Gender Roles (2268 words)
Gender Roles
There is a lot of controversy involving gender and the pressures and roles that correspond with them. Unlike sex, which is assigned at birth (male and female), gender is created by the surrounding environment. Many external influences affect gender such as religion, family dynamics, education, occupation, the media, and many more. Traditionally, women are supposed to be gentle, submissive to their husband, and be perfect in every possible way, even though it is impossible. On the other hand, men have these expectations to deal with, such as, having to be “manly,” which can lead to men abandoning their more feminine traits just to be accepted. These roles can seem harmless at first, but it can influencea person’sentire identity for no viable reason. And even though some equalities have come into play, for the most part, there is still a long way to go before the genders are truly on the same level.
One example of how gender roles can influenceone’sentire identity is in the lives of women.Women are constantly objectified for simple things that go against their gender roles, such as not being perfect.This discrimination can influence their identity by forcing them to attempt to conform to society’s standards to escape further prejudice.The truth of the matter is”there is no unmarked woman” (Tannen).Marking in this context means being discriminated against.Women are marked for how they dress, what they do as a career, or even if they take their husband’s last name.One instance is when a woman wears clothes that may show a little bit of skin.These women can be called “whores” or “sluts” and if they dress in clothing that does not show skin and covers the whole body they can be called “grandmothers.”For instance, when Adele wore a dress that completely covered her body to the Grammys, one critic argued “this is the Grammys, not the grannys”(). This can also vary by external forces such as religion; in mostChristian and Islamic settings, the women and girls are expected to wear clothes that almost completely cover the body. For example, an Islamic girl is expected to “only show her face, hands, and feet and wear clothing that does not show her body shape” (“Your Hijab”).In addition,if a woman tries for a high-level position she could be deemed ‘unqualified’ because she is female. This may have been a factor leading some American citizens to vote against the first major party female nominee for president, Hillary Clinton.Moreover, if a woman takes her husband’s last name she can be seen as too “traditional” or if they do not they can be seen as too “independent”(Tannen).This varies by family and and occupation.Unless you are a doctor or a well known figure, it can be almost insulting for a woman not to to take the man’s name, seeming that the woman is not committed to the relationship. It can especially be insulting to the man if he expects a traditional marriage with typicalgender expectations in the relationship (Tannen). The gender roles that have been forced upon women make them susceptible to strong criticism no matter how much they try, because no one is perfect. Lacking the ability to be perfect puts women in a “danged if you do, danged if you don’t situation.” Another way to explain this travesty is that”Nothing for women is standard”meaning that there is also no right way to livealife; there is no possible way to become embedded in a discrimination-free environment, free of severe gender expectations(Tannen).
Another example of how gender roles influence the lives of women is how they are expected to live their lives, including when they are married. From a young age, girls are prepped for the world of living as a housewife. When they are born, they are given toys, such as baby dolls, barbie dolls, and kitchen sets;this makes young girls comfortable with taking care of baby dolls who are proportional to kids later in lifeand kitchen sets that will be proportional to the cooking and cleaning that she is being conformed to do later as a wife. This may seem harmless but it transforms their thinking, making them think the demeaning house stereotype is satisfactory. The word wife and housewife are almost interchangeable; the only difference is that the housewife is not employed outside the home, but both terms infer the duties of a female mate.These duties include but are not limited to, cleaning thehouse, watching the children, cooking all meals, being completely submissive to the husband, complying with the husband’s sexual desires and keeping up with everything in the children’s and husband’s lives (Brady).Women are completely suppressed as the weaker gender who are only expected to serve the husband just because he happens to be a man. Does this common obscenity not sound absurd?The reason it seems completely absurd is because of how skewed the system is against women. Women have the entirety of all household duties while the men are not expected to anything at all. Women typically do three times as much housework totaling to about 17 hours of housework on top of any regular job (Yapp). In fact, this embracive gender role forces women into housework while at the same time taking time away from any jobs or personal passions they wish to use some of their time for. Also this does vary but many factors, such as family dynamics, education, occupations and even religion. For example, ifone’sspouse has a very successful job that earn enough income for the other to stay at home, it is more acceptable for the one who stays at home to do the majority housework (Yapp). Also ifa person’sreligion has a strong hold on who does what job in the family it may be more acceptable. For instance in the religion of Islam the women are expected to be extremely submissive to husbands and fit the housewife image(Your).
