Gender Role

What is male? What is female? Your answers to these questions may depend on the types
of gender roles you were exposed to as a child. Gender roles can be defined as the behaviors and
attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society.
Gender roles are closely linked with gender stereotypes. Stereotypes are "over
generalized beliefs about people based on their membership in one of many social categories".
Gender stereotypes vary on four dimensions: traits, role behaviors, physical characteristics, and
occupations. For example, whereas men are more likely to be perceived as aggressive and
competitive, women are more likely to be viewed as passive and cooperative. Traditionally, men
have been viewed as financial providers, whereas women have been viewed as caretakers.
Physical characteristics and occupations have also been considered consistent or inconsistent
with masculine or feminine roles.
Physical differences do exist between males and females. Studies of the brain have
revealed that female brains are stronger in the left hemisphere, which rules language. As a result,
they do better when tested for language ability and speech articulation, for example. In males, the
right hemisphere, which governs spatial perception, is stronger, giving them an advantage in
tasks that require moving objects or aiming.
Boys tend to score better on standardized achievement tests, but girls do better on tests
that require writing. Math, science, and geography are subjects that males tend to do better in
than females, but females may have the advantage in meeting the social expectations of school,
such as behaving in class and producing neat work.
Some researchers maintain that boys may not develop their full capacity for emotional
depth because of a combination of factors, including parenting, education, biological and genetic
factors, and the messages they receive from popular culture. As a result, some boys are less able
than girls to deal with the emotional upheavals that accompany adolescence; recent statistics
show that teenage boys commit suicide at five times the rate teenage girls do. Ultimately, a lack
of emotional development as a boy makes it difficult for the adult man to develop healthy
relationships.
 The role of women in society has been greatly overseen in the last few decades, but now
are coming to a more perspective to people. In the early days women were seen as wives who
were intended to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. They were not allowed to vote while men
took care of having jobs and paying any bills that had to be paid. Soon enough it caught on that
women should have a bigger role than what other people thought women should have. Women
would have strikes and go on marches to prove that they should have rights just like everyone
else. They faced discrimination like and other race that faced it. Women would voice their
opinion in any way possible so that they could reach their goal.
With the increased presence of women in the workplace, old attitudes and behaviors have
had to change. Men and women are more aware of sexual harassment than previously; whereas
20 years ago a woman who refused to have an affair with her boss may have had to quit, she now
has other options. Companies are now experimenting with policies that are family-friendly, such
as flex time, job sharing, and on-site child care-policies that benefit both men and women.
The shifting of gender roles in the past 30 years has been huge. It has happened so
quickly that men and women are still trying to sort out what the new roles and rules mean to
them. Although women are no longer expected to be the keepers of the house, in reality, they are
in most families. Although men are generally open to the successes enjoyed by the women they
share their lives with, some still find it hard to celebrate a woman's triumphs because they feel it
diminishes their own.
However, rather than blaming each other for the situation, men and women are
increasingly willing to work together to learn about their new roles. Successful marriage partners
learn to negotiate and share tasks. Managers take employees aside and tell them when comments
are inappropriate. It will take time to sort out all the implications of the changing gender, but new
expectations should result in better workplaces, better relationships, better schools, and better
lives.

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