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Negative effect of gender roles and stereotypes
Women and the patriarchal society
Negative effect of gender roles and stereotypes
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Inherent differences between the sexes assign women in patriarchal societies into a disparaging, separate class from men. Male standards dictate that woman’s individual traits are meaningless. Oppression of women in male dominant societies reduces them to their ability as mothers and wives. Resisting patriarchal oppression by expressing idiosyncrasies often results in persecution, ridicule, and labeling women as undesirable. Oftentimes, the restraint and maltreatment of diverse womanhood leads to a lower quality of life for women, unhappiness in marriage, and impedes romantic and sexual intimacy. Many feminist works of literature illustrate how punishing unique behaviors and suppressing their personalities women into a class removed from and second to men. Her ability to care, both for her husband and her children, is a woman’s sole value in a patriarchy. Childbirth and rearing stand as one …show more content…
While these traits in a woman are positive, isolating those traits as a woman’s core value in society sets them apart from men. Judy Brady satirizes the divide between men and women by emphasizing the duties men expect women to wholly take care of. Patriarchies expect women to “make sure [the] children eat properly and are kept clean... wash the children's clothes and keep them mended… [arrange] for their schooling, [make] sure that they have an adequate social life with their peers... care [for] the children when they are sick… [arrange] to be around when the children need special care” alongside doting over their husbands wants and needs (Brady 345). Patriarchies breed a toxic masculinity that prevents men from exploring “feminine” aspects of their personality, as well as women from exploring “masculine” aspects. Men doing anything a
As women are forced to adhere to beauty standards, men are allowed to be confident in who they are. They are not bombarded with images of the perfect women, allow there is beauty standards that are expected of men (must be tall, muscular, etc). Women are not allowed to explore their sexuality in the same way that men are. If they do mimic the behavior of men, they are viciously slut shamed. This can occur by both men and women, as women can be rude and mean to other women who explore sexually. Sexism also creates a different reality for men and women in the way that they express emotions. In The Mask We LIve In, it shows that we live in a culture in which boys are not allowed to cry. This reality is different for women who are fully allowed to express their full range of emotions. Men, however, are only really allowed to be angry. This repression of emotion leads to outbursts and violence, a possible explanation as to why men are more likely to commit violent crimes. By creating these different realities, sexism has shaped my own life. Growing up in a Mexican household, I was expected to clean the house everyday. My brother was not expected to do this, as he had to clean outside with my father. This separation in responsibilities enforced a strict role that men and women had to follow. In addition to this, I saw sexism in the relationship between my parents. My father had full economic control over my mother. As an abuser, he would use this control to dominate my mother’s actions. Internalizing this, my mother would blame herself for his abuse. In all of these ways, sexism has negatively impacted my life. I have, at times, sustained and strengthened sexism by adhering to gender roles and placing these gender roles on other. Throughout elementary school, I placed certain expectations of masculinity on my peers. If someone were to do something that was considered feminine, I would say, “that’s
Women have been submitted to believe they live to care for their household and to respect men as the ones with absolute authority. Girls are expected to help the mothers with their younger siblings and helping care for the house. Women are taught that they need prepare themselves to be the best wifes. Being punished physically, mentally, and verbally is viewed as normal and acceptable when the women are not up to the expectations of the man. These gender norms are implemented into young girls life by their parents, society, and history.
Realistically, when someone is more powerful, they have the ability to set the rules. Men have historically held power in society, which means that women did not have as much stance or freedoms as men have had in the past. For example, Canadian women did not have the right to vote until the year 1916. This factor has continued to trail into the present day, creating the ‘weak’ image towards women, overall forcing and pushing men to become the opposite of this factor. Thus, cultural ideals of masculinity rely on the ideas of femininity through patriarchy and gender binaries. The emphasis on characteristics of men are being exaggerated, as society is pressuring men with unattainable standards of masculinity such as being tough, muscular and buff. Men continue to conform to these characteristics, in the fear of being oppressed through exclusion, which only strengthens society’s standards even more. This leads to more societal pressures on men, thus leading men to experience more societal pressures in the fear of feeling excluded. These “systems of inclusion and exclusion are divisions or barriers that prevent people from joining and belonging.” (50). For example, if a man wears nail polish, they may be oppressed and excluded through facing ridicule and bullying, because wearing nail polish is considered “girly”, therefore this boy is rebelling against society’s socially
The workplace became masculinized, and the home feminized. By the separation of the masculine and feminine spheres that had been promoted, men and women now lived in separate worlds. By the turn of the twentieth century, men realized that their exclusion from the domestic sphere was, in fact, harmful to them: It left men “unable to experience the love, nurture and repose that the home supposedly represented” (Kimmel 158). Men were also worried at the “feminization” that potentially threatened their sons: men feared that women, who had the main responsibility for the upbringing of the children, would make the sons into
In the majority of early cultures and societies, women have always been considered subservient and inferior to men. Since the first wave of feminism in the 19th century, women began to revolt against those prejudicial social boundaries by branching out of the submissive scope, achieving monumental advances in their roles in civilization. However, gender inequality is still prevalent in developed countries. Women frequently fall victim to gender-based assault and violence, suffer from superficial expectations, and face discriminatory barriers in achieving leadership roles in employment and equal pay. Undoubtedly, women have gained tremendous recognition in their leaps towards equal opportunity, but to condone these discrepancies, especially
As the realization of women as an exploited group increases, the similarity of their position to that of racial and ethnic groups becomes more apparent. Women are born into their sexual identity and are easily distinguished by physical and cultural characteristics. In addition, women now identify that they are all sufferers of an ideology (sexism) that tries to justify their inferior treatment.
