Robledo 1
Society shapes many different beliefs, attitudes, and values. Society constructs stereotypes, and limits gender roles, but each of these aspects differs in different communities. Different societies have developed specific gender roles to fit their community. Gender roles are stereotypes that were socially constructed so each role has a specific behavior. For example, if we compare a public high school to a Religious high school, we will see different sets of roles each gender portrays. Student’s behaviors are built in their communities and that is how each culture and community contains their distinctions. Society limits these roles, which is a problem for some students not being able to express themselves. Young children start
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How does society affect one’s behavior?
To start off, High schools are the outgrowth of the community. High schools are a reflection of the culture and society that surrounds it. For instance, California is a state where most homosexual people settle, and are accepted, therefore some communities welcome them. Wikipedia shows the demographics of gender identity in the United States which shows a high population of LGBTQ individuals. In 2012, there was an estimate of 38,041,430 LGBTQ people in California. Popular states in the U.S. tolerate these individuals in most of society. My public high school is Polytechnic, and it tolerates and is highly open to homosexuality. People feel free to express themselves, and do not change who they are to adjust to the community. The cultures of a school can cause someone to change who they are as Nguyen states, “Some ways society can influence behaviour is it limits our behaviours, as we fear of being judged” (Nguyen, quora). So in order for us to avoid being judged is to “fit-in” with the rest of the society. This is how society limits the attitudes and behaviors of someone, which can affect them and have a negative outcome to their life. Most Catholic high schools are a
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Gay individuals were not hired in many jobs, could not attend the schools they desired due to people not accepting their difference. What many people brought up was The Declaration of Independence states, “That all men are created equal”. In this case, they were not treated equal at all. It wasn’t until the early 1950’s where Harry Hay, Chuck Rowland, Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon funded groups to take action and “informed and outreach to thousands”(Cory, The homosexuals in America). These organizations were not as accurate because no one supported them and people did not want to be a part of it. Back in the 1970’s being gay or lesbian was labeled as an illness, and if these individuals were found, they would either arrest them, and send them to jail or send them to a mental health institute. People against gay and lesbians believed that they were “sick, criminals, or immoral,” (Cory, The homosexuals in America). These actions caused a lot of gay and lesbian individuals to hide who they truly were, and act like a person they were not. When the government found out that some parents were gay, they took their children away, and didn’t give the parents’ permission to see their
Life for most homosexuals during the first half of the Twentieth century was one of hiding, being ever so careful to not give away their true feelings and predilections. Although the 1920s saw a brief moment of openness in American society, that was quickly destroyed with the progress of the Cold War, and by default, that of McCarthyism. The homosexuals of the 50s “felt the heavy weight of medical prejudice, police harassment and church condemnation … [and] were not able to challenge these authorities.” They were constantly battered, both physically and emotionally, by the society that surrounded them. The very mention or rumor of one’s homosexuality could lead to the loss of their family, their livelihood and, in some cases, their lives. Geanne Harwood, interviewed on an National Public Radio Broadcast commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, said that “being gay before Stonewall was a very difficult proposition … we felt that in order to survive we had to try to look and act as rugged and as manly as possibly to get by in a society that was really very much against us.” The age of communist threats, and of Joseph McCarthy’s insistence that homosexuals were treacherous, gave credence to the feeling of most society members that homosexuality was a perversion, and that one inflicted was one to not be trusted.
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
It is a widely accepted notion that social context and setting is very dependent upon gender. However, the converse is what appears to be true. Sex is biological and static, however gender is a social construct that is almost entirely dependent upon the social context in which it is placed. Contrary to what is often believed, gender is an idea that society constructs and students learn at a very early age. Once gender roles are learned, it can be incredibly damaging to act out of these roles because peer criticism as well as sheer belittlement will likely ensue. In Learning Silence by Peggy Orenstein, and Pascoe’s Dude, You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School, this reality that gender is dependent upon social context is discussed. More specifically, male masculinity and its dependency on femininity, or in any case, a lack of masculinity.
