Some gender roles essays define gender roles as behaviors that are attributed by society to one gender or another. Other essays on gender roles see them as social roles, a set of expected patterns of behavior for men and women. Writers of essays explore how for centuries gender roles held back both men and women, dictated their behavior, and even predetermined their Essays on Gender Roles. Among many other transformations that modern society has gone through, change in gender roles is probably the most significant one. People have revised the concepts of masculinity and femininity, the roles each gender is expected to fulfill and the stereotypes that surround the idea of sex Feb 13, · English. - Introduction. The late twentieth century has become the “'age of the image” in the sense that gender roles has affected the stereotypical representation of men and women. McDermott and Schwartz argued that the gender role journey theory is suited to comprehend how men and women adapt their gender role identities in society (). At the
Argumentative Essays On Gender Roles | WOW Essays
Gender is a critical aspect of social inequality, gender roles essays. Gender inequality is a prevalent issue in society as a whole, gender roles essays, and America is no exception. It is a sociological construct which carves the path in which men and women will live their lives, gender roles essays, affecting a broad range of choices and availability of resources Macionis, Gender roles essays inequality exists due to the fact that women and men are clearly defined as distinctive types of people Macionis, Gender inequality primarily impacts women. Alison Bechdel demonstrated gender inequality in the form of a simple cartoon which depicted a test where a movie passed if it met this criteria: there are at least two female characters with names, those characters interact with one another, and their discussions include something other than men Macionis, Applying this test to recent films, analysts claim that around half do not pass gender roles essays test Macionis, How it works.
Additionally, books and media influence children by presenting stereotypical roles of men and women, with women lacking representation in traditionally male roles Purcell and Stuart More over, these influences continue later in life and spread to other means, such as video games, social media and celebrities. In fact, gender is instilled into children even before they are born by parents carefully selecting gender appropriate clothing, such as pink for newborn girls and blue for newborn boys Zosuls et al. Why is it that gender exists at all? The differences in biological make up that each sex carried were far more important Macionis, Gender roles essays instance, in the time of hunters and gatherers, there was no means of controlling pregnancy and reproduction, which burdened women as being caretakers of their many children Macionis, Because women were bound to their homes and their children, gender roles essays, women were forced to construct their roles around the home Macionis, Thus, women often took on such jobs as planting and gathering vegetation to provide food for themselves and their family Macionis, gender roles essays Men, gender roles essays, on the other hand, boasting their stronger and larger size due to the biological differences in their genetic make up, often took on the role of hunting or warfare, which left the women, again, with no choice but to be bound to their homes Macionis, As time continued on, gender roles essays, gender roles became less and less fundamental.
When the Industrial Revolution took place, there were effective means of preventing pregnancy Macionis, gender roles essays, The ability to decide when and if to get pregnant gave women more of a choice in their home-maker status. Additionally, the Industrial Revolution developed more advanced technology that diminished the need for physical strength in the workplace and for gender roles essays production as a whole Macionis, Many advances in technology and changes to society that have followed in the time after the Industrial Revolution have led to gender roles becoming less and less of a determinant for what kind of job one may possess. With the need for gender to exist diminishing more and more with each step society and technology takes, what is it that makes gender still relevant?
One may turn to sociological perspectives in order to gain insight on such a question. Gender gender roles essays viewed as complementarity, meaning the differences between men and women are limited but important Macionis, Gender, gender roles essays, according to the structural-functional approach, defines the different obligations each sex is required to perform Macionis, Due to these differences, the genders are complementary in the way in which both sexes rely on one another to perform their duties, which is said to bring unity to families and in a broader sense, communities as a whole Macionis, Talcott Parsons, who was born in and passed away inwas gender roles essays American sociologist.
Parsons developed the most well known theory of gender in the realm of structural functional outlooks Macionis, According to Parsons, the differences in gender continue to grow smaller as time moves forward, yet are still encouraged by modern societies as they are a useful integration tool and encourage the sexes to work together Macionis, The main point of specification of this is that gender is defined in a complementary way that encourages both men and women to rely on one another and see one another as an asset Macionis, For example, women are child bearers, and the biological drive in men to produce offspring brings the two genders together.
Due to this reliance, both genders see benefits in forming a relationship and, more importantly, a family Macionis, Despite the diminishing differences in women and men, women are traditionally still deemed as the primary caretaker of the household, while men are seen as the primary wealth holder and are deemed responsible for the economic advancement gender roles essays the family Macionis, In order to achieve a society in which the genders work complementarily, gender differences are engrained into a person starting from a young age Macionis, These inherent differences in upbringing result in women smiling more, and maintaining politeness in situations where they would rather not.
Societies pressures to fill these gender roles lead to disapproval of those who go against their gender norms, who often find loss of sex appeal amongst the gender roles essays Macionis, Today, the structural-functional theory is seen as less influential than when it was initially introduced fifty years ago Macionis, This is partly due to the theories approach in reinforcing and rationalizing traditional gender roles, with some seeing complementary roles as a weakly disguised vail for male domination Macionis, Additionally, the approach does not fully explain all roles that genders take and ignores those that do not fit into a clear cutting block. For instance, women and men do not need to see value in their gender differences to interact with one another.
Moreover, their interactions may not fit into the traditional gender norm laid out by Parsons, as work roles instrumental are often not the same role one takes on in a relationship expressive Macionis, Finally, gender roles essays theory is said to ignore the issues caused by gender roles and norms, which falls heavily on the shoulders of those who stray from traditional roles in their lives. This fault has been made apparent in recent years as transgender or non-binary individuals continue to suffer from the insensitivities of persons who see gender roles as unchanging. The social-conflict theory is another tool for analyzing gender in society.
