Gender Roles: Gender Identity And Role In Society

The Impact of Culture and Gender Roles Heather Richardson-Barker Drexel University Society has clearly defined boundaries between what is considered to be male or female. The development of an individual’s gender role is formed by interactions with those in close proximity. Society constantly tells us how we should look, act and live based on gender, as well as the influence of family, friends and the media have a tremendous impact on how these roles are formed and the expected behavior of each gender role. The term Gender, as defined by the United Nations, includes the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. It further defines acceptable

The issue of “gender” and “gender identity” has occupied significant place in literary theories and more specifically in feminist literary criticism. Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines gender as – “the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex.” Feminist critics have attempted to distinguish between “sex” and “gender”. For them sex is a biological phenomena while gender is socially constructed. There is no direct relation between gender and biological sex.

A gender role is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behaviors are generally considered acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. These are usually centered around opposing conceptions of femininity and masculinity, although there are myriad exceptions and variations. The specifics regarding these gendered expectations may vary substantially among cultures, while other characteristics may be common throughout a range of cultures. There is ongoing debate as to what extent gender roles and their variations are biologically determined, and to what extent they are socially constructed.

I believe that people are allowed to be whatever they want to be within reason, so in that way I believe that there could be more than just two genders. I also believe that there is a difference between gender and sex, because sex is biological, and gender could be viewed as more of a cultural standard that has been created around people’s physical sex. Though I also believe that people should be allowed to believe what they want, so people should be able to think that gender means male and females, and other people can believe that it means more than that, and that both definitions should be respected even if they aren’t both believed by all. I have grown up with many friends that have identified as different genders than their biological sex, or have fallen in love with people that are outside of the male and female categories, and I respect their lives and decisions. So the way I use the word gender isn’t the way most people think of it due to my experiences and the way I was raised, to be open to new

This idea of gender is echoed in several works of Margret Atwood, Alice Munro, Alice Walker and several other writers. Society frames some norms and expectations which define the nature and the behaviour of men and women. These norms are considered as quintessential components of social and economic systems. These norms set standards for typical and ideal male and female

Transgender refers to those who 've exempted themselves from their in-born sexuality assigned at birth and thereby transitioned across these culturally and socially constructed binary concepts such as gender and sexuality and who 've in fact, created a 'cultural-turn ' in the society along the course of seeking to determine an "identity" for themselves reaching far beyond these constructs and redefining them as separate dimensions. Although sex is known to follow gender and thus define an individual 's gender identity conventionally, as binarically as possible, transgenderism is a revolutionary term that argues the fact that gender should not necessarily correspond to sexuality whereas an individual 's gender identity is a depiction of one

Gender roles— or social roles encompassing behaviors and attitudes that a society considers acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for people based upon their actual or perceived sex or sexuality— are undeniably prevalent across cultures (being defined as a sum of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another). The process of socialization is the process by which people gain knowledge of group characteristics as well as the knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, norms, and actions thought appropriate for each member; involvement in gender socialization particularly deems it requisite for people to acquire a concept of the “gender map,” which stands as the cumulation of paths societies have deemed fitting

Gender roles are built on gender norms, or standards, which are rooted in cultural perceptions or based on societal expectations. In many societies, masculine roles are associated with strength, aggression and dominance whilst female roles are associated with subordination, nurturing and passivity. Men and women are expected to adhere to these roles. Gender is a learned behavior.

On the contrary, Judith Butler emphasizes gender as social norms. As a philosopher, Butler draws from psychoanalysis and literature. She claims we all detach ourselves from our attributes and explains what the trouble with gender is: it is a social construct; looks at what we put importance on, and it has strict binaries. Butler presents the idea of gender as performance or gender performative; to say gender is performative, means it produces a series of effects. The phenomenon produces and reproduces all the time; she makes a controversial claim that nobody is born one gender or the other.

These socially determined roles for men and women are culturally or socially created and are perceived as being expected and normal. From these gender roles, certain characteristics that are a reflection of what it means to be male or to be masculine are expected of men, while other characteristics are ascribed to women and their femininity. ―For example, men are supposed to be natural leaders, decision makers and providers in society, beginning within the family, while women are the caregivers, supporters and followers of men(Pretorius, 1998). In addition women are usually allocated the role of domestic chores as if it were normal for them to do this. This type of work is often hidden and not paid for.

Therefore, gender identities and affiliated expectations of responsibilities

One of the greatest labels a person wears in today’s society is their gender. If you are a male or a female dictates how you should speak, dress, act, and even which jobs you should have. Certain expectations are given to both males and females. Gender roles control many areas of our lives today.

Gender roles have been a popular yet sensitive topic for thousands of years. It has seemed that since the earliest of days, men always had more rights than women, but was that always true? Has equality between men and women gotten closer or only spread farther apart through the years? History has taught us that in certain civilizations and/or tribes, women had just as many rights as men did, or they had no rights and were only seen as a man’s wife who had to cook and clean after him. The Native American group, the Algonkians, proved that gender roles translated into economic, social, and political power.

In the first two modules of this class, we have given special attention to the development of gender norms that emphasize gender role specialization (Talcott Parsons and Robert Bales), the specific social conditions of the 1950s that supported gender role specialization (Stephanie Coontz), and the contemporary impact of the cultural norm of gender role specialization on families (Arlie Hochschild)—especially as the broad social support for caretaking work has disappeared since the 1950s. As Hochschild has shown (as do the continuing female/male differences in time spent on domestic and caretaking work), gender norms can continue even when their material foundations