Men are also pressured since the day they are born, but in completely different ways than women.One example is in “Putting Down the Gun” when the author’s son comes home talking about playing sports for the unjust reason of making girls “like” him.Boys are forced into liking manly things such as sports and violent video games while abandoning certain traits that define them and that may not fit the mold of many and typical boy things (Walker).The author’s son liked”working on the garden, playing with legos and had a love of chess”but was considering throwing it all away for the sole reason of being accepted(Walker). This is not just a simple boy who is trying to find his place in life,”It is a war against tenderness, empathy, grief, fear,longing, and feeling it self” (Walker).Just like many girls, boys often find themselves in a “danged if you do, danged if you don’t situation.” When boys give in to the temptation to conform, they lose their true selves, abandoning everything that they believe in. However, if they do not give in, they may have a hard time fitting in or getting girls to like them. Men are also expected to be the strong one in relationships and life in general.They are expected to rise up and be protective of their mate while being physically strong and tall. Men are expected to be “more powerful than a locomotive and be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound” (Greta). If a man is slim and or short he may be seen as weak or scrawny, meaning he does not have the capability to protect a mate. If something breaks the man is expected to be able to have the tools and capabilities to fix the broken machine (Greta). They are also expected to be able to completely provide for their family and care for the wife and children by making a lot of money, then buying a nice house and cars. One example is that,” To be a man’,” he exclaimed, you must have money and material possessions’ “(Greata).Those jobs that make them a lot of money also have to be “manly” and “dirty” such as mechanics and construction not ones that can be seen as “feminine” such as teaching and cosmetology. Men are also expected to be “better than the next guy”(Greta) at the height or top of type of job they have. For instance this can mean that the man should the CEO of the company and not the receptionist taking calls or the man should be the doctor who is in control and not the nurse who is under the doctor. All of these roles can be traced back to when the men were young, the boys received trucks and action figures. The action figures make the boys want to be like him, strong, tall, and protective of their friends and mate. The truck made the guys like construction and other dirty jobs that men are expected to do such as construction andmechanics.
Both male and female gender roles affect how they will perform in school and consequently how they will perform in life as a whole.For example, girls are pushed harder than boys to be perfect and make good grades while acting prim and proper.In addition, boys are allowed to”just be boys,”meaning being allowed to act out of order; this making them not be expected to be perfect like the girls. If the boys are not expected to be as perfect as girls, it is not surprising that girls statistically outperform boys (Brooks).Girls always outperform boys in the school environment from a small amounts at a young age that then build up to extreme in highschool and college (Brooks).These advantages come from girls being forced to be perfect while boys do not have that expectation. Also with girls being forced for perfection they are more likely to take initiative and perform better not only in school but in higher education as well. One example of this is that”133 women graduate from college every for 100 men”(Brooks).This shows that the gap between men and women could soon be closing, and men will not always have the upper hand and all the power. The wage gap is the difference in the amount of pay the average women gets for the average man. According to many studies the woman gets paid “only 78%”(Sheneman) of what a man gets paid. This fact is also very well known and “43% of women believe their gender will affect their job pay” while “27% of men think the same”. This shows that many women have little to no confidence in many of their jobs when expecting equal treatment. Those women and men interviewed were from Harvard, the best of the best, the top of the top. It is sad that the best think they will be paid less just because of their gender.
Though gender roles captivate our society today, times have actually changed for the better. The modern is era is not only “a man’s world”, women are completely allowed to flourish in society as well (Brooks). All people have the “tools needed for success” regardless of their gender (Brooks). Also men are allowed to show some feminine qualities without being judged while women can do the same with masculine qualities. Though many strides have been taken for equality the fight is long from over. Women may have had many changes in educational opportunities but lack in changes for expectations forced upon them. One example is that “women have only slight change in the household” because they still have the expectations of a housewife that include all household duties, but now include making money for the household as well.
Gender roles affect almost everyone in this day and age. They conform people, they degrade people, but they identify people whether they like it or not. Individuals should strive to not let expectations change who they are as creative, unique, and outstanding individuals.
Works Cited
Brady, Judy. “Why I Want a Wife.”The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric.
Boston Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 539-541. Print.
Brooks, David. “Mind Over Muscle.”The New York Times. N.p., 16 Oct. 2005. Web.
Greta, Christina. “5 Things Society Unfairly Expects of Men.”Alternet. N.p., 9 Aug. 2010. Web. 22
Feb. 2017. <http://www.alternet.org/story/147779/5_things_society_unfairly_expects_of_men>.
Sheneman, Drew. “The Wage Gap.”Tribune Content Agency.
Tannen, Deborah. “There is No Unmarked Woman.”The Language of Composition:
Reading, Writing, Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 552-557. Print.
Walker, Rebecca. “”Putting Down the Gun”.”The Language of Composition: Reading,
Writing, Rhetoric. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 573-75. Print.
Yapp, Robin. “Working Women ‘Still Do Housework'”Daily Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-206381/Working-women-housework.html>.
“Your Hijab Questioned Answers.”Beliefnet. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2017.
<http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2008/07/your-hijab-questions-answered.aspx>.
