Perceptions and Definition of Gender Roles - Essay Example

In the paper ones can find out Hence the idea that masculinity and femininity are bound by certain expectations is not entirely inaccurate and going beyond or falling short of these expectation would mark behaviors as inconsistent or less then perfect. This view is analysed while comparing and contrasting the standard western perception of gender roles with that of other cultures. Using the work of psychologist Mary Pipher the paper says that the female adolescent dilemma as ‘when girls experience social pressure to put aside their authentic selves and to display only a small portion of their gifts’, implying how they too have to adhere to a certain set of criteria to be able to fulfill their imagined gender roles.

The repoter finds in eastern societies such as India that the man is traditionally at the top of the gender hierarchy – a symbol of authority – and the woman is at the bottom – a submissive figure. We discover that men and women are encouraged to act accordingly and this becomes visible as writers Kalyani menon-sen and A.K. Shiv Kumar write, ‘Sometimes, the inequality is very clearly and visibly built into the structure, as in the case of some religious hierarchies or exclusive ‘gentlemen’s clubs’, where women are debarred from high office.’. Thus according to Goffman and Pipher, even here we see how men and women are supposed to be a certain way to be deemed socially acceptable.

References Goffman, E (1963). Stigma. London: Penguin. Pipher, M.B. (2005). Reviving Ophelia: Saving the selves of adolescent girls. New York: Riverhead books. Menon-Sen, K, & Shiv Kumar, A. K (2001). Women in India: How free? How equal?. United