, children learn through examples from their parents and view their parents as their role models. Through this process, the children acquire gender roles. In addition, other institutions such as schools help in learning about gender roles.

The majority of males are not able to deal with the changes that occur in society. Several changes have occurred regarding biological, education, parenting, and genetic factors. As gender roles change, they have created new opportunities for females. Males face a huge dilemma trying to adjust to the changing gender roles. Take, for example, some males are not capable of adjusting when they find out that their wives earn more money than they earn. Men should be capable of embracing change whenever there is an adjustment of conventional gender roles (Lindsey, 119).

Because of the changing conventional gender roles, females have encountered many opportunities that open up from this change. These opportunities usually come with a price making some things take a slower change. Women no longer face discrimination in the workplace, which they used to face before because of the adoption of new gender roles. However, though gender roles are changing, there are some things, which a female is always associated with, and there are those things, which males are associated with, and the society expects that it is either the male or female who should take the role (Sax, 16). For example, if both parents work and their child gets sick, it would be expected that the mother has to take the child to the hospital and stay with the child until the child gets better. 

As a result of the constantly changing gender roles, the males tend to get more affected by the changing roles and usually take a relatively long time to adjust to the new gender roles. The males feel great pressure in trying to adjust to new gender roles. Hence, in my opinion, males are more restricted by conventional gender roles. Because of new gender roles, females get new opportunities that in a way favor them, but males are normally restricted with the new roles.