A Functionalist View of Gender Roles in Society

Gender Roles and Hegemonic Masculinity When child is born, biology assigns him/her a label of masculine or feminine. That is as far as science goes in determining the identity. Society takes it to the next step. In being a male or female, society determines his future roles, position in society, his choice of major in college, his dream job, and much more. A child couldn’t be more overwhelmed, but this is what he/she is born into. For years now, society has confused between gender and sex, often times using them as synonyms.

That is why many official forms ask for your gender while others ask for your sex. However there lies a fundamental difference between the two. Sex is the label that biology assigns a person; the physical Uaits that differentiates a man from a woman. Gender is the label society assigns a person; the ideological traits that differentiates a man from a woman. The underlying expectations and ideologies of what a man must do and what a woman must do has driven the society thus far.

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Viewing from a functionalist view, there are specific functions in a society and men and women are assigned such roles as is suited for these functions. That is to say, factors like family, labor and power determine what is masculine and feminine. For centuries women were deemed to be in charge of family while men were deemed to be in charge of manual labor. Women were thought to be suitable to look after a family, raise kids, tend to the elders, and form social connections, while men were thought to be bread earner, doing the manual work. However, with the turn of the century, this view has almost turned on its axis.

The line dividing the functions for men and women is no longer prominent. Nowadays women are working toe to toe with their male counterparts and the same time, there has been an increase in the percentage of stay home dads. The division of labor between a husband and wife is seen as voluntary and accommodating rather than binding or expected. This however clashes with the notion of patriarchy. Men doing household chores are looked upon as outliers to the masculine ‘gender.’ Hegemonic masculinity sees men as the dominant gender and female as the dominated gender.

Modern day conflict theory has taken a turn on its claim as class difference as the driving force. Accommodating Marxism with feminism, they now claim that gender difference is what drives the society (Conley, 292). Given the patriarchy society we live in, women are seen as less capable than men in any jobs. Hence, we see greater number of men in higher posts in corporations than women. Women who have made it to the very top of the ladder, for diem the journey wasn’t easy. The prevalent hegemonic masculinity in the society meant they had to walk the extra mile to convince society that they deserve what they claim. While society expected them to take care of family, their aspirations drove them to take on the men’s world. This conflict of interest and resources drove the two groups.

With such clear lines with what is masculine and feminine, the question on sexuality of an individual poses a serious threat to the equilibrium of this binary position of the society on gender. Conley defines sexuality as the desire or the sexual preference of an individual. This basically shatters society’s notion of a man seeking a woman as their partners. Homosexuality is defined as the sexual preference of an individual towards a person of the same sex. Needless to say, society isn’t happy about this. For one, it goes against the binary gender position of society. Reluctant of the change, society has tried condemning homosexuality by resorting to ethics and religion. Countries around the world, who have hardline religious presence has criminalized homosexuality.

It was inthe twenty century that the fight for equal rights for homosexuals gathered pace. With expanding outlook and growing knowledge people have come round to accepting homosexuality as just another social label. One of the greatest victories in realizing equality for homosexuals was the US Supreme court ruling in June 2015, legalizing gay marriages. Transgender people too have faced discrimination, with society refusing to accept them as the third gender. As revolting as it was for society to change its two sex gender equation, it has come a long way in awarding social acceptance to the transgender community.

The society sometimes acts head strong when it comes to gender roles for male and females. Somehow, even in the twenty first century, as men and women blur the gender difference, there still remains somethings that are purely gender specific. This is so significant that even cultures have been divided as masculine and feminine. Cultures that are more ego centric, values money over pleasures and lives to work is referred to as masculine where as cultures which are relationship oriented and pleasures of life are valued are referred to as feminine. Clothing, food habits, life style, music preferences, and even mass communications have distinctions as feminine and masculine.

Is it really justified? When women serve in the military protecting the national frontiers, are we justified in referring to her as a traitor to her gender roles? As revolting as this may sound, but we still have a long way to transcend in order to realize gender equality. We extend our support to the feminism movement, but we fail to realize that the need for a feminist movement is a failure of society at the first place. We call for acceptance of the LGBT community but we should they even feel the need to seek our approval at the first place. IF you are to decide a person on the function he/she performs, then we shouldn’t really have to judge a person for whom he/she shares a bed with, or the type of clothing one prefers or the type of activities they like to involve in their leisure time.

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