An Analysis of the Factors Affecting Gender Roles in Society

Gender Roles in Society

Society since the beginning of time has set very distinctive rules and expectations up for each gender. These rules throughout time have stuck clear to what is expected of each gender. There are many distinct and different expectations that are unique to each gender; males are often times looked to be the more dominant and stronger gender, while females are often times looked upon as being the nurturing type and caring for individuals. These gender roles are a thing of the past because now in today’s society it is much more likely for genders to go against the grain of the common ideology of these beliefs and be their own individual. The days where the dad would often don a suit and head off to work, while mom would sport her dress, pearls, and hells are slowly closing. It is now much more common to see women going out into the work force and securing themselves a job.

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While all these gender roles are adapting to our new modern times of society, some things referring to genders will nonetheless remain the same no matter how hard we attempt to change them. Men will always being the more physical and less attached gender, while the women will always have the nurturing trait residing inside them at all times. There is a great depiction of this, in a cartoon a young girl gets handed a truck from her dad to play with, instead she treats it very differently, “ Poor little truckie... mama’s gonna wrap you inna blankee and give you a little bottle. (‘‘Nature vs. Nurture” Spiegelman).

While being given a truck, the young girl treats the truck like a baby which goes to show that no matter how hard we can try to break the roles of retro gender roles, they unavoidable will stay very much relevant in our modern society. Often times we view these gender roles to be already wired into our brains, there is really no breaking the fact that women are often times seen as the motherly figure while the men are always seen and expected to be the big, strong, and powerful individual in society.

The task that society sets apart for the different genders has already been predetermined since all the way back to ancient times. For men it has always been expected for them to be the foremost contributor to the family, while it is usually the woman’s job to take care of the household; this includes washing clothes, keeping an orderly household, care for the children, and always have a meal prepared for her family. Women have always known this role growing up, and were always told not to act out against it. These task often times started at a very young age, “ Wash the white clothes on Monday and put them on the stone heap; wash the color clothes on Tuesday and put them on the clothesline to dry; ... cook pumpkin fritters in the very hot sweet oil.” (Kincaid, “Girl”).

Women’s task and roles have slowly been evolving, but regardless the fact still remains present in their hormones that their role will always be the care of the household first,"... in prenatal hormonal influences, brain chemistry, genes — and that feminism has reached its natural limits.” (Pollitt, “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls”). There will be no escaping the fact that women are the main caretakers for a house and family, it is something that has been programmed and carried down overtime.

As of recently there has been a growing movement of equal rights for women. The feminist movement has been getting an overwhelming support the last decade and continues to keep growing. It is slowly inching its way towards equality rights, but it may never abolish the sex roles of each gender, “The feminist movement has done much for some women, and something for every woman, but it has hardly turned America into a playground free of sex roles. It hasn’t even got women to stop dieting or men to stop interrupting them.” (Pollitt, “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls”). To date this is the closest to equality the two genders have reached of all time. The movement is for the betterment of our society, the strides we as a culture and society have made on this very conversational topic has been awe-inspiring for multiple women.

In today’s age we will never reach full equality within the gender roles. It is just a given that no matter how hard we as a society in general tries we will never have complete equality within our genders. Stereotypes of each gender are changing, but the structure of each gender’s roles will remain the same for time to come, “The paradox is that the world of rigid and hierarchical sex roles evoked by determinist theories is already passing away. Three-year olds may indeed insist that doctors are male and nurses female, even if their own mother is a physician."( Pollitt, “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls”). Women are being allowed and also trying hard to prove the gentleman of the world wrong and attempt to equal, if not one up them in the work force. With this we also see the breaking out of the normal for females, to them branching out into unknown limits for them.

The concluding fact after reading these essays and comics is that no matter the effort put into flipping the gender roles of society, the fact remains that men will always be on the top of the power pyramid just due in basis that this is the way history has gone and will continue to go. It is driven into our heads at a young age, forced down our throats with television and media, and taught to us all throughout our schooling that the common man was allowed to do more things. The lack of women's history taught to early age children does not allow for the young to learn about women. The femists may continue to try, but sorry to say in the end the fact will remain that men will always be the dominant, looked upon as the provider for the household while the woman will be the one to clean up the messes, take care of the children, and prepare the meals for the family.

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