Gender Roles: A Personal and Societal Perspective

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My gender was impressed upon me from the minute I was born as I was wrapped in a fuzzy pink blanket and had a bow taped to my bald head. Gender refers to our behavior, feelings, and attitudes as dictated by our society or culture (Defining, 2015). Not only our family, but our peers, schools, and society influence and shape our beliefs and views about our gender (Defining, 2015). It is thought that our gender is socially constructed as our notion of what women and men are and what they are supposed to be is created by the society in which we live (Gender, 2010). As a female born and raised in Philadelphia in the United States in the 1960’s, my gender role, behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that society, was that of a passive, nurturing, and subordinate person. …show more content…

I was consistently asked if I was also going to be a nurse, teacher, or secretary which are stereotypically thought of as female careers. The jobs of engineer, scientist, or doctor were never mentioned. Interestingly enough, I became both a wife and mother, and established a career in education as a preschool teacher. Many institutions in our society are gendered (Gender, 2010). We “do gender” every day, all the time as it is an ongoing activity that cannot be avoided (Doing, 2011). Fortunately, there has been a great upheaval and revising of its traditional gender roles in the United States which is affecting gender roles in the home, the workplace, and school as more Americans are accepting and adapting to new definitions of gender roles (Gender,

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