BenjaminBecker

SpringTermSocratic#1GenderRoles

Genderroleshavebeenintegratedintohumancivilizationsforhundredsofyearsbut
aretheynecessaryinmoderndaysociety?Genderrolescanbeobservedinearlierhunterand
gatherersocieties.Itwasacommonsituationthatinthesesocietiesthatcertainjobswere
deemedmoremasculineorfemininethanothers.Theserolesweredeterminedentirelyby
onessizeandstrength.Itoftenmadesenseforthewomen(childbearers),tostayhomeand
gather,whilethemenwhohadalargerphysiquewentouttohunt.Nowadays,wehaveabetter
knowledgeaboutgenderandhowmuchmoresimilarmenandwomenare.Genderrolesareno
longeracrucialpartofsocietyandshouldnotbeasheavilyemphasizedastheycurrentlyare.
Inthecurrentstateofoursociety,theserolesareassignedwhilestillinthewomb.
Beforeachildisevenbornitisalreadypredeterminedwhetherornotitwillwearmasculine
(traditionallyblue)orfeminine(traditionallypink)clothing.Thesecolorcodedgenderlabelsare
entirelybasedonifsaidchildisaboyoragirl,withouteventakingtheirpersonalityinto
account.Soonafterastheygrowindevelopment,certainideologiesabouthowachildshould
actbasedontheirgenderisheavilyenforced.Thisismostcommonlyinfluencedbytheparents
orguardiansandgeneralmedia.InAmericanculture,masculinerolesareusuallyassociated
withstrength,aggression,anddominance,whilefemininerolesareusuallyassociatedwith
passivity,nurturing,andsubordination.(BoundlessPsychology2015)Andtheenforcementof
genderrolesinchildhooddoesntstopthere.Studieshaveshownthatchildrenwilloftenchoose
themostgenderappropriatetoystoplaywithbecauseofthepositivefeedbackreceivedfrom
parents(Caldera,Huston,andO'Brien1998).TheseFemininetoysareoftenrelatedtodolls

andclothingrelated,whilemasculinetoysareusuallymoreviolenceoriented.Thisisonly
brieflytouchingonhowheavilytheserolesareimposed.
Thereisalmostnocorrelationbetweengenderandmanypersonalityattributes,suchas
aggression,verbalskills,orquantitativeskills,accordingtoPatriciaB.Campbelletal.In
regardstotheseattributes,thereisamuchgreaterassociationbetweentheportrayalofthese
characteristicsatanearlierageandhowthepersonwillactlateronregardlessofthegender.If
anindividualdoeswellquantitativelyatanearlierage,theyarelikelytodowellwithquantitative
skillslater.Genderhasnoplayinthis.Despitethefactthatthereislittletonocorrelation
betweentheseattributes,thementalitystillexistthatpeopleshouldfitthemoldsofgender
stereotypes.Knowingifapersonisamanorawomantellsuslittletonothinginregardsto
whichtopicstheywillgravitatetowards.However,thisisdirectlyrelatedtohowachildisraised
andthevaluesthatareinstilledatayoungage.Inregardstotheexampleofgenderingtoys,
thiskindofbehaviorcanentirelychangeachildsideaonwhatitmeanstobeacertaingender.
Byenforcingthismindsetandperpetuatingtheunrealisticstereotypesatsuchayoungagewe
arelimitingthepotentialofourfuturegenerationstodogreatandprogressfurtherregardlessof
one'sgender.
Genderrolesmayhavebeenacrucialpartofsocietyalongtimeago,buttheyareno
longerrelevantinmoderntimes.Theyhaveamuchlargernegativeimpactthantheyhavea
positiveone.Enforcinggenderrolescanresultinaclosedmindsetthatcanpossiblyholdback
onesfullpotential.However,therearemanychangestomakeasasocietytohelpbetterthe
situation.Forexample,inregardstothestereotypeaboutintelligenceanditscorrespondenceto
gender,PatriciaB.Campbellsuggeststhatweshouldbeawarethatwhilethereisnoevidence
ofamathgene,thereisalotofevidencethatpracticeandencouragementimprovesmathand

scienceskillsforgirls(andforboys).Andingeneral,weshouldhavethiskindofoutlookon
stereotypesasawhole.Inessence,genderrolesmaysetbacksocietyasawholeandcan
influencepeoplenegatively,thusrenderingthemunnecessary.

Sources

Campbell,Ph.d.PatriciaB.,JenniferN.Storo,OfficeOfEducationalResearchAnd
Improvement,andU.s.DepartmentOfEducation.
GirlsAre...BoysAre...:Myths,Stereotypes&
GenderDifferences
(n.d.):n.pag.Web.
"MenandWomenHuntersandGatherers."
MenandWomenHuntersandGatherers.

N.p.,n.d.Web.02June2015.
"GenderandSociologyBoundlessOpenTextbook."
Boundless.
N.p.,n.d.Web.02
June2015.
Cherney,IsabelleD.,LisaKellyVance,KatrinaGillGlover,AmyRuane,andBrigette
OliverRyalls."TheEffectsofStereotypedToysandGenderonPlayAssessmentinChildren
Aged1847Months."
EducationalPsychology
23.1(2003):95106.Web.