Gender Roles

What are gender roles?

Gender roles in society means how we’re expected to act, speak, dress, groom, and conduct ourselves based upon our assigned sex. For example, girls and women are generally expected to dress in typically feminine ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. Men are generally expected to be strong, aggressive, and bold.

Every society, ethnic group, and culture has gender role expectations, but they can be very different from group to group. They can also change in the same society over time. For example, pink used to be considered a masculine color in the U.S. while blue was considered feminine.

few gender roles which we observe in day to day life:

1. Cooking

A woman’s place is in the kitchen. You have probably heard this saying before. From a young age, girls are taught that it is their responsibility to learn how to cook for their future families. A woman who cannot cook will find that a part of society is quickly going to look down at her.

2. Working – Men work outside, women at home

We all know that traditional gender roles dictate that a man should be the one working while the woman stays home. This is one of the most important male gender roles. When it comes to traditional gender roles affecting professional lives, it was found that women tend to get jobs easier in the nursing or hospitality industry because of their perceived sensitivity. On the other hand, it is far easier for men to start their careers in the field of IT or technology because of their perceived analytical skills.

1.     Care taking – Comes naturally to women

Nursing and caretaking is another “responsibility” that is placed upon women. This entails seeing to the non-financial needs of the household, like cleaning, babysitting, etc. While the importance of nursing in a household cannot be underestimated, placing the entire burden on women is extremely unfair. Women are expected to consider the needs and desires of others before they can think about themselves.

4. Dressing – Women wear skirts, men wear pants

This traditional gender role is mostly harmless. It doesn’t actively enforce any specific type of dressing on an individual. What this does do is create a sense of righteousness within people who do believe in this particular gender role. There is no denying the fact that women have taken to wearing trousers these days but men haven’t taken to skirts yet. So gender norms still exist, isn’t it?

5. Childhood behavior – Boys play outside, girls play with dolls

Gender roles are instilled at a very young age. Even children have gender roles forced upon them. Boys are expected to play sports and do well in school. If either of these criteria isn’t met, that little child will be a target for bullying.On the other hand, little girls are expected to stay indoors and partake in household activities such as cooking and cleaning.

6. Sensitivity – Men don’t cry, women do

The ability to perceive and show emotion is generally associated with women, while men are supposed to be stoic. This one is detrimental to both genders.

On one hand, since women are expected to be more sensitive and emotional, their opinions or concerns are not taken seriously. Her views are dismissed and if she gets angry, she is said to be overreacting.

On the other hand, men are expected to not show emotion. This means that if a man does show emotions like sadness, he is presumed to be weak. This particular role causes both genders to have to hide their emotions to avoid being ridiculed. But experts say it is okay for men to cry.

7. Marriage – Man is the provider and protector

The wife needs to take care of the domestic part of the household. It is her job to make sure that there is food on the table and that the house is clean. Both those roles are very important, but marriage is a partnership, both partners need to bear responsibility. Trying to follow traditional gender roles in today’s society leads to unhappy and problematic marriages