Changing Gender Roles Essay
Gender roles have been around since the time life started. However, everything always seem to change over time, whether it be from work, or by itself. Gender roles, the ones from 1000 years ago and the ones today, are no exception. Gender roles have changed throughout the trip of time, but they have also kept some foundation from the ancient time roles. Men and women views have changed over time, but they still have similar basis from long, long ago. Men were always seen as the more dominant position of our society since the beginning as well as today. Stated from Source 1, “Men were active, independent, course, strong, ...stoic, aggressive, dependable, and not feminine.” (excerpt from Partners in psychology, “Chapter 7, Gender Stereotypes:
…show more content…
Masculinity and Femininity”) Men have, for the most part, always done their own part in their way of life. They need to protect their loved ones, show who’s boss, and live as much as they can, a natural instinct. In “Much Ado About Nothing”, written by Shakespeare, Ursula claims, “ Signor Benedick, For shape, for bearing, argument and valor, Goes foremost in report through Italy.” (102) Benedick is talked about as good looking, brave, and intelligent. This is what attracts women to men. As this is true, then men would not have to change their position as the ultimate goal in life is to find love and pass on genetics. Men have always been this way to show that they are the one for the ladies. By doing so, they have created a basis and foundation on what they are suppose to behave and their role in the society. So, this suggests that the male gender has pretty much remained stable from then till now. Women have also been pretty stable in our society. They are seen as inferior to men, and they have the more “gentle” and “soft” role in life. It has been this way for a long stretch of time. In Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”, Margaret made a statement on sex and, in return, Hero exclaims, “Fie upon thee! Art not ashamed?” (140) Hero exclaims in such shock due to the reason that women were not meant to speak in that way. If you do, you are considered a whore or someone really loose in their sex life. This is not much different from today’s views. If you are talking about sexual subjects, people assume you are very open. This fact has not changed. The idealization of women in the 19th century, not too long ago, as declared by Source 1, says women are seen as, “ passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate.” (excerpt from Partners in psychology, “Chapter 7, Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity”) Women roles are quite the opposite of the men, due to the stereotypes given. That being said, it seems to be that the women roles, as a whole, also seemed to have been somewhat constant. Aside from all the similarities of gender roles from the past and now, there are still changes that happened as we evolved into the society that we are today.
Most women from the past seem to have been quite a bit more passive than the women in our time now. As time went on, and our society developed, the ideologies also shifted a bit. As read in Source 4, the female gender role would say that they, “‘ have to be nice and pretty and smart and smile a lot.’ And you ask them now, you know what they say? ‘I can be anything I want. I can do anything’” The mindset change happened over centuries to show that women can also speak their mind and say their truth. Women now can have a stand and say that they want what they want. Now, even men have taken a turn in the gender roles. Source 4 also claimed that, “The number of stay-at-home fathers on the rise - more than double since 1994.” Men are suppose to be out and about, working, making money for the family, so this is definitely a change in the male spectrum of the roles of genders. Source 1 noted that, “ Despite the notion that masculinity has undergone drastic changes in the past two decades… [ there is ] little change in hegemonic masculinity.” Male gender roles have been adjusted and changed a bit, there still are foundations that define what men are. There are still models men feel the need to
follow.
All in all, gender role foundation have pretty much remained stable throughout history and has not been altered much. They are, however, bended and tweaked as now, some male and female have switched their roles, with some men doing female duties while the females make the bread. Aside from that, most of the gender roles and how the genders are categorized, are still very much similar to the ones from the past. They are still held to the majority of the traditional expectations and norms.
Masculinity and Femininity”) Men have, for the most part, always done their own part in their way of life. They need to protect their loved ones, show who’s boss, and live as much as they can, a natural instinct. In “Much Ado About Nothing”, written by Shakespeare, Ursula claims, “ Signor Benedick, For shape, for bearing, argument and valor, Goes foremost in report through Italy.” (102) Benedick is talked about as good looking, brave, and intelligent. This is what attracts women to men. As this is true, then men would not have to change their position as the ultimate goal in life is to find love and pass on genetics. Men have always been this way to show that they are the one for the ladies. By doing so, they have created a basis and foundation on what they are suppose to behave and their role in the society. So, this suggests that the male gender has pretty much remained stable from then till now. Women have also been pretty stable in our society. They are seen as inferior to men, and they have the more “gentle” and “soft” role in life. It has been this way for a long stretch of time. In Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing”, Margaret made a statement on sex and, in return, Hero exclaims, “Fie upon thee! Art not ashamed?” (140) Hero exclaims in such shock due to the reason that women were not meant to speak in that way. If you do, you are considered a whore or someone really loose in their sex life. This is not much different from today’s views. If you are talking about sexual subjects, people assume you are very open. This fact has not changed. The idealization of women in the 19th century, not too long ago, as declared by Source 1, says women are seen as, “ passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate.” (excerpt from Partners in psychology, “Chapter 7, Gender Stereotypes: Masculinity and Femininity”) Women roles are quite the opposite of the men, due to the stereotypes given. That being said, it seems to be that the women roles, as a whole, also seemed to have been somewhat constant. Aside from all the similarities of gender roles from the past and now, there are still changes that happened as we evolved into the society that we are today.
Most women from the past seem to have been quite a bit more passive than the women in our time now. As time went on, and our society developed, the ideologies also shifted a bit. As read in Source 4, the female gender role would say that they, “‘ have to be nice and pretty and smart and smile a lot.’ And you ask them now, you know what they say? ‘I can be anything I want. I can do anything’” The mindset change happened over centuries to show that women can also speak their mind and say their truth. Women now can have a stand and say that they want what they want. Now, even men have taken a turn in the gender roles. Source 4 also claimed that, “The number of stay-at-home fathers on the rise - more than double since 1994.” Men are suppose to be out and about, working, making money for the family, so this is definitely a change in the male spectrum of the roles of genders. Source 1 noted that, “ Despite the notion that masculinity has undergone drastic changes in the past two decades… [ there is ] little change in hegemonic masculinity.” Male gender roles have been adjusted and changed a bit, there still are foundations that define what men are. There are still models men feel the need to
follow.
All in all, gender role foundation have pretty much remained stable throughout history and has not been altered much. They are, however, bended and tweaked as now, some male and female have switched their roles, with some men doing female duties while the females make the bread. Aside from that, most of the gender roles and how the genders are categorized, are still very much similar to the ones from the past. They are still held to the majority of the traditional expectations and norms.