Unrealistic Expectations: Gender Roles Effects of Society
Unrealistic Expectations: Gender Roles Effects of Society
“My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.” In 1890, when Oscar Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, the attitude towards women was nowhere close to positive. Men did not look at women with much respect and only thought of them as domestic trophy wife. According to Oscar Wilde, they lacked intelligence and the ability to substance. These ideas were at one point a social norm. Everyone believed in them. Times have changed and these ideas seem too ridiculous to be real. In our society now we strive for gender equality and although gender roles are a social norm in all societies, BMW ads exploit gender roles because they portray women as objects of desire and redefine the living standards.
Gender roles are a set of social and behavioral norms that are generally considered appropriate for either a man or a woman in a social or interpersonal relationship. The best-known example of gender roles in our society is that women take care of the house and children while men gravitate towards the workforce. At a quick glance this seems acceptable but when you look further into the issue you discover that the extreme case is women do all the cleaning, cooking and take care of the children while men rule the household because they provide the income. Although these roles seem to be natural in our society there are many people who do not fit under these norms. Some women would much prefer to be in the workforce than cook and take care of children while some men opt to be stay at home dads. Gender roles are not an issue; the issue is expectations that arise from these claims. Girls are known to be nurturing and supportive while boys are more unique and exhibit more leadership qualities.
Gender role expectations don’t end at women being
“My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mind, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals.” In 1890, when Oscar Wilde wrote The Picture of Dorian Gray, the attitude towards women was nowhere close to positive. Men did not look at women with much respect and only thought of them as domestic trophy wife. According to Oscar Wilde, they lacked intelligence and the ability to substance. These ideas were at one point a social norm. Everyone believed in them. Times have changed and these ideas seem too ridiculous to be real. In our society now we strive for gender equality and although gender roles are a social norm in all societies, BMW ads exploit gender roles because they portray women as objects of desire and redefine the living standards.
Gender roles are a set of social and behavioral norms that are generally considered appropriate for either a man or a woman in a social or interpersonal relationship. The best-known example of gender roles in our society is that women take care of the house and children while men gravitate towards the workforce. At a quick glance this seems acceptable but when you look further into the issue you discover that the extreme case is women do all the cleaning, cooking and take care of the children while men rule the household because they provide the income. Although these roles seem to be natural in our society there are many people who do not fit under these norms. Some women would much prefer to be in the workforce than cook and take care of children while some men opt to be stay at home dads. Gender roles are not an issue; the issue is expectations that arise from these claims. Girls are known to be nurturing and supportive while boys are more unique and exhibit more leadership qualities.
Gender role expectations don’t end at women being
Cited: Drago, Robert, and Claudia Williams. "IWPR Publication." The Gender Wage Gap 2009 (Updated September 2010). Institute for Women 's Policy Research, Sept. 2010. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. . Nauert, Rick, PHD. "Medias Growing Sexualization of Women | Psych Central News." Psych Central.com. Psych Central., 2011. Web. 16 Sept. 2012. .