“Boys will be boys, and girls will be girls”: few of our cultural mythologies seem as natural as this one. But in this exploration of the gender signals that traditionally tell what a “boy” or “girl” is supposed to look and act like, Aaron Devor shows how these signals are not “natural” at all but instead are cultural constructs. While the classic cues of masculinity—aggressive posture, self-confidence, a tough appearance—and the traditional signs of femininity—gentleness, passivity, strong nurturing instincts—are often considered “normal,” Devor explains that they are by no means biological or psychological necessities. Indeed, he suggests, they can be richly mixed and varied, or to paraphrase the old Kinks song “Lola,” “Boys can be girls and girls can be boys.” Devor is dean of social sciences at the University of Victoria and author of Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989), from which this selection is excerpted, and FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (1997).
Social norms and traditional conduct, if care isn’t taken, might affect a child. One should be able to express one’s self, by not being judged by the society. Whether one acts a certain way, the society doesn’t except one to act, one should have the freedom to express his or her gender roles in the way one wants it to be.
Suggested roles of all types set the stage for how human beings perceive their life should be. Gender roles are one of the most dangerous roles that society faces today. With all of the controversy applied to male vs. female dominance in households, and in the workplace, there seems to be an argument either way. In the essay, “Men as Success Objects”, the author Warren Farrell explains this threat of society as a whole. Farrell explains the difference of men and women growing up and how they believe their role in society to be. He justifies that it doesn’t just appear in marriage, but in the earliest stages of life. Similarly, in the essay “Roles of Sexes”, real life applications are explored in two different novels. The synthesis between these two essays proves how prevalent roles are in even the smallest part of a concept and how it is relatively an inevitable subject.
The background of homosexuality in the 1940’s and 50’s was harsh, but people started to be opened toward the rights. There were criticisms toward homosexuality in the early days of Milk. Gay men carried the labels of mentally ill or psychopathic. Often times, gay men committed suicide from harsh judgement and criticism that always followed them. Even though population of homosexuality grew and had jobs, they were harassed and beaten by the police. There were a lot of disapproval and hostility of homosexuality. Anita Bryant, a singer, made a campaign to oppose the rights of homosexuals. Christian forces and activists withdrew gay-right legislation which lead to Proposition 6. The harshness from background of homosexuality back in the 1940’s and 50’s took the freedom away from the homosexuals. After the harshness, there came a little bit of hope for the homosexuals in San Francisco. Castro, a city in San Francisco, became the center of gay neighborhood. In 1964, gay men formed Society of Individual Right (SIR), and 1,200 members joined. Homosexuals started having good views when Sipple who was gay saved the president from a gunshot. Finally in 1972, Board of Supervisor banned the discrimination law for homosexuals. Even though in 1940...
Do humans let their gender define their capability to learn? In the “The Gender Gap at School,” David Brooks talks about how “Male reading rates are falling three times as fast as among young women’s” (Brooks 391), because teachers are not providing equal reading interest in both genders. However, gender does not play a role in males capability to succeed in their education for reading. “The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be, rather than recognizing how we are” (Adichie).
