Gender Roles as Perceived by the American Community (Essay Sample)

GENDER ROLES AS PERCEIVED BY THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY.AbstractThere are three main factors that influence gender roles namely the biology, culture and society it is set in. Traditionally, as the norms in many places including the United States, men were seen to be providers and protectors since they are bigger and stronger whereas women handled home affairs. Men dominated by positions of power and women were submissive to this. Each party had their role to play. However, as time passed by, modern people became more open to different roles. The modern day woman who believes in education and is more career-oriented as compared to the past. Reversed roles have also begun coming up. Despite all this, the modern day society still holds expectations of men and women in society. This paper tries to show gender differences based on these three parameters by providing examples in each category.IntroductionGender refers to the social elaboration of biological sex. It describes the array of social, cultural, psychological and behavioral traits that society ascribes to the two sexes in reference to a particular cultural context. Those meeting expectations are said to be gender-normative whereas those that are not compatible, gender non-confirmative. Butler states that it is not something we are born with, and not something we have but something we do, something we perform (Butler, 77). People often have difficulties telling gender and sex apart. Sex can be said to be a biological categorization based entirely on reproductive potential. It is based dependently on chromosomal and anatomical features.Classification of someone as male or female is thus untimely social. Anne sums this up by explaining that labelling someone as a man, or a woman is a social decision. She believes that we use our beliefs about gender to classify one as male or female but not sex. She further purports to say that people’s beliefs about gender affect the kind of knowledge that scientists yield about sex in the first place (Anne, 3). She acknowledges transgender conditions and states that there is a social challenge as to where to put such people based on their anatomy. As a result, many parents opt for medical operations in order to classify their mixed-sex child into a particular gender.Gender roles are the expected patterns of personality traits and mannerisms that conform to one’s gender identity in the context society. These functions have been seen to change as time has passed to meet the requirements of society accommodating the transgender community too. Androgynous roles are those where the male and the female counterpart are expected to exhibit emotion-oriented or goal-oriented behaviors as demanded by the situation as compared to traditional rules that had fixated roles. Reversed roles have also been seen to be evident in the modern day world. Gender roles are clear as displayed by the differences in decision-making, knowledge reception & interpretation and labor responsibilities. Huisinga notes four key characteristics when rendering local knowledge. He states that women and men have knowledge about different things and that they have different knowledge about the same things. He further states that they receive and transmit knowledge in different ways, and they organize knowledge differently (Huisinga et.al, 76). These different roles have various effects on the day to day social and ecological life. Stereotyping the roles of males and females creates discrimination.There are various factors that determine the assignment of a role in the modern day world. Each discussed factor tries to explain and give a comparison between the male and female gender roles. They include:Society as a determinant of gender roleSocialization is the interaction of people in a group allowing one to learn what is deemed acceptable and unacceptable behavior and thus enabling them to act in ways considered appropriate. It’s a central process and involves simplistic day-to-day activities such as teaching someone a new game or orienting someone into an organizational body. Individual drives have been seen to conflict with their social expectations.Socialization has been seen to influence the given roles right from an early stage. Straight from birth, parents rear children teaching them their expectations depending on whether they are male or female. As infants, women are seen to be treated with more precaution, held more carefully as compared to male children. From birth, women are seen to be weaker than male children. As the child grows, most fathers are seen to introduce hardy games to their sons, perhaps to toughen them up. The toys that they play with also tell a lot regarding their expectations. Parents give boys toys such as planes or sports equipment. The idea of later learning to male-oriented jobs such as becoming a pilot or athlete is thus carried from a tender age without the parents necessarily saying anything. In the event, they get hurt while playing, they are told not to cry like that is a sign of weakness, which men should be strong and fear nothing. Girls play with toys such as play kitchens, and as they grow up, they take to careers involving serving people such as nurses. With girls, parents have to approach it a little bit different because in the event that something is bothering them, they tend to bottle up their emotions. Parents tend to allow boys to play away from home territories or visit new places as compared to girls who are followed up by phone, further elaborated by the time both entities are required to reach back. While in school, in the event of a fight, most parents will urge boys to fight back, to stand up for themselves as compared to girls who will be told that aggression is not the best way to deal with your problems. As shown by the above-mentioned comparisons, it is clear that socialization teaches boys to engage in instrumental/result-oriented behaviors whereas girls engage in expressive-oriented behaviors.Culture as a determinant of gender roleUsage of the term ‘culture’ has led scholars to come up with many definitions. Avruch defines culture as that involved whole structure including knowledge, custom, morals and laws acquired by man as a member of an individual society (Avruch 6). It encompasses thoughts, patterns of behavior and values of a specific community that guide its members on how to carry themselves. It is passed down from one generation to the next. It allows diversity in the interpretation of the environment in which it is set in. It does not respect political boundaries. Hofstede classified four key components of a culture: symbols, heroes, values and rituals (Hofstede 16).He further proceeds to explain each one of them. Rituals are the social activities performed in honor of something valued by the heart of the associated community. Values are the unquestionable decision stands appealing to the majority of the members or firmly upheld by members in pivotal positions in the community. Symbols refer to the form of language in the community standing for something else whether verbal or non-verbal. Lastly, heroes are said to be real/imaginary people looked upon by the involved community serving as figure models. He explains that though certain aspects of culture are physically visible, but their meaning is invisible: their cultural meaning lies precisely and only in the way these practices are interpreted by the insiders (8). As time passes, however, culture eventually changes, and the rate at which this happens is as a result of internal dynamics or outside forces.In the early 20th century, women were regarded as home keepers in the American culture. The role of the woman included all house activities that ensured smooth running. Education was not considered as essential. A century later, the modern day woman is educated and career-oriented. As will be seen in the Chambri people, some gender roles are culturally bound. The Chambri people are composed of three villages and are found in Papua, New Guinea. The woman in the Chambri community has male-oriented responsibilities as compared to norms from other cultures and this in some way creates the notion of the woman being more important socially. Fish being their staple food, it is the job of the females to provide. They undertake fishing activities, and once it is enough, they travel to market centers to trade the surplus. Usually, this is the work of the man in most communities. Studies show that they control the position of power and the economic status of the community. Power is manifested in the fact that these men fear their wives. Since the women initiate sexual activities unlike other norms, men see consider themselves gullible as their wives have access to their personal aspects such as semen or hair that they can easily give to a sorcerer. According to Coon, the Chambri men, on the other hand, are the complete opposite of other communities. They are concerned with how they look and have regularly been seen to adorn themselves with jewelry. Activities that they are most dominant in include community games, theatric acts and art in general (Bourguignon 100). They are flirtatious in general and depend on their wives for livelihood. The disparity in gender roles between the Chambri community and other communities goes to show that different cultures influence role acquisition.Biology as determinant of gender roleTo a large extent, biological processes in a person due to sex differences influence one’s gender identity. This determinant manifests itself in two forms: differences in hormones and differences in chromosomes. Females produce two X chromosomes whereas males have X and Y chromosomes. These sets of chromosome are responsible for the production of the different male and female sex hormones. These hormones are responsible for body structure formation. Men tend to be bigger and stronge...