...Gender Roles and the Identities of Women During the late nineteenth century, there were many stereotypical attitudes regarding the roles of gender and the identity of women. Men were usually portrayed as the “breadwinners,” as well as the well-educated and the sole foundation of the family. Men had to show their masculinity by being the very upper-hand of the family. Women are portrayed as sensitive, sweet, caring, faithful, moody, naïve, etc. As a way to complete them as a whole, women needed men in their lives. However, women held the least power of the family and believed that they only had a purpose of being housewives. The ideal images of gender roles between men and women, and the identities of women can lead to stereotypes that are associated with Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby.” In “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin, gender played a big role in the life Desiree as well as Armand Aubigny. Desiree was described as “beautiful and gentle, affectionate and sincere— the idol of Valmonde” (1). Desiree was illustrated as if she was down to earth and had a very warm personality. At first she was nameless, like most women when they are first named by their primary families and renamed when they get married. Desiree nameless when she was first found by the Valmonde family, and then they took her in as their own and she adopted their family name. Desiree undergoes another name change when she later marries a wealthy man by the name of Armand and inherited the...
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...Gatewood 4 December 2012 Parental Gender Roles Image this; your significant other and you are blessed with a beautiful baby boy. Because of a health reason the man in the relationship cannot partake in the work force and results with the woman bringing the family income. The man, in turn, is a stay at home father and raises his son as such while the mother is more distant. Is it safe to say that your family’s house hold will be the reason for your son being homosexual? Or is safe to say that your son’s homosexuality isn’t a result of your family’s way of life but that your family’s way of life is not of God due to the lack of gender roles? The presence of or lack of parental gender roles and stereotypes have an effect on a developing child. Concerning the debate over the necessity of parental gender roles, I support the position that parental gender roles are unnecessary while raising children. I stand against the opposing position that parental gender roles are necessary and that the child will be hindered without them. In the first section of this paper, I will explain the first opposing argument, which states that parental gender roles are a necessity in the Christian faith. I will disprove this argument by stating that the Holy Bible has not been proven to withhold un-tampered words from the Lord. In the second section, I will examine the second opposing argument, which states that the lack of parental gender roles will create sex role insecurity and homosexuality. I will...
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...My Reaction: While reading the provided materials for this week, I immediately started to relate the information to my life at home. I grew up in a small town in southern Minnesota, which has definitely shaped the way that I see the world and the situation of women in the world. My community mostly consisted of Christian individuals, who were very traditional in their beliefs and practices. This fact, has shaped the way that gender roles have been illustrated to me while growing up. My Analysis: As I was reading Women and Religious Traditions by Leona Anderson and Pamela Young, a particular quote caught my eye and drew questions from me. “In many- perhaps most- religious traditions, one is ascribed a certain gender role on the basis of an...
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...Johnson and Wales University Sex and Gender. Enrique Lesende Professor K. Barker PSYC 2001 02/06/2012 The words sex and gender are often used interchangeably. However, sex refers to male or female, while gender refers to masculine or feminine (Bland). Therefore, sex includes the biological characteristics that distinguish the two sexes and do not change around the world. Gender on the other hand, comprise the behaviors and expectations a particular society considers appropriate for the two sexes to display. In the societies of the past, the environment further adapted whatever biological tendencies males and females were thought to have had (Kruger). Boys and girls were nurtured to fulfill the specific gender roles anticipated of them. Men were expected to be strong and to support their families by taking on activities outside of the house in both the agricultural and industrial eras. In order for culture and the expectations of that culture to continue, young boys were taught the tasks their fathers performed. When schooling and higher education became available boys were also expected to attend. As society continued to transition, men began taking up higher positions in governmental, medical and business fields (Dunleavy). On the contrary, the feminine role was to care for the children and run the household. Even as communities developed from agricultural to more industrial and continued to evolve subsequently, young girls rarely received a basic education...