The social-conflict theory asserts that gender is a divisive part of society, rather than a means of unification like the structural functional approach suggests. Engels believed capitalism to lead to the dominant position men hold over women, and the basis of this assertion is laid out by examining the evolution of society from hunting and gathering, to capitalism Macionis, Looking back at the time of hunters and gatherers, the social-conflict theory asserts that while men and women took on different roles, both roles were necessary and vital Macionis, For instance, women played just as crucial a role by providing vegetation as men did when they were hunting Macionis, Due to the necessity and importance of both roles, the social-conflict theory claims that simple societies such as those of the hunter-gatherers were close to achieving gender equality.
However, as time passed and industrial advancements were made such as raising livestock and gardeningthe availability of goods rose and some individuals or families were able to obtain a surplus of goods Macionis, This addition of surplus goods led to the rise of social classes, with those enjoying the majority of the surplus becoming wealthy Macionis, With the formation of social classes came the idea of private property, which was used as a means of the wealthy retaining their surplus of goods Macionis, The idea of private property then led gender roles essays the dominance of men over women, as men wished to carry on their legacies through their sons, rather than their partners Macionis, Again, women were soon seen as their beneficial role being that of the caretaker of their homes and children.
As time passed on and technological advancements grew, capitalism came to rise and so did the male-dominated capitalist class Macionis,p. Gender roles essays order to continue the patriarchal society formed with capitalism, women were led to discover happiness gender roles essays the form of male partnership, and domestic life and duties, gender roles essays men were driven to factories to work long hours Macionis, Women were taught to seek a man in order to prosper and survive, rather than forming their own financial independence by obtaining jobs. Both gender norms coincided to reinforce the ideal that women were responsible for the entirety of the housework, again reinforcing gender inequality, gender roles essays.
However, the social- conflict theory is not without its own critics. Critics assert that families, despite being patriarchal, are still a necessity as they provide a means of both having and raising children Macionis, Additionally, the theory fails to account for the fact that not all differences between men and women are seen as unjust Macionis, Finally, gender roles essays, critics point out that Engels assertion of capitalism as the route of gender stratification does not hold true in the world today, as many socialist nations still have patriarchal societies Macionis, As previously asserted, gender does in fact impact society and furthermore the lives that make up such a society, gender roles essays.
Gender typically is connected to varying levels of power, with men often enjoying more freedom to behave in different ways Macionis, For example, men in Hollywood often still portray sexier roles on screen as they age and society accepts this, even if their counterpart in the illustrious relationship is far younger. However, as women age in Hollywood we do not see the same hold true for them. The symbolic-interaction theory investigates gender roles in a smaller lens than that of the structural function approach, focusing on these daily interactions in everyday life Macionis, The symbolic-interaction theory asserts that gender norms are engrained into our society by the means that we use it every day, and thus is a vital part of our society.
For example, gender roles essays, gender influences the relative freedom one may feel to make certain decisions, facial expressions, or clothing choices. Women are judged more heavily on their facial expressions, and the desire to be polite has led them to smile more Macionis, It is also generally expected in society that a woman will take a mans last name when married Macionis, gender roles essays, While the symbolic-interaction theory allows insight into the daily ways in which gender influences society, gender roles essays, it fails to account for a broader stance on how gender actually shapes society as a whole Macionis, It is unlikely that the source of gender inequality will ever be agreed upon.
However, it is abundantly clear the gender does perform a role in society. As society continues to advance, it is likely the world will continue to see gender roles redefined. With the emergence of new genders, gender roles essays, and sexual orientations, gender roles will continue to change. What is not apparent, is whether or not gender equality will be reached. Today, women are still viewed as being primarily responsible for routine housework, while men are expected to do non-routine chores Geist, gender roles essays, This is in part due to the fact that women can produce children, and the role of becoming a mother often leads to women falling behind men in their careers, contributing to the gender wage gap Slaughter, What remains unclear is whether or not gender equality will be achieved, gender roles essays, and if it is, will everyone agree on it?
The social-conflict theory claims gender equality was close to being achieved at the time of hunter-gatherers, gender roles essays, however, whether men and women felt that way at the time is debatable. The structural functional approach claims that gender roles are necessary for unification gender roles essays men and women, and while this may hold some merit, in a broader sense this ideal is flawed for not recognizing the inequality in value held for both necessary roles male and female. For society to unlearn the societal norms that have led to the clear division between men and women gender roles will take a notable effort from society as a whole, as well as vast amounts of time.
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Gender Roles in Antigone - Free Essay Sample
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Feb 13, · English. - Introduction. The late twentieth century has become the “'age of the image” in the sense that gender roles has affected the stereotypical representation of men and women. McDermott and Schwartz argued that the gender role journey theory is suited to comprehend how men and women adapt their gender role identities in society (). At the Nov 17, · Short Essay on Gender Roles is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. Our society has a bunch of thoughts regarding how we anticipate that people should dress, carry on, and introduce themselves, which is called gender roles. The general role is about how a man and a woman live. And for these gender stereotypes, homosexuals are mostly affected. And Gender Roles Essay Words | 4 Pages. Gender Roles The affects of gender roles on people greatly change the way the society runs. According to the Webster's dictionary the definition of gender are the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex, and the definition of role is a character assigned or assumed
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