Traditional Gender Roles In American Culture

The definition of a gender role is; “the pattern of behavior, personality traits and attitudes defining masculinity or femininity in a certain culture. Determined by the upbringing that may or may not conform to a person 's gender identity” (Psychology Dictionary). The study of gender roles is not a new topic in social psychology. What is new though is how “traditional” gender roles have been continuously evolving. “Today we accept a lot more diversity and see gender as a continuum (i.e. scale) rather than two categories. So men are free to show their “feminine side” and women are free to show their “masculine traits” (McLeod 2014). American culture has gone from ad campaigns in the 1950’s showing a man spanking his wife for not testing the coffee before she bought it to an androgynous woman being the face and “muscles” of a nationwide MAC cosmetics campaign, ironically; both of the ad campaigns were/are socially acceptable within American culture.

During the 1960’s the feminist movement began and this movement began to change how women viewed themselves. With this new found outlook on their lives, women began wanting to get a better

“As of 2008, men and women aren 't as likely to agree to traditional gender roles as they did in 1977. Back then, 64 percent of employees of all ages agreed the man should earn the money and the woman should tend to the children and home. In 2008, only 39 percent of all employees agreed to the same premise. While that 's a big drop, two in five employees still believe in traditional gender roles” (Kilhefner).In an analysis conducted by USA Today, “when one spouse works full-time and the other stays home, it 's the wife who is the sole breadwinner in a record 23% of families” (Dennis Cauchon