gender roles

Examples of gender roles in the following topics:

• Gender Roles in the U.S.

  • There has been significant variation in gender roles over cultural and historical spans, and all gender roles are culturally and historically contingent.
  • Much scholarly work on gender roles addresses the debate over the environmental or biological causes for the development of gender roles.
  • The division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn, lead to gendered social behavior.
  • Parsons developed two models of gender roles within the nuclear family.
  • Describe how gender roles in the U.S. have changed since the 1950's

• Gender Messages from Peers

  • Peer groups can serve as a venue for teaching gender roles, especially if conventional gender social norms are strongly held.
  • Division of labor creates gender roles, which in turn lead to gendered social behavior.
  • Peer groups can serve as a venue for teaching members gender roles.
  • If a peer group strongly holds to a conventional gender social norm, members will behave in ways predicted by their gender roles, but if there is not a unanimous peer agreement, gender roles do not correlate with behavior.
  • These gender differences are also representative of many stereotypical gender roles within these same-gendered groups.

• Gender and Sociology

  • From birth, children are assigned a gender and are socialized to conform to certain gender roles based on their biological sex.
  • Gender roles are based on norms, or standards, created by society.
  • The socialization process in which children learn these gender roles begins at birth.
  • Each agent reinforces gender roles by creating and maintaining normative expectations for gender-specific behavior.
  • Cross-cultural studies reveal that children are aware of gender roles by age two or three; at four or five, most children are firmly entrenched in culturally appropriate gender roles (Kane, 1996).

• Gender Discrimination

  • Gender discrimination refers to prejudice or discrimination based on gender, as well as conditions that foster stereotypes of gender roles.
  • Gender discrimination, also known as sexism, refers to prejudice or discrimination based on sex and/or gender, as well as conditions or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on gender.
  • Sexist mindsets are frequently based on beliefs in traditional stereotypes of gender roles, and is thus built into many societal institutions.
  • There are several prominent ways in which gender discrimination continues to play a role in modern society.
  • A poster depicting gender stereotypes about women drivers from the 1950s

• Gender

  • The World Health Organization defines gender as socially constructed ideas about behaviors, actions, and roles characteristic of each sex.
  • In a given society, sexual beliefs, values, and attitudes reflect the accepted norms of that society, and individual feelings and opinions are largely bypassed in the assignment of gender and gender roles.
  • Gender, and especially the role of women, is generally regarded as critical to international development.
  • Further, gender equality plays a central role in education as well as in reproductive and maternal health.
  • Examine the role gender plays in health care and healthy lifestyles, especially for women

• Gender

  • A speaker has an opportunity to address years of masculine and feminine gender role conditioning through the use of inclusive language.
  • Some societies include a third gender role, referred to as transgender, which combined both male and female.
  • These items and the advertisements redefine the gender role ideal that men are active, strong, and courageous.
  • Various forms of gender neutral language are becoming more common, but the underlying gender roles are still evident in our society.
  • We still have generations of previously defined gender roles and associated language use to conquer.

• Gender Identity in Everyday Life

  • Gender identity is one's sense of one's own gender.
  • The berdaches, or the Two-Spirit People, are indigenous North Americans who, although biologically male, assume one of many mixed gender roles.
  • These "third" gender roles involve engaging in work and wearing clothing associated with both men and women.
  • Gender identity is one's sense of being male, female, or a third gender.
  • Certainly, socialization, or the process of transferring norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors to group members, plays a significant part in how individuals learn and internalize gender roles and subsequently impact their gender identity.

• Gender Socialization

  • Gender is included in this process; individuals are taught how to socially behave in accordance with their assigned gender, which is assigned at birth based on their biological sex (for instance, male babies are given the gender of "boy", while female babies are given the gender of "girl").
  • Gender stereotypes can be a result of gender socialization.
  • Gender fluidity also shows how gender norms are learned and either accepted or rejected by the socialized individual.
  • The entrance of women into the workforce (and into traditionally male roles) marked a departure from gender roles due to wartime necessity.
  • Explain the influence of socialization on gender roles and their impact

• Development of Gender Identity

  • Gender identity is a person's subjective experience of their own gender; how it develops is a topic of much debate.
  • After this "peak of rigidity," fluidity returns and socially defined gender roles relax somewhat.
  • Social factors include ideas regarding gender roles conveyed by family, authority figures, mass media, and other influential people in a child's life.
  • Another factor that has a significant role in the process of gender identity is language; while learning a language, children learn to separate masculine and feminine characteristics and unconsciously adjust their own behavior to these predetermined roles.
  • Apply social-learning theory and gender-schema theory to the context of gender identity development and the gender spectrum

• Gender Bias

  • Gender bias exists because of the social construction and language of gender itself; recognize it and try to avoid it when speaking.
  • Before we can start talking about gender bias, it's first helpful to understand the concept of gender.
  • Gender is the social construction of a person's sex.
  • The same is said of how people expect certain gender roles to be expressed by others.
  • Taking a step back and considering what gender bias you bring to the table, as well as what gender biases your audience might have of you is an important step in eliminating or at least addressing gender bias in your speech.