Also termed as sex roles, gender roles encompasses a range of attitudes and behaviors that are deemed desirable for people basing on their perceived sex. Historically the gender roles were centered on femininity and masculinity conceptions but specifics regarding the gendered expectations varied substantially from culture to culture. Gender roles have been an elusive subject, with competition between the two genders having existed since time immemorial when women wanted the right to vote, join the army just as their male counterparts. This was perceived as going against the norm since society had roles that were believed to be suitable for each gender. Traditionally men were expected to go to work for the family’s provision and also protection as women took care of homes, by cooking, cleaning, and tending to the children. Presently, the male versus female dominance in all spheres of life sparks a debate questioning the extent these roles are socially constructed and biologically determined.
‘ Gender role’ was initially mentioned by the late John Money- the American sexologist, psychologist, and author while exploring sexual identities on intersex individuals in 1954. He was describing the manners in which the intersex persons expressed their gender status, devoid of clarity on biological assessment. The concept of gender versus sex was further explored by Ann Oakley, the social scientist in 1972. She noted that gender is parallel to the biological sexual divisions but involves the masculinity and femininity social valuations (Suchinmayee, 2020). Therefore, gender is a social concept created by humans via their daily interactions amongst themselves and the environment but with has a heavy dependence on biological differences. This is because the concept of gender is created by humans socially, making gender to be termed as a social construction. This notion demonstrated by the way the society ascribes certain values and traits to human beings purely due to their sexes. However, the ascriptions are different between societies and cultures.
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Traditionally, Western society perceived women as more caring than men, and this shaped their views on the female gender roles ascribing that females should behave in more nurturing ways. This determined the gender roles that women and men occupied in accordance to their sexes. The belief has been reflected in the traditionally conforming women who stayed home to nurture her family full time, as opposed to getting employed outside the home. Consequently, the traditional gender roles presumed the males as leaders due to their masculinity. They were thus expected to be heading the households while offering financial care and also making the key family decisions. Whereas the traditional gender roles views have dominated many societies, the 21st century has been marked with numerous alternative perspectives emerging to challenge the traditional ones, and have gained a lot of support.
The two common perspectives on gender roles include biological and feminist perspectives. The biological perspective holds that there is a natural affinity that attracts females to the feminine gender roles while men are also naturally attracted to. However, the perspective does not imply that there is a role that is inherently greater than the other. Evolutionary explanations of gender have been biological, suggesting that human behavior aspects have are genetically coded since they are adaptive. This perspective postulates that the divisions of gender roles emerged as a way of combating challenges that the ancestral human-faced. The survival strategies that men and women developed explains the various social roles and hence the division of labor along the gender divide.
According to the feminist perspective, gender roles do not only dictate the appropriate behavior males and females should conform to but also have linkage to the various power levels held by both sexes in the society. For instance, men experience greater societal power than women by heading their families. In the societies that expect men to be the sole breadwinners, women always find themselves wallowing in poverty in case the marriages cease. Therefore it is in this regard that feminists affirm that men are accorded more marital powers as compared to women because even if there is a dissolution of the marriage, they tend not to lose the social status and the power. One segment that is always conflicting with feminist movements in the media because of the stereotypical ideals they venerate. Whether in movies or songs, the media depicts men to have prestigious jobs and other occupational statuses than their female counterparts. As revealed studies, the likelihood of women’s portrayal in marital roles while relaying with partners holding occupational jobs in popular television programs is twice. By publicizing such inequality in the socialization of the stereotyped gendered roles, the media communicates limitations to the societal perception of what the female gender can or cannot achieve. Further, it is degrading to women (Goodall, 2012).
Gender roles can be termed to be creators of gender stereotypes as well, because of the oversimplification of understandings between males and females and their differences. Human perceptions on how men and women should behave have been used to determine the appropriateness of a role in gender from the other. In the wake of modernity, they have been found to feature erroneous and exaggerated assertions about the nature of both sexes. An example is the long-held stereotype of men not being emotional and women being very emotional and irrational. Such beliefs are the foundations of gender deconstruction movements that aim at spreading a common understanding that gender is not composed in the human genetic make-up but rather a social construction. Gender roles have evolved to vehement upheld cultural forces that are accompanied by pressures pegged on individuals’ performance in almost their daily living. Children are raised along the lines of gender stereotypes from their moments of identification of being “boy” or “girl”. Despite being a mundane attribute, sex determines the type of gifts the babies receives, their socialization, looks, and the division of labor to contribute to. Generally, laying the entire life in one’s chromosomes is what feminists movement fight against.
Gender roles are further extended outside the realms of families and taken to the workplaces. In the latter, women were expected to perform roles that differ from those of men and also occupy hierarchies deemed as sexually fit. The practices was more widespread in the before the 20 th century. Still some of the 21st century corporations do operate from perspectives favoring traditional gendered beliefs. However, majority have adopted, the “connective leadership’ paradigm, which merges the conventional-masculinity ego ideals with those of the modern, capable woman as required by the globally interdependent world. Therefore, contrary to the traditional gendered roles, female leadership and independence is not an oxymoron anymore.
Despite the inevitable new gender deconstruction realities and demands that have emanated from global geopolitical trends, some employers are still conform to primitive gender thinking regarding gender roles. For example, such organizations offer parental leaves benefits to mother alone and segregate fathers. Others expect women to take secretarial positions while the executive positions are reserved for men. Presumptions that males are more task-oriented and more ambitious are evidence of gender roles crafted out of stereotyping (D’Acunto, Malmendier, & Weber, 2019).
Even though the concept of gender is deeply ingrained in society, gender is a choice. Consequently, gender roles are conscious decisions that individuals display through their selected actions. In their paper “Doing Gender”, West and Zimmerman (1987) point out that gender is not anything more than performance. For example, a man holding the door for a woman is doing masculinity, and the woman allowing the door to be held id simply “doing femininity” (West & Zimmerman, 1987). Therefore, gendering by society is a quick way of pointing out how different women and men are. Mostly, any deviation from such constructed gender roles results in a backlash and immense ridicule from the section of society that ascribes to the traditional social roles perspective.
In conclusion, gender roles encompass the range of behaviors and attitudes generally acceptable in society. The roles play a key role and shape the societal way of thinking about self and others as well by characterizing women as weaker sex prevails in many facets of their lives. For example, gender roles have shaped society’s perception of women as passive and domesticated of which the biological perspective defeats these social constructions. The social constructions do not meet any merits that scientific tools document. Notably, these gender dimensions have been slowly deconstructed through attempts of feminists’ movements as they are believed to be not only inaccurate but also oppressive. Modern practices like connective leadership models reach out beyond the traditional constituencies meeting the appropriateness of the globally interdependent world. Substantial progress has been made since what it meant to be a feminine a decade ago is tackily different from today. Still, some societies have a problem accepting that gender roles are just an illusion and that that it is time to deconstruct and knock them down.
References
D'Acunto, F., Malmendier, U., & Weber, M. (2019). Gender Roles Distort Women's Economic Outlook. Chicago Booth Research Paper , (19-19).
Goodall, H. (2012). Media’s influence on gender stereotypes. Media Asia , 39 (3), 160-163.
Suchinmayee, R. (2020). Unit-8 Gender. IGNOU.
West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & society , 1 (2), 125-151.