Within the public sphere women had the option of peaceful protest which allowed for them to sway the political system that had oppressed them for so long. Unfortunately public protest could not change the oppression that took place in the private sphere of domesticity. We can see in the story that Mother has no intere... ... middle of paper ... ... E. Freeman.
In a society where women are considered less than men, masochism reigns. Masculinity assumes that men are the valuable gender in the world: more intelligent, better problem solvers, and harder workers. It also assumes that women are best led by men: should women should be followers and obey their husbands. In “Beautiful Señoritas,” masochism remains strong. Even today, in certain parts of the Latin world, there are men invested in masculine views, those extremes of superiority are seen in characters such as Don José. The United States has been a worldwide leader in women’s rights and equality, and many cultures and nationalities have lagged far behind in recognizing equality for women. Notably Latin, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures have women in subservient roles, with harsh punishment and outcast from society often the result for women that try to esta...
Prior to the 1970s when the theme of gender issues was still quite foreign, the societal norm forced female conformity to male determined standards because “this is a man’s world” (Kerr 406). The patriarchal society painted the image of both men and women accordingly to man’s approach of societal standards that include the defining features of manhood that consist of “gentil...
To begin this paper, I want to explain a little bit about Feminist Criticism. This category of criticism scrutinizes the means in which texts have been molded in accordance with matters of gender. It concentrates on social and financial disparities in a “male-controlled” culture that continues to impede women from grasping their true potentials. There are several perceptions and theories universally shared by feminist critics. One such belief is that our society is undeniably regulated by men. Another belief is that the concept of “gender” is mostly, if not wholly, a social standard that has curtailed from the never ending masculine biases that engulf our world. This male dominated philosophy is excessively abundant in most of the writings that are deemed exceptional literature. In addition, many feminist consider females, in literature, to be represented as destructive or docile objects, while most males are portrayed as being brave and resilient leaders.
Women – beautiful, strong matriarchal forces that drive and define a portion of the society in which we live – are poised and confident individuals who embody the essence of determination, ambition, beauty, and character. Incomprehensible and extraordinary, women are persons who possess an immense amount of depth, culture, and sophistication. Society’s incapability of understanding the frame of mind and diversity that exists within the female population has created a need to condemn the method in which women think and feel, therefore causing the rise of “male-over-female” domination – sexism. Sexism is society’s most common form of discrimination; the need to have gender based separation reveals our culture’s reluctance to embrace new ideas, people, and concepts. This is common in various aspects of human life – jobs, households, sports, and the most widespread – the media. In the media, sexism is revealed through the various submissive, sometimes foolish, and powerless roles played by female models; because of these roles women have become overlooked, ignored, disregarded – easy to look at, but so hard to see.
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had been so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives.
Society’s gender infrastructure has changed since the 1920’s and the nineteen amendment that allowed women the right to vote. Or so we thought, many of the gender expectations that were engraved into our early society still remain intact today. Women for many people still mean an immaterial, negligible, and frivolous part of our society. However, whatever the meaning of the word women one has, the same picture is always painted; that of a housewife, mother, and daughter. Women are expected to fallow the structural identity of living under her husband 's submissions. Threatening the social norm of what is accepted to be a woman in society can put in jeopardy the personal reputation of a woman, such treating her as a whore. But, what happens
Women have always been essential to society. Fifty to seventy years ago, a woman was no more than a house wife, caregiver, and at their husbands beck and call. Women had no personal opinion, no voice, and no freedom. They were suppressed by the sociable beliefs of man. A woman’s respectable place was always behind the masculine frame of a man. In the past a woman’s inferiority was not voluntary but instilled by elder women, and/or force. Many, would like to know why? Why was a woman such a threat to a man? Was it just about man’s ability to control, and overpower a woman, or was there a serious threat? Well, everyone has there own opinion about the cause of the past oppression of woman, it is currently still a popular argument today.
Michael Levin, a professor of philosophy and author of the book Feminism and Freedom, faults feminism for trying to impose an inappropriate equality on men and women that conflicts basic biological differences between the sexes (Levin, Taking Sides, 42). Women are not the same as men, neither physically nor psychologically. In the past, men tended to be the stronger more powerful gender, while women have traditionally been viewed as the weaker, more feeble one. The untrue assumption that men and women are the same in their ways of thinking and physical capabilities leads to the failure of the feminist message. Their agenda of eliminating all observable differences between men and women is doomed to fail and will inflict more pain than gain in the process. Recognizing the differences between the sexes and allowing each to do what they are strongest at will in the long run make society stronger, more efficient, and more effective.