Gender Roles Essay

Weve begun to raise daughters more(prenominal) like sonsbut a few(prenominal) fox the courage to raise our sons more like our daughters, (Gloria Steinem, Ameri raise feminist). sex activity roles refer to the set of social and behavioral norms that atomic number 18 considered to be socially appropriate for individual(a)s of a specific invoke in the context of a specific shade (Wikipedia). grammatical gender roles are expectations of how an individual should act, dress, talk, walk, etc. establish on their sex, which is biological. Gender roles shape the pressures and expectations society places on male and pistillate individuals. For instance in the old American acculturation men had to be the main source of income in the family, while women were judge to stay inhabitation take care of the children and do the domestic housework. In the short drool Girl Jamacia Kincaid illustrates the feminine roles her mother taught her growing up and the expectations she needs to actio n as a women, a wife, and a mother. In contrast with Kincaid, Michael Kimmels essay Bros before Hos The Guy Code explores the code of masculinity that unripened men are expected to follow. Traditional gender roles influence virtually(prenominal) individuals in a positive or negative aspect as they grow and each resist or give in to the expectations within society.Growing up as little girl, my mother would always take me the social expectations of the feminine roles associated with our tradition. I would always be playing with dolls, grooming in skirts, putting bows in my hair, pretending to be a princess and playacting like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz always clicking my sparkly red shoes. However, the pressures and expectations of the gender roles associated to your sex are more profound as you grow into an adult. As I grew into a young charr the expectations I had and still to this day get under ones skin to meet are much more demanding and expected. Kincaid states, Th is is how you set a accede for dinner this is how you set a table for dinner with an important knob this is how you set a table for lunch this is how to behave in the front of men who dont know you very well (385). Kincaid explains some of the feminine demands and expectations her mother would teach her growing up. Similar to Kincaid experience, my mother would overly establish the feminine roles and demands that I needed to accept and fulfill from the expectations that have been set forth from generations of women. However, the expectations I needed to meet to fulfill the duties as a wife and mother conflicted with my expectations of not wanting to be a wife or mother at all, but to establish and bagful a stable career for myself.The view of femininity in the elaboration I was raised with compared to old American culture of the 50s and 60s. Women were seen as objects, accessories. Femininity was viewed as being fragile and weak, as well as having a natural mother like ins tinct. Women in my culture are delineate as being dependent on a man, stay home do the groceries shopping, clean the kitchen, prepare breakfast, lunch, and dinner, press out their husbands shirt and pants, wash every day, even if its with their own ptyalize (Kincaid 385), keep the household in order, and be the perfect wife, mother, and women or at least pretend to be. However, these conventional views of what feminine roles are defined as conflict with the mainstream American culture of todays feminine expectations. Women in todays culture are defined as either the main source of income or contribute the equal amount of income with their spouse. Women are seen as independent and many women have established stable careers. In Bros before Hos Kimmel asked a female college student what it means to be a women she stated, Nobody can tell me what it means to be a women anymore (462). In modern American society being a woman has no concrete formulated expectation or role that she is expected to fulfill.Although in todays modern American society views women other than as they once did, my culture still views women in a more traditional aspect. These conflicts or being independent or dependent, pursuing a career or being a domestic house wife and mother affect both expectations I have to meet with my family culture and the culture I was born into. Being one of the youngest girl in my family I would observe my cousins and see them being pressure of the roles and expectations that where concretely defined in my cultures view of femininity. Their decisions of following the domestic housewife role touched me to resist these pressures, while they did not and gave me the courage to fulfill my and modern American societys expectations of what being a woman is and not expert stay at home and spend all my husbands money because I have nothing better to do.Gender roles have always been a social issue that shape the way we think of others. These roles perceive women as fragile and weak, while men are seen as aggressive and taper little to no emotion. Gender roles can vary from one culture to another and have different expectations associated with masculine and feminine roles individuals have to obtain. Gender expectation such as women have to stay home and do the domestic housework, while men are the source of the primary income can either conflict or reinstate the expectations of you. These roles can affect an individual either in a positive or negative ways, whether or not they want to override the social norm of what society says is satisfying or give into the pressure of the roles society established for each gender. The gender roles ones culture establishes or society establishes becomes more fire as we grow older, enforcing these expectations further. Also, your cultures view of masculinity or femininity may conflict with mainstream American culture and a advancement conflicts for an individual. Its up to them whether they want to endur e the pressures or resist the pressures of traditional gender roles or modern American gender roles. Word count on 1,025Reference PageKincaid, Jamaica. Girl. Boston, Mass. Bedford/St. Martins, (2013) 384-386. Print Kimmel, Michael. Bros before Hoes The Guy Code. Boston, Mass. Bedford/St. Martins, (2013) 461-471. Print.