Why it is like that? Children don’t have social roles, they are just being who they are. And the most awful part is that they must lost the very important part of their individuality. It happens during the process of growing up, when they are being forced and compelled to adopt social norms. It might go smooth or becomes a struggle, but it’s inevitable. Our essence is uncomplete, it’s stocked up with numerous gender stereotypes and gender scripts. But if we strip off all the build-up of these stereotypes, we left to be miserable and lonely human being. Dar Williams song is a nice illustration hoe society slowly but surely imposed its gender rules in our lives. We receive feedbacks and instructions from literally everything. But we not just the receivers. We are active learners and teachers in gender school. We ourselves constantly give feedback and instructions to others. Thus, gender becomes interactive process. It emphasise West and Zimmerman, when they speak about gender accountability, “If sex category is omnirelevant (or even approaches being so), then a person engaged in virtually any activity may be held accountable for performance of that activity as a woman or a man” (West, Zimmerman “Doing Gender”, 1987, p. 136). It seems that every our move becomes gender accountable, and all of us are sharing this duty to maintain each other gender. To the certain extend, it becomes obligation for every individual to keep gender binary active, and we all doing so by
The history of the gay rights movement goes as far back as the late 19th century. More accurately, the quest by gays to search out others like themselves and foster a feeling of identity has been around since then. It is an innovative movement that seeks to change existing norms and gain acceptance within our culture. By 1915, one gay person said that the gay world was a "community, distinctly organized" (Milestones 1991), but kept mostly out of view because of social hostility. According to the Milestones article, after World War II, around 1940, many cities saw their first gay bars open as many homosexuals began to start a networking system. However, their newfound visibility only backfired on them, as in the 1950's president Eisenhower banned gays from holding federal jobs and many state institutions did the same. The lead taken by the federal government encouraged local police forces to harass gay citizens. "Vice officers regularly raided gay bars, sometimes arresting dozens of men and women on a single night" (Milestones). In spite of the adversity, out of the 1950s also came the first organized groups of gays, including leaders. The movement was small at first, but grew exponentially in short periods of time. Spurred on by the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the "homophile" (Milestones) movement took on more visibility, picketing government agencies and discriminatory policies. By 1969, around 50 gay organizations existed in the United States. The most crucial moment in blowing the gay rights movement wide open was on the evening of July 27, 1969, when a group of police raided a gay bar in New York City. This act prompted three days of rioting in the area called the Stonewall Rio...
It is not an easy task for a child to understand the obligations that accompany their assigned gender, yet while they encounter difficulties processing these thoughts they are also achieving a greater sense of identity. Different stages of life consist of social rules that encode how one is to behave, however, it is not clearly defined when the transition should occur from young girl to young woman. It is not surprising that learning about gender roles and their associated responsibilities is not an easy part of a young child’s maturation and is often the result of a very emotionally charged collection of experiences.
In our society, gender roles are instigated at a very young age. Society develops a standard or a norm of what role a women or man should play (Griffiths et al., 2015). For example, young girls are taught to play with dolls and learn
Homosexuality was viewed as a ‘sin’ that many couldn’t believe to be true. Many people didn’t understand how people could love someone of the same sex. It was even classified as a mental illness until 1973 because people believed there was something wrong in their head. The ones who were out of the closet were shamed and discriminated against, and those who lived in the closet lived in fear of being discovered. Families often disowned their own family members as they were embarrassed and ashamed. The 1980s were also a really hard time for homosexuals as it was when the AIDs epidemic began. Many people didn’t understand what was going on. However, it was quickly established as a ‘gay disease’ as most of the people getting infected were from the gay community. It was a time where many “gay men questioned why some were getting sick and other were not,” according to the HRSA Website. While many were trying to find themselves, others found themselves rejected and despised. The gay community itself was riddled with confusion as they didn’t know what was happening or why it was happening. “Families would often abandon their AIDS-stricken sons and brothers, some who never told their families that they were gay and some employees would fire people who became sick” (HRSA Website). Though it was all a misconception as HIV/AIDS
As a child grows and conforms to the world around them, they go through various stages, one of the most important and detrimental stages in childhood development is gender identity. The development of the meaning of a child’s gender and gender can form the whole future of that child’s identity as a person. This decision, whether accidental or genetic, can affect that child’s lifestyle views and social interactions for the rest of their lives. Ranging from making friends in school all the way to intimate relationships later on in life, gender identity can become an important aspect to ones future endeavors. It is always said that boys and girls are complete opposites as they grow.
The socialization of a person begins long before their birth, depending on the parents and the environment that they live in. Gender roles are forced on a child from the time that the parents discover the gender. Events such as revealing showers, baby showers, and decorating the nursey in a certain theme starts to affect the child and place them in a gender role. This from of socialization has been fairly common, up until the idea of the LGBT community became a norm. Once the LGBT community became a norm, the idea such a placing gender roles on a child before birth has become criticized. The concept of gender roles is very strong in socialization and it is effecting girls, boys, and the LGBT community.