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...n the American media, gender roles are still prevalent. The adaptation of gender roles has occurred because they are socially constructed. Gender roles are distinct and defined in the media. With great ferocity, gender roles are perceptible in our exposure everyday to the media, such as in advertising. The media demonstrates clearly the imposed and inevitable gender roles. For example, advertising for cleaning supplies consists of a woman stating the difficulty of removing stains. Advertising for motor oil consists of a man and his luxury car, often with a beautiful woman by his side. The function of gender roles are impediments of dreams, hopes and the future. Limitations, among both sexes, are set when gender roles are present in the media. Certain expectations and criteria are involved with gender roles, crippling the individual to act against the status quo because of the...
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...Men play football. Women wear pretty dresses. Men are from Mars, while women are from Venus. From the time a baby is born, humans place certain gender expectations upon that baby. Handsome, strong boys wear the manly color of blue while dainty, pretty girls wear a soft pink. Most boys are given trucks and Legos to play with while girls are given Barbie dolls and an Easy Bake Oven. Clearly, our culture has certain assumptions in which it believes girls and boys are supposed to behave and conduct themselves. In a sense, society places expectations on girls’ and boys’ behaviors, but, when someone seems to overstep these masculine or feminine standards, he or she is labeled queer or even “gay.” Because our society places such strict boundaries...
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...Alejandra Valencia Professor Anzoleaga Comm 2 3 September 2013 Gender Roles The topic I decided to explore this semester is gender roles. The reason I decided to explore this topic because it’s a huge thing in my family and also culture. My parents are Mexican and they are very strict especially if you are a female. In their opinion you have a different role than the males. I should be able to be able to know to cook, clean, and do anything that is asked. I am expected to stay home. I can’t really go out as much as my brothers and no I am not the only female in my family. A phrase that my parents and whole family would use is “you have to learn how to cook or how are you going to get married without being able to cook for your husband”. I hated hearing that. I don’t follow that tradition anymore where you have to be able to a house mother when you’re married. I am wanting to be independent and in my culture that doesn’t follow the gender roles that Hispanics have generated. This topic is Important to me cause I know what it is to live in gender roles. Genders roles will always be a huge thing in Mexican culture. June explained in her article that a lot of the women in the stated that are raised in this Hispanic culture become independent and break the traditional gender roles (June Soto 2010). I couldn’t agree more that is true I am doing and so are a lot of Hispanic women. In her article she also talked about many women are known to cook traditional food...
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...Gender Identity is a big part of our society. Society has a very strict mindset on how people are expected to be and how each gender should act. Expected gender roles can be very damaging to our kids. Even though we are assigned these gender roles, it is not guaranteed that everyone is going to stick with how they were born, it may be hard for one to be able to connect biologically to them. I believe that forcing and expecting our children to strictly be with what they were born to be, just like society is so used to seeing gender identity, and they choose to act the opposite gender can be very damaging in many ways. The connection parents have with their children is one of the most important things while the child is growing up mainly focusing in their early years, and to know that as a parent you have the power to force your children to be what is expected of them isn’t the way to go. In this essay, I will be talking and giving a couple stories on how the discrimination of parents against their children’s gender identity can be damaging to them and in general about acceptance from parents about one’s gender roles. Children are technically still developing until they have reached their twenties, so with that being said I believe that gender roles are affected mainly by families. The children are not the ones to blame for what gender they choose to be. Remember children are still developing, most children get into gender identity as they grow up and get to know themselves...
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...In this assignment I will outline the five approaches of gender development and consider which of these approaches provide the better explanation, I will do this by looking at various case studies and decide which has the best argument. Gender is the term used to refer to the socially formed roles of and relations between men and women, while 'Sex' refers to biological features which identify humans as male or female. These biological features are not absolute however, as it is possible for an individual to possess both. Gender roles are characterised by uneven power. The ‘norms’ of gender assign specific roles and rights of ways to men and women or girls and boys - for example, women may be expected to take on duties within the home and with their children, whilst men may be expected to be the sole earner and labourer, going out to work to earn a salary to support his family and to carry out manual tasks within the home. In terms of children, girls would be expected to play with ‘girl toys’ like dolls, prams and make-up, to be more sensitive and caring, whilst boys would be expected to play with cars and trucks, to be a lot more boisterous and active. As children grow from early childhood to adolescence, they are subjected to many aspects which influences their sense of behaviour and their attitude to gender roles. These behaviours and attitudes are generally picked-up in the home to begin with and are then strengthened by a child's peers, school, environmental experience...
