Gender Role Controversy free essay sample

Gender can be defined in many different ways based on the opinions of the person you are asking. To me, I believe gender refers to the behaviors and roles that our society deems appropriate for men and women. Although gender roles have changed over time and males and females have become more equal, a certain stereotype of behaviors and tasks which are acceptable for men and women still exists today. For example, cooking and cleaning, home repairs, and being the ‘breadwinner† in the family are all tasks which we as a society usually perceive to be done more often by one gender over the other. Cooking and cleaning has been seen as a woman’s job in the household throughout history. When women could not work and had to raise children at home, they built the stereotypical standard that women need to stay home and cook and clean and raise babies, because that is literally what women did at one time in history. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Role Controversy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, with the growth of more women getting jobs during wars when their husbands were overseas, going to college, and becoming more equal with men, the stereotype has somewhat dissolved. Women currently make up almost half of the workforce, yet many occupations remain gender segregated (U. S. Department of Labor, 2005). For example, mechanics, construction workers, and firefighters are careers mostly dominated by males, whereas child daycare, event planning, and fashion and design related careers are typically dominated by women. Many groups of people, both men and women, still believe that women should stay at home and do their ‘womanly duties’, but that is not the reality of the society we live in today. On the other hand, men have stereotypes as to what they should do in a household as well. Society has been complacent with the idea that men do all the ‘dirty’ work, like home and car repairs, killing bugs in the house, going to investigate a noise heard within the house, and other ‘masculine’ tasks such as those. This stereotype also evolved from our history, when women turned to men to do those jobs because they did not know how, or it was seemingly wrong in society for women to perform such tasks. This certain stereotype is still more prevalent than not in our society, however it has been less one sided in the recent years. Women now know how to fix cars, do home repairs, and it is more acceptable for women perform these and other tasks that were once solely dominated by men. A final gender issue formed and shaped by our society has been that men are the ‘breadwinners’ in the household, or that they got out and work and make the money to bring home to support the family. This stereotype is becoming less and less common in society, where living expenses have gone up and families now need the income of both spouses to survive. However, many people still want to, and have the means to, live with those beliefs. In addition to this belief, empirical research has consistently shown that, on average, men are paid higher wages than women ( Beblo 1). This is true even when the man and woman have the same exact job, and have the same exact education and qualifications for said job. Women are now going to college and earning degrees just as readily as men, and therefore can obtain the same jobs as men, something unheard of in the past. It is now normal to see a woman CEO, president, or head of a company. It is normal for a woman to have a degree and career in any field that they want to, for it is now possible and acceptable by society. Gender and Sex issues are a wide variety of topics that can be debated back and forth. Our society today has shaped our views and our prejudices towards certain aspects of gender roles and stereotypes that certain genders have. Women are stereotyped to be home bodies that cook, clean, and have children and raise them. Men are stereotyped to do the masculine jobs around the house, and go out and bring home the money for the family. These roles and stereotypes are dissipating throughout our society as society grows and develops, and becomes more equal. However, some stereotypes are still fully believed by some people, because that is how they were raised.