Gender Roles

The “long held stereotype of the typical family” has become a thing in the past. More and more do we see both men and women seeking work outside of the home in order to provide a stable household? In today’s society, a woman who stays home is often considered as lazy or useless, which is far from true according to the long held stereotype. Although men and women have had a history of pushing boundaries and breaking free of their specific gender roles in the past, our people as a whole haven’t learned from these courageous examples. Instead, there are traditional ways in which our children are molded from long held ideals which have survived throughout many years and continue to segregate men and women apart. Certain occupations and many careers continue to devalue women and glue them as far away from greater opportunities. The media has also become the biggest influence in pushing men and women to conform to their gender appropriate roles. As a child, we are raised by the ideals and beliefs that our family and for many generations have considered to be important. Such ideals include children identifying their sex and determining what is considered to be appropriate for their gender. For example, toy stores are typically segregated, often seeing the boy toys separated from the girl toys. The color trend is also apparent in which blue is identified with boys and pink will quickly be assumed for a girl. Boys are also burdened by a secret code, which is commonly titled as the “Boy Code”. The Boy Code is a somewhat strict set of rules in which they are expected to be rough, independent and rather emotionless. On the other hand, parents tend to be cautious around young girls because they don’t expect them to be any of those manners. Typically girls are given the approval to be vulnerable, gentle and clumsy. Women are definitely taught that they live in a male dominated society. Education provides very little detail of how women have contributed to history and