The Impact Of Gender Roles

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Society gives everyone guidelines to follow like receiving a formal education, dressing up for a wedding or tipping a waitress. The expectations of society can be seen everywhere, and even dictate how a person dresses, acts, and feels based on that person’s gender. This predetermination of appropriate behavior and generalized set of expectations is identified as a gender role. Gender roles help children grow up feeling in common with members of the same gender and when these roles are followed, usually help avoid ostracization for being different. Gender roles are not for everyone forming problems for some people. Roles can unwilling force a person to participate in certain activities or trap a person in a career they do not enjoy. Sometimes gender roles give way to gender stereotypes. A gender stereotype is a simplified belief that is generalized to a particular gender. They may be accurate for one person, or may not. Gender stereotypes could include the thought that all men like to fight or that a woman should take …show more content…

From observing my grandparents and some older neighbors on my street I have come to believe that aging has different effects on males and females. This can start as early as adulthood when the physical appearance of people starts to change. I think women are more likely to dye grey hair and hide wrinkles to keep up a younger appearance. Also I think women may remain more social whereas men may be more likely to grow more reclusive. Both males and females often hold on to the past and don’t embrace new ideas as well. It seems to me that females may be more likely to embrace new ideas as males would feel the need to have an “alpha” position, making it harder to learn new things from younger people once aged. I think this carries over from gender roles learned in younger years and can be attributed to a person’s

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