Negative Consequences of Gender Role Stereotyping Essay -- Class Gende

In our society today, men and women perform distinctly different roles which are based on nothing more than their biological gender. Although these roles do not hold true for each individual, the majority of people live out their lives in accordance with these extremely pervasive roles. Society tends to assign classes of social roles to "male" individuals and classes of social roles to "female" individuals (as society perceives their sexes). These gender roles limit what both males and females can and cannot do. Gender roles enslave individuals and force them to be what others want them to be. They are perpetuated and reinforced by the mass media and society in general many ways, some which are obvious and others which are more subtle. In many societies, there is a strong tendency to exaggerate these gender roles, and it seems to frequently jump from a valid observation to a false conclusion. Individuals within the culture are expected to conform to these "norms" and are socialized in manners which constantly reinforce the beliefs and behaviors which are prescribed and presupposed for them. We live in a sexually repressive society, but in order to break out of these binds, people must define their sexuality on their own terms, and not be manipulated and dominated by cultural "norms" of beauty, desirability and behavior. Gender role is a social construction of a particular cultural group's expectation of another person's behaviors, attitudes, values and beliefs based on their perceived biological sex. Biological factors have strong impacts on occupations that are judged by a society to be appropriate for men and for women. The probl... ... L.A. (1998). The allocation of household labor in gay, lesbian, and heterosexual married couples. In D.L. Anselmi & A.L. Law (Eds.), Questions of Gender (pp. 582-591). Boston: McGraw-Hill. McIntosh, P. (1998). White privilege and male privilege. In M.L. Andersen & P. Hill Collins (Eds.), Race, Class and Gender: An anthology (3/e). Boston: Wadsworth, pp. 94-105. Plous, S. (2003). Understanding prejudice and discrimination. Boston: McGraw-Hill, pp. 507-536. Pollack, W. (1998). Real boys. New York: Henry Holt, pp. 3-64, 272-337. Schiebinger, L. (1993). Nature's body: Gender in the making of modern science. Boston: Beacon, pp. 11-39, 143-183. Steinem, G. (1998). If men could menstruate. In M.L. Andersen & P. Hill Collins (Eds.), Race, Class and Gender: An anthology (3/e). Boston: Wadsworth, pp. 428-429