The Shaping of Gender Roles

Gender roles have existed for almost as long as the human race has existed and it is quite possible that they will continue to exist in the foreseeable future. They are a part of our daily lives and is manifested within the society by observable factors such as how one behaves or appears. They are patterns of feelings deemed appropriate or inappropriate because of one’s gender and they derive from the social expectations of how members of the different genders should behave. For example, if a person considers themselves to be female, then she would be expected to display the characteristics which are typically associated with being female, such as being gentle, dependent and expressive of their feelings. There are various factors that are used to determine the gender roles in society and the most important of these are biological, social, and cultural factors.

The biological make up of an individual in society has long been used to determine how that person should behave. However, there is yet to be proof of the fact that whether one is male or female, he or she is born with the innate knowledge of the characteristics that are often ascribed to their gender. In fact, those who support the idea that biology determines gender roles cannot explain how or why some males become very emotional and cry in situations where they are expected to be strong and unemotional. This helps to show that biology does is not necessarily a determining factor in gender roles.

The society plays a major role in determining the gender roles of the individuals within it. These individuals learn about their roles in society through their interactions with their family members, their socializing with their teachers and friends at school, and through the influence of mass media. The parents of a large number of people in society determine the gender roles of their children and rigidly enforce them. Therefore, these individuals grow up knowing the roles which are expected of their gender and are not allowed to choose for themselves because of the set societal norms.

Culture is another major factor that determines the gender roles of individuals in the societies within which they live. There are many different cultures around the world and each has its own expectations about what roles the members of each sex should undertake. While in most Western societies the male is expected to be dominant in society, in other cultures such as in some Asian communities, women are very powerful players within the society and major decisions cannot be made without consulting them.

The various roles that are ascribed to the various genders are mostly determined by the society within which one lives and by its culture. Biology only acts as a marker to determine how the society is going to socialize an individual to behave and it is not in itself a definer of gender roles. Within the modern world, gender roles are starting to become insignificant because it has been proven that women can take up the roles traditionally reserved for men with the same efficiency and the reverse has also been proven to be true. The gender roles are today slowly becoming blurred and they may cease to exist altogether in future.