Mrs Hutchinson Gender Roles

The industrial revolution transformed western Europe and the United States during the course of the nineteenth century. This transformation enabled women to play active roles in the workforce. With this sudden change, women's traditional gender roles were being challenged. The movement of industrialization allowed for equal opportunity for all genders, and major improvements upon the economy. Gender roles are sets of behavior and characteristics associated with men and women.

The age of human existence brought along clear and defined gender roles. In early years, men were hunters and women were gatherers. This led to women (and girls) having lower status in the family. They tended to be looked at as obedient and completely domestic. Men were expected to be masculine and had authorities as the superior gender.

Women are founding structures of history, but when and where do they fall into play? Today we'll be talking about women and their impact in colonial society. Though women had an extremely strict role in these times, some defied this and influenced and expanded colonization. Statuses of colonial women were based off of their wealth, social status, and religion. Their lives and roles were decided by the following labels: Puritan women, wealthy European Colonial woman, unmarried woman or widowed women, Colonial Indentured woman, colonial slave women and Native American women who were lesser known.

Social Exchange Theory and Gender Equality In Canada today, more than one in ten heterosexual couples have a stay at home parent- and that is the father. Since the 1970’s, the number of women in the workforce has continued to rise, and the result is that more and more fathers are stepping up to look after the kids.

A woman, as a wife and mother, has many roles and responsibilities that are often overlooked by both current and past generations. While one may think they can identify the main roles and expectations of a woman, there are often many that are unnoticed. Overtime, the tasks that women would do on a daily basis have changed drastically due to the pushing of equal rights leading in the direction of careers outside the home. However, most women have a compelling nature that leaves some roles remaining the same.

During the 1930’s there was an overwhelming sense of preconceived ideas of gender roles and what place they maintained in society, men were expected to work in order to earn a living and provide for their families, while women were more likely to stay at home to look after the children and cook and clean until the man returns from work. For working class Americans and the poor, the situation was during the Great Depression and many people were out of work and had to resort to desperate measures in order to provide for their families. Contrast to the upper class of the time who went by greatly untouched by economic downfall and thus become increasingly more obliged to seek a wife in order to have a family and live what seemed to be the idea of a middle-class woman’s American dream to marry a wealthy man.

Women’s life in the 1600’s were not your idea life. Women in the 1600s roles were very limited. Women were considered to be inferior to men. They were consider to be the weaker sex, physically and mentally. The thought was that women needed a male figure to take care of them.

Back in early history during the first civilizations, men had authority and power over women, making them in control of everything. They were held higher and superior. This kind of society was known as a patriarchal society. Women abided by the rules set by men since they were usually rulers, warriors, scholars, and head of households (Strayer, p. 59). When it came to legal and property rights, men reaped the benefits.

In the 1920s and 30s, men did not treat women with much respect, and men did not allow women to do anything, other than be a housewife. Men took charge of women, and if women did earn any money their husband would take it away from them. Women did not have any rights, and nothing was done to change that for a long time. As women did not have a say, they continued to do as they were told and lacked a voice.

America is the land of opportunities...so they say. Throughout history, gender inequalities in the United States have always been prevalent. Surprisingly, many of these inequalities are still experienced today. Out of 144 countries , the World Economic Forum ranks America 45th on their Global Gender Gap Index.