Gender Roles And Stereotypes

Some folks assume that girls and boys behave and like different things based on their distinctive innate nature and physical differences. While it might be true that they identify themselves based on biological traits like their gender/sex, Penelope Eckert, the author of Learning to be Gendered, argued that receiving different treatments and nurture can have influence on how girls and boys learn to identify themselves. Penelope suggest that there’s a social matter where an individual’s gender can be a heavy label on how he or she would be like, but part of the gender label is developed by parenting while growing up. Even at birth, gender roles are conditioned by their milieu. Baby girls are given flowery or pink gifts while boys are

In "Learning to Be Gendered", Penelope Eckert and Sally McConnell-Ginet argues that the gender identification does not begin at birth. The dichotomy between a male and a female in biology is what sets them apart. The authors address the false assumptions with gender identification for people who think they figured out the pattern for boys and girls. The article gives examples of instances where parents and adults have unconsciously made judgments for males and females based on their expectations and roles. As a result, boys have learned to perform as a male and girls have learned to perform as a female.

I want you to picture a firefighter in your head. I am willing to bet you pictured a male firefighter. We often place certain jobs, skills, and traits with gender. We gain this bias from our culture, and from other people unconsciously affecting our dispositions. How Teacher Biases Can Sway Girls From Math and Science by Clair Cain Miller is an article about how girls are under represented in math and science jobs, one of the fastest growing and highest paying fields. Miller wrote about how girls are under represented in these subjects, and how it is a result of the unconscious teacher bias, and overall discouragement from their surroundings. This article connects with the class in dealing with teacher bias

Throughout the years, our society has made great changes dealing with the legalization of marijuana and same sex marriages. However, the idea that children who conform to their “fixed” gender roles is caused by “innate brain chemistry” has not changed at all. In the article, “Why Boys Don’t Play With Dolls” by Katha Pollitt, Pollitt believes roles are not caused by genes, rather it is the adult world whom in which conforms their children to their gender roles.

When I was born I was wrapped in a pink blanket and bow was slapped on my head. I guess this is some sort of a symbol for the gender roles that were going to encase my life, but that's a bit pretentious for my taste. In all reality though I was never given a say in my gender, I was labeled as a girl whatever that meant from the moment I was given my first pink blanket. I was also given a set of expectations of what a girl was supposed to be, in my culture. The same thing was happening to all the babies born in that hospital that day with me, the babies with male genitalia were given blue blankets and a different set of expectations. Due to the expectations society has developed for each biological sex, gender has become a social construct.

Gender neutrality has been a topic concerning parents for decades. Generally, parents choose pink for girls versus blue for boys, dolls for girls versus trucks for boys, and nurses for girls versus doctors for boys. However, studies are beginning to show that toys played with in childhood greatly affect views on gender and stereotypes in later years. In addition, intensive research has revealed that parents show preference in intelligent boys and beautiful girls. Gender stereotypes are offensive and discouraging, and should be relinquished from a young age using gender neutrality.

Gender stereotypes are generalizations about gender differences, attributes as well as the roles of men and women in society. Traditionally the role of the stereotypical male is to be the breadwinner of the household; he is usually seen as independent career driven and not in touch with his emotional side. Whereas the traditional role of the female is to be dependent on a male figure, have children and then nurture them while staying in touch with their emotional side. In most literature these stereotypes are prevalent.

Have you ever caught yourself judging someone on how they differ from the norm? When you see a woman who hasn’t shaved her legs recently do you feel disgusted? When you see a man who has shaved his legs recently do you feel uncomfortable? All of these are examples of what forced gender roles have trained us to think. To understand why gender roles were enforced and how they have changed over time is dire. Gender stereotypes negatively influence emotional and social complexity amongst people greatly.

Several researchers over the years have been able to recognize significant differences between the sexes. The distinctions of them include the structure of the brain, child development, and perceptions about the world (Gervais, 2012). Similar to this, parents will often take this knowledge and use it to raise their child, or children, following the structure of gender roles. However, there are consequences to this, as a child’s first teacher in life is their parents. Children raised this way will be brought up as a prophecy to what their parents believe. For example, boys are expected to be much more aggressive and stronger than a girl child, while the girls are thought of to be more emotional and more social than the boys. These gender roles

Transgender identities disrupt fixed notions of sex and gender by not fitting within the traditional binary. Our culture perceives these notions as rigid and set, and by not fitting in with these ideas, transgender identities question the binary and the fluidity of sex and gender. I think backlash to this questioning arises because this binary train of thought is instilled in us from birth. Babies are dressed in pink or blue. There are “boy toys”, such as cars and action figures, and “girl toys” such as dolls and kitchen sets. “Boys will be boys”, and “girls aren’t physically aggressive”. We train children to follow gender stereotypes and then go on to claim that these differences are biological.

According to Franzoi (2008) stereotype is a general belief that classify people into one particular category and does not allow for variation in individual. The most common stereotype in general society is based on genders. Distinction between women and men has been around for a long time in general society. This distinction indicates construction or shaping (nurturing) processes given to a person rather than his/her inborn features. Women and men have been attached with particular characteristics, physical, personality, and cognitive. Women are commonly viewed as someone who is physically weak, whereas men are characterised as strong. Women are considered being irrational, emotional, soft, dependent and easy to cry. Meanwhile, men are rational, independent, and initiative. This is the reason for the presence of masculine and feminine

Gender is a biological characteristic as well as a social construct based on the characteristics of males and females. The way an individual sees themselves is termed gender identity. However, the expectations that society places on certain genders can be labeled as gender roles or gender-typing. It is a popular belief that children begin knowing if they are a boy or girl before the age of two years old. From early on everyone in a child’s life helps him or her shape their idea of what being a girl or boy is about. In the situation of gender-typing, there is the common cultural belief about what it means to be a girl or a boy with accompanying acceptable behaviors. For instance, it is expected for boys to be dirty, roughhouse or fight, be destructive,

The question about whether or not an individual’s identity is innate or acquired, has always been a debatable issue. Some people argue that gender identity is a result of the social context they live in, while others believe a person is born into it. Gender identity is a “person 's subjective sense of themselves as masculine or feminine and is exhibited by the degree to which they act upon their gender roles” (Whalen & Maurer-Starks, 2008). However, based on the current society people live in, it is more likely that an individual’s identity, such as their sexuality, education, and social status are acquired as a result of the social context they live in.

It was further observed that the women performed better in the same gender group rather than in mixed group when their performance was evaluated about their mathematical skills. Role models can help female students in their college or school and can retain them in STEM subjects. It has also been observed that the presence of women in faculty, teaching assistance, or in labs etc also motivates them to pursue their career in stem

Parents’ Perception on Gender Spectrum. In a society that is negatively rich with gender stereotypes and biases, children regularly resort in adopting gender roles which are not always fair to both sexes. Children who are exposed to both internal and external factors shapes their attitudes and behaviors towards traditional gender roles as they move through stages of adolescence and ultimately in adulthood. Witt (1997) argued that these attitudes and behaviors are learned at firstly at home which are then heightened by the child 's peers, school experience, and television viewing and other external factors after social bonds are formed outside a family setting. However, it is primarily the family setting that stongly influences the child’s