The Limitations Of Gender Roles Essay Research

The Limitations Of Gender Roles Essay, Research Paper The Limitations of Gender Roles Just how different are men and women? Everyone acknowledges that there are significant differences between males and females, even if they are only physical. Others see not only the physical but also the social, emotional and intellectual differences between male and female. Gender roles by definition are the social norms that dictate what is socially appropriate male and female behavior. In early American culture it was common for a women’s job to be a submissive homemaker in clear contrast to the males aggressive breadwinner role. The seventies marked the beginning of the Woman’s Movement and the end of the ideals we held on what it is to be a "man" and what it is to be a

"woman". Women were no longer like the stereotypical homemaker, always offering a hot meal for her family, but were instead out burning bras and protesting inequality. No one disputes that the Women’s Movement began but there is a disagreement on whether or not it should come to an end. One of the Women’s Movement primary goals was to invalidate gender roles in the sense that women were secondary to men. The fact that gender roles exist is indisputable. Gender roles influence women and men in virtually every area of life including family and occupation. Early into childhood girls and boys are treated differently in families, schools and other institutions. Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and playhouse type of toys while boys will often play with trucks and

army toys. Boys are played with in a rough manner and told to "tough it out" when they get hurt. Girls are taught to be more passive and expressive with their feelings. Whether these gender roles are fair or not, is where the argument begins. Does the fact that we are treated differently based on our sex prevent us from reaching equality or are we treated differently because we are different by nature? We are indeed raised differently, but does the fact that a boy is given a blue room and a girl is given a pink room mean that a girl is being sleighted? The outdated, sexist gender roles that dehumanize women are extinct, the ones that presently exist are the ones that are true. "Males are better in math while females are better in English. Women master language

skills better than men, while men are better at organizing objects in a spatial layout". Gender roles are present but they are not beneficiary to either sex. Women are portrayed as physically weaker, but that is because as a general rule they are physically weaker. It is not so much an evil conspiracy by "the man" but an observation of an obvious fact. It has been proven that gender roles are not something that society determines, but that nature determines. A recent story that has hit the media illustrates this point. "John" was born a normal baby boy, however in a tragic accident his penis was damaged beyond repair by a circumcision that went wrong. The parents then decided the childs best shot at normal life was as an anatomically correct woman and

therefore the baby was castrated. This case became a landmark in sex research during the 1970’s, in that sexual identity exists in a kind of continuum and that nurture is more important than nature in determining gender roles. Experts thought babies are born gender neutral, catch them early enough and you can make them what you want. What the doctors and the parents did not know was that the celebrated sex change success story was, in fact a total failure. "John" rejected anything remotely feminine. He refused to wear dresses, make up, and when the time came he tried to refuse to take any hormones that would give a feminine figure. "John" did not know that he was born a boy. He only knew that, "?something was wrong." The fact that he instinctively