For many years society has embraced the idea that the difference between men and women were biologically determined. Others see not only the physical but also the social, emotional and intellectual differences between males and females. Though through traditions, media, and press, we act accordingly to how others view us. Each individual has pressure placed upon them based on their genders. Our sex is determined by genetics while our gender is programmed by social customs. Gender roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially appropriate male and female behavior.
Some theories interpret that a woman is tender and a loving mother, while on the other hand men are aggressive and are the dominant one of the family. An individual gender role is modeled through socialization. Individuals learn the ways, traditions, norms, and rules of getting along with others. A persons environment has a big influence on the roles deemed expectable for men and women. The fact that gender roles exist is indisputable. Gender roles influence men and women in virtually every area of life. Early into childhood girls and boys are treated differently in families, schools, and other institutions.
Most children are raised with the belief that girls are pretty in pink and boys are rough in blue. As infants grow older, their parents ideas about gender stereotypes continue to influence how their children are treated. Mothers and fathers tend to look at their baby girls as more fragile than their boys. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls, while boys are taught to play with trucks and army toys. This can be seen at just about any playground, schoolroom, or home in America. Commercials on TV show these same characteristics everyday. When a commercial for a Barbie doll comes on, you dont see a boy playing with it.
In fact you dont see a boy in the commercial at all. Just the opposite is true for boys toys. Girls arent seen in their commercials either. There is TV shows that work the same way. When I was a kid, I watched cartoons like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and my sister watched ones like Care Bears. Each show was obviously made and watched predominately by one gender. Girls dont watch Ninja Turtles and boys dont watch Care Bears. In present time, there is a whole channel devoted just to women. Womens Entertainment Television is the newest arrival on the scene. Yet there is no mens entertainment channel.
Women are told to watch this station. If there were a channel made just for women, what excuse would they have for not watching it? Socialization is the process by which all people learn what is expected of them through their interactions with others. For example, the household chores that are assigned by ones parents are one way to shape a childs gender role for the future. In many households, boys do the taking out of the trash, mowing the grass, shoveling the snow, and all other duties that are seen as manly. While girls clean the house, do the dishes, cook, baby-sit, and all other stereotypically women things.
In many cultures women are taught to depend on others for protection from bodily harm. Women are not taught to defend themselves from strangers because fathers and husbands can do it for them. Traditional gender roles for women are nurturing, dependence, and emotional expressiveness, not physical strength or toughness. Emotionally this is impacting on the woman because she has to teach other females how to be caretakers. Women are taught to be self-sacrificing and passive. As a result, a womans identity is based on how well she serves others. But this idea doesnt hold as true as it once did.
Women are now being taught to be stronger than men and to be more independent. Such TV shows as Oprah show this idea every day. You never see or hear her and her guests telling men to stand up together and become more powerful. The audience is almost all females. The topics almost always have to do with women and womens issues. There arent any male shows that deal with these same issues in the male perspective. Of course there are shows that are made for and watched by men. The cable TV stations Oxygen and Lifetime are for women, and have shows just like Oprah. The whole schedule is composed to be appealing to women.
Women should be allowed to have there own TV stations, but not if the same doesnt go for men. It should be a two way street. With small things like this becoming more popular, eventually its going to lead to things and ideas that is of much greater importance. Women and men should be on the same plain; ideas such as this make it seem as though women should be greater than men. In a different aspect, women are now being taught that they can and sometimes even should raise their children on their own. Not too long ago, it was seen as being wrong for women to be single mothers.
Women were looked down upon if they had children out of wedlock. Now women are told that they can be strong and raise their children alone. Because of this, men are seen as the problem in relationships and the reason that there are so men single mothers. Once again if you look at television talk shows, you can see how many single mothers there are. Shows about troubled children, the fathers are never there. But its alright for women to raise children independently? Gender equality has been a social concern since man first stepped foot on the earth. When we think of gender equality discrimination is the first thought that comes to mind.
Gender roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially male and female behavior. The argument begins between these two sides when the gender roles in society are looked at more closely; are they fair on both sides, or do they in fact discriminate against he two sexes. Men are taught to be emotionless in times of stress and women are taught to be helpless and needy. This is how our society expects men and women to behave. Maybe in the near future as a culture we will use gender transcendence, in which as a people we will abandon our assigned gender ideas, so that other aspects of life become separated and gender free.
