A gender is the sex of a person weather it is male or
female. Gender roles are the accepted social expectations about how males and
females should behave. There are several gender differences and gender typing.
Surprisingly several variations in gender roles are also present. Gender roles
are really important because they have shaped us and made us who we are today.
Due to the gender roles, several gender stereotypes have
emerged. These are fixed beliefs about how men and women have to behave. These
are normally linked to traditional views of men as the source of income and
women as people who take care of the home. Some of these include that women are
more emotive and men more independent and logical.
Of course, there are gender differences. Some of these
obvious differences is that both have different reproductive organs. There are
also differences in cognitive abilities. Men seem to preform better in math
than women. This can be seen in SAT ranges. Women on the other hand tend to
perform better in reading and writing. This is not true for every individual.
Another common stereotype is that of the strong silent man, where women talk
more than men do, which according to researchers is actually true. However,
when men enter school, they dominate classroom discussions. Men tend to talk less than women about their
feelings and personal experiences. Women often talk about intimate matters.
Also several physical features are appealing on both genders, which is quite
odd. Men are more interested in physical
characteristics while women pay more close attention to professional status,
consideration, and kindness.
Gender typing are theories of why there are gender roles.
Children as young as two years old develop ideas of what they consider
characteristics of males and females. The specialization of carrying different
functions in the brain is called lateralization. This occurs during fetal
development and is influenced by sex hormones. Therefore lateralization occurs
differently in boys and girls. Testosterones make you grow more of a right
brain. Gender roles can be explained in terms of gender identification.
According to Freud, boys come to identity to their fathers, and girls with
their mothers. He also said that at the beginning we seek the attention of the opposite
sex parent and perceive the same sex parent as rival for attention. This seems
to be a false theory. According to social learning theory, gender role
behavior, like any other behavior, is acquired through two different learning
processes. These are reinforcement and modeling. Babies are treated according
to their sex and parents teach them how they expect to behave.
Surprisingly, gender roles not only vary through time, but
they also vary from culture to culture. Gender roles have varied through time.
For example, women were supposed to do only the house chores and nurturing
while today now they are entitled to have jobs. Gender roles also change in
different cultures. Studies in tribes show that in some places, men and women
are equally aggressive. Women looked down on nurturing babies because it
interposed with going battling. There were tribes where men and women had the
same roles.
There are several differences between genders that make us different.
These are both psychological and physical. It is also fascinating to know where
gender roles are originated and even more surprising that gender roles change
in different locations. We would be completely different people if it weren’t because
of the gender roles because there would be no guide to follow. People have also changed according to gender roles.
Stereotypes of gender roles.
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