Articles

EVOLVING GENDER ROLES

Every individual in society has their own role depending on their gender. It encompasses how a person is supposed to act, speak, look, dress, and behave. For example, men are usually expected to be strong, bold, and assertive; whereas, women are supposed to be docile, accommodating, adjusting, and polite. Habitually, when a child is born, depending on the gender of the child, he or she is taught all the roles which have to be kept in mind as they grow up. These gender schemas are deeply embedded cognitive frameworks regarding what defines
masculinity and femininity. A gender schema perspective emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes in gender development. Across childhood and adolescence, young children build schemas about gender-appropriate roles and behaviors. Adults also perceive and treat female and male infants differently. Parents, teachers, peers, as well as various sources of entertainment, consciously or unconsciously try to reinforce gender roles throughout the lifespan. For instance- fathers teach boys how to fix and build things while mothers teach girls how to
cook, sew, and keep the house clean, etc. With time, the binary division of gender is also facing major issues, as the two primary sex categories of male and female cannot accommodate other sexual identities.

Gender and gender roles keep changing with the rapid change in society. The shift in gender roles happens due to multiple factors such as changes in the family structure, evolving education, media, and other entertainment factors. Sigmund Freud, a famous Psychologist, asserted that biology is the key determinant of gender identity. Since this notion was made famous, critics have objected to it by saying that identity isn’t solely the domain of nature or nurture, but some combination of the two. Traditionally, it was believed that males are the breadwinners and women are the homemakers, however now times have changed as men and women have started to share both of these responsibilities. Women first started working during world war II when the bread-earners of the family went to fight. Even though they were back in their traditional position after the war, they didn’t remain there for long. The social changes of the 1960s and 1970s caused a
the cultural revolution that found many women pursuing careers outside their homes.

In a male-dominated society, gender stereotypes are unavoidable. A stereotype is a widely accepted judgment or bias about a person or a group- it is oversimplified and mostly inaccurate, and such stereotypes about gender can lead to unequal and unfair treatment based on the person’s gender. For instance- in a survey, it was brought out that women spent several hours every day caring for children and the elderly, cooking and cleaning the homes. This work is of course ‘unpaid’ and even so, this ‘unpaid care work’ is critical to everyday life; yet it is unequally distributed in every household. According to research, the ratio of how much of this work is done by women vs. men ranges widely from 1.5x in Norway and Canada to around 10x in some South Asian countries. However, nowhere is this work distributed equally.

In order to understand gender roles and their evolution, it is important to note the various kinds of gender stereotypes. There are four basic kinds- personality traits, domestic behavior, occupation, and physical appearance. The personality of a woman is expected to be docile and emotional, and they are supposed to govern their family and household chores along with engaging in some decent occupation such as teachers or nurses and are also supposed to look graceful and thin. While, the personality of a man is to be bold, aggressive, and self-confident. They should be taking care of the finances and should be taking up a job that is more complicated such as a pilot or an engineer. They should always look tall and muscular. This can often be toxic. Gender stereotypes are harmful because they don’t allow people to fully express themselves and their emotions.

Gender roles are cultural and societal. They are not to be condemned if distributed equally between men and women. Both these genders have fought a long way to prove that there is no said rule to work or to be a part of society. Even before the Neolithic Revolution, in which society became more stable and shifted from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle into an agricultural one, the roles of men and women were equal. But due to the dominance of one particular gender, the whole balance got disturbed. The evolution of the roles has a long way to go even today, but gradually with correct education and appropriate, healthy upbringing patterns, this can be tackled. A feminist society is an ultimate goal and every day we move one step ahead to achieving it.