Gender Roles: Why Do We Still Follow Them?

Rebecca Onstott
College Sociology
November 15, 2012
Gender Roles: Why do we still follow them? For centuries, gender roles have dictated the lives of men and women; from lives outside of the home and within the home, relationships with family and other close friends. In the beginning gender roles played a very strict purposes based on human anatomy. In the hunting and gathering society, men would go out to hunt and for war while the women would stay back and provide for the children. This was for a number of reasons; most importantly, because the women were the only ones capable of feeding the infants and toddlers (Macionis, 2012). Centuries later, as the world became more civilized, the American family began to adapt to a stricter set
Joel Wong have developed a new model of subjective masculinity experiences. They call their process the ISME, Inventory of Subjective Masculinity Experiences. The model is rooted in social constructionist perspectives on gender (Fetterolf, Rudman & Sanchez, 2012). In the process, researchers discovered that in today’s societies, more and more men are placing higher desire to be a part of family and become a nurturer but they fail to act on their desires because it is not as socially acceptable. In a simple prompt, (What does it mean to you to “be a man?” or “As a man I must...”) American men at the college level identified several expected responses such as, “as a man, I must be strong,” but also, researchers got responses pertaining to being good fathers (Fetterolf, Rudman & Sanchez, 2012) It was also found that men who considered family and household responsibilities as important factors in their masculinity where psychologically healthier (Fetterolf, Rudman & Sanchez, 2012).
In a separate study led by researcher Larry Lance, Lance discovered that personality characteristics are becoming more and more important to finding potential partners. Although men still look for women who are generally more “slim and trim,” it is becoming less important in comparison to a potential partner being charismatic (Lance,
In the past, gender roles have proved to be useful and valuable, but as technology and society advances and improves, women and men alike should be given the equal opportunities to explore their own personal interests. This can lead to both men and women to living personally fulfilling lives and making a positive difference in the lives of others (Hawke, 2007). Today, the lines are continuously being blurred and reblurred as people begin to slowly test the waters on what will become socially acceptable in tomorrow’s world. If society decides to accept these new boundaries, who knows what the limits for tomorrow will be. But if all society does is sit back and hold on to the traditionalistic idea that have been held so dear for this long, all the world will ever have is a dream of a dream for something better.

References
Boghokian, T. et al. (2011). The inventory of subjective masculinity experiences: development and psychometric properties. The Journal of Men 's Studies, pp.236.

Fetterolf, J. et al. (2012). Eroticizing inequality in the United States: the consequences and determinants of traditional gender role adherence in intimate relationships. The Journal of Sex Research,