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Fulfilling Gender Roles

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Fulfilling roles: men and women naturally perform different, but complementary roles in society. Critically discuss.
Fulfilling gender roles is the foundation of society. Men and women each have a set of roles they must naturally perform based on their gender. It is believed that there are only two genders, male and female, yet there are those who believe there are more than two and those who choose not to conform to gender norms. Your gender role is acquired from childhood socialization with influences from parents, family, friends, and media, through to adulthood where gender roles are emphasised in your choice of career, marital status, and beliefs. Males and females are independent of each other in regards to their roles, yet they are formed …show more content…

Children under the age of five who do not comprehend gender roles are often found wanting to take part in activities considered to be for the opposite sex, i.e. boys wanting to play with dolls or girls wanting to play with toy cars. This raises the question, is allowing children to participate in these activities beneficial or harmful to their socialization? O’Neill (2008) argues that parents who stop their children from engaging in ‘cross-gendered’ activities can lead to stress and interpersonal problems during adulthood. There is an increasingly outdated ideal that not sticking to your gender role can cause isolation from society due to the increase in acceptance of more diverse groups. The older, more traditional, generation have argued in favour of following gender roles, although, more mothers and fathers are being praised for letting their children engage in cross-gendered activities by the younger generation. This invents a possibility for a new society with gender roles that are not as …show more content…

We learn what masculinity and femininity means from a young age and are expected to adhere to these roles from childhood to adulthood. Although, these natural roles do not include non-binary and genderfluid individuals, when discussing traditional roles, it can be agreed that men and women perform complementary roles. Tradition is constantly changing in society with each new generation, this allows for minority groups to have the opportunity for acceptance. Gender is a varying social construct with continuously changing

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