Why the society are treat women differntly - Essay Example

The society has continued to view and treat women as inferior to men, a perception which has culminated from the numerous gender stereotypes based on femininity and masculinity, and which has contributed to the biased definition of gender roles (Friedman 15). For example, femininity in women is perceived as a disadvantage in issues concerning participation in industrial activities which require upper body strength. It is for this reason that it may be found out that most of the industries especially those involving manual processes such as pushing, pulling, lifting among others, are dominated by men.

Consequently, men have over the years exploited these opportunities, which are numerous, to build themselves economically thereby leaving majority of women to depend on their male counterparts for support. This has facilitated men with an opportunity to exercise control and authority in terms of decision making and occupation of competitive positions in government and the society in general, leaving the women to act as subordinates and which is totally wrong (Friedman, 32). In addition, women are perceived to be emotional such that they cannot manage tasks such as management and leadership, which require emotional intelligence, and which is socially constructed belief contributing to occupational sex segregation (Butler 40).

In this context, women are perceived to be biologically weak in that they cannot make viable decisions when they are under pressure or when they have personal issues disturbing them. This is to imply that they are incapable of separating personal issues such as domestic quarrels and their professional life, a belief that can be disputed by the rising number of successful women who hold high ranking jobs in the society. Sex typing in different cultures has led to the perception that women have the basic responsibility of conceiving and rearing children as well as taking care of their husband’s needs alongside other domestic tasks.

Unfortunately, majority of these women are contented with this role or are forced by the cultural expectations in the society to result to being homemakers (Rhode 42). With regard to the Parsons model of gender roles, total role segregation indicated that women had no place in the work place as this was a man’s domain (Butler 56). It is for this reason that traditionally, the male child was empowered with maximum levels of education whereas the girl child got minimum education so as to maintain the status quo.

However, this has continued to change as more and more women continue to fight for equality and control over their reproductive life. For example, the contemporary society has experienced an upward development in terms of home making whereby domestic chores are shared between men and women and also in the corporate world whereby women have taken up leadership opportunities, signifying that both sexes are equal in terms of brains though different in terms of physical strength (Rhode 59). Works Cited Butler, Judith.

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990 Friedman, Ellen. Issues of Gender. Longman, 2003 Rhode, Deborah. Speaking of Sex: The Denial of Gender Inequality. Harvard University Press, 1999