Gender roles. Roles of Men and Women in Society Essay

Gender roles. Roles of Men and Women in Society - Essay Example II. The biological make up of an individual within a society has long been used to determine how that person should behave †¢ Biology is not necessarily a determining factor in gender roles †¢ In many of the societies today, there is a tendency to ascribe roles according to the biological makeup of the individuals within them †¢ Men were given the positions of power, not because they could do better than women, but because of their biological makeup III. The society plays a major role in determining the gender roles of the individuals within it †¢ The parents of a large number of people in society determine the gender roles of their children and rigidly enforce them. †¢ Society is a powerful force in the lives of the individuals within it †¢ It is often extremely difficult for individuals to go against the roles which have been set for them by their own societies IV. Culture is another major factor that determines the gender roles of individuals in the societies within which they live. †¢ There are many different cultures around the world and each has its own expectations about what roles the members of each sex should undertake †¢ Other cultures cannot be judged according to the western standards because of the fact that while there may be similar cultures, there are others which are completely different †¢ In a globalized culture, men and women are considered to be equal and tend to be given equal opportunities, with each sex performing those tasks which were traditionally reserved for the other V. The various roles that are ascribed to the various genders are mostly determined by the society within which individuals live as well as by its culture. Biology only acts as a marker to determine how the society is going to socialize an individual to behave and it is not in itself a definer of gender roles Within the modern world, gender roles are starting to become insignificant Women can take up the roles traditionally reserved for men with the same efficiency and the reverse has also been proven to be true The gender roles are today slowly becoming blurred and they may cease to exist altogether in future It is a fact that gender roles have existed for almost as long as the human race has existed and it is quite possible that they will continue to exist in the foreseeable future. T hey are a part of the daily lives of individuals and are manifested within the society by observable factors such as how one behaves or appear. Gender roles can be considered to be patterns of feelings deemed appropriate or inappropriate because of one’s gender and they derive from the social expectations of how members of the different genders whether male or female, should behave. An example of this is if a person considers themselves to be female, then she would be expected to display the characteristics which are typically associated with being female, such as being gentle, dependent and expressive of their feelings. There are various factors that are used to determine the gender roles in society and the most important of these are biological, social, and cultural factors. One would state that the biological make up of an individual within a society has long been used to determine how that person should behave. However, there is yet to be proof of the fact that whether on e is male or female, he or she is born with the innate knowledge of the characteristics that are often ascribed to their gender (Zosuls et al 827). In