Essay On Gender Roles In Society

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The roles of men and women have been engrained in the mind of society for centuries. The evolution of gender roles has not been entirely natural. Gender roles have developed since the beginning of time and have acquired a strong position in modern culture. They have been exacerbated by society’s stereotypes which strongly influences people’s actions. People’s unwillingness to be independent in what they do, without being influenced by societal norms, is a strong factor in the pervasive nature of these roles in society. Societal norms are unavoidable in modern culture and it has become increasingly difficult for these roles to evolve naturally. The idea of straying away from the role in which one has been assigned to at birth is not promoted …show more content…

This includes the means of reproduction to produce offspring through sexual intercourse. Men are not biologically able to carry children, while women are. Therefore, men are expected to provide for their families through their careers while the women care for their offspring. However, the idea that every individual in society must aspire to this ideal is not representative of society as a whole. Some people may choose not to follow the traditional norms regarding the family, which society has become accustomed to. Not all women must decide to be mothers that care for a family and the same goes for men, who do not have to be the ‘breadwinners’ of the household. These decisions that people make are influenced by their gender, as opposed to their sex.

In order to fully understand the roles of men and women, we must first determine the distinctions between sex and gender. According to Giddens, A. (2006), sex is a term used to refer to the anatomical and physiological differences that define male and female bodies. Gender, however, is comprised of the psychological, social and cultural differences between male and females. This is a vital distinction when exploring the various roles performed by men and women in

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