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...transnational activism to challenge injustices encompassed in civil, political, economic, and social spheres that affect lives worldwide. Using this backdrop, the global movement for women rights strives to enhance the human rights discourse by redressing gender vulnerabilities. Even though there are still continuing political struggles in making central the concerns of gender abuse, it has achieved considerable rethinking of the human rights doctrine as formerly understood....
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...Journal Reflection #3 Breaking Free from Black and White Thinking: Gender fluidity Labels have the power to shape an individual’s identity, and therefore have the potential to be harmful. Once a person is given a label, whether that might be in regards to gender, race, class, or behavior, other people adapt to that label making it difficult for the individual to reform. Labeling in fact affects both the individual's self-concept and their interaction with others. When individuals are for example labelled as females and males because of their assigned gender, most of the time, they act in a way that confirms it. Despite the labels give through socialization, not all individuals identify with their given sex, and because of the rigidity of gender roles, it can be difficult to transition. Gender should not be presumed based on physical attributes, but rather on...
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...CLT 209 Final Essay Discuss the impact of media on gender identity. Madalen Smith 11473441 Who are we? Who do we want to be? These are questions that have plagued people globally since the beginning of time. Our whole life is dedicated to developing our identity- one that we are happy with and feel reflects whom we are inside. But what influences our identity? And to what extent? We are constantly interacting with media. Subsequently we are continuously absorbing meaning and information whether we realise it or not. This essay focuses on gender identity and the impact the media can have on it. As individuals grow and seek to cultivate and define their identity, is media influencing their thoughts and views? This essay seeks to show that whilst media does in fact play a vital role in how individuals and society view gender the final decision regarding ones gender identity, is something that comes from within. Media both presents ideas and reflects societies already held values. Media does impact on what we view as acceptable for each gender, and what an individual may feel is the norm for their gender, but only to a certain extent. Ultimately gender is something that is felt within the individual and cannot be manipulated by outside things. Media plays a significant role in contemporary societies everyday life. The rapid technological developments that have taken place during the twentieth century has resulted in media becoming prevalent in almost all daily aspects of...
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...recognized the different social classes exist and suffering in her country. In the “the Complete Persepolis”, Strapi mentions a lot of kind of freedom such as religion, gender, education or political. In my point of view, she makes a good point that the gender and religion problem which is the big problem in society. At the beginning, in the first chapter “The Veil”, Strapi mentions about gender problem by sharing her story about the veil and school. The girls have to wear the veil at school but she does not know the reason. The veil and school become segregated by gender. She said that “we found ourselves veiled and separate from our friend” (Satrapi, 4). They must be separate in different classes if they do not wear the veils. It is kind of discrimination with students. The students are lack of freedom to do in school. They have to follow the rules that women have to cover their head and men cover arm. It is strict and makes student cannot comfortable in school. It is just a small thing about gender discrimination about outlook. This has a lot of effects to her family that Marjane’s mother gets assaulted for not wearing a veil, and at a demonstration against the veil, Marjane sees women getting beaten up. It is not fair for women especially in the modern family like Marjane’s family. Another problem in gender discrimination is the...
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...in the US right now is the racial and gender inequality. There are many causes of racial and gender inequality such as pay gap and second shift. Nowadays, even though women have the same job and same position likes men within a company; they still more likely get paid less than men and the impact of glass ceiling in which it makes women have less opportunity for promotion than men. For example, a woman CEO would be paid less than a man CEO for the only reason being that she is a woman. So while it is good that women can be seen somewhat as equals in the workforce and are able to get to the same levels in a company, they are not only paid less, but it is also harder for them to actually get to those positions than their male counterparts. So while it is not such a strict glass ceiling, it still impedes the advancement of women as they try to climb to higher positions within a company because of mommy track. The second cause is the result of the stalled revolution. The stalled revolution is when women became equal in the workforce but at home they still have to take the second shift and take care of the kids. The second shift is the concept that resulted from the stalled revolution. Because women became equal in the workforce and started to have jobs outside taking care of the children and the family, they have to work two shifts: one at their job, and their second shift when they get home to take care of the household. The gender inequality is more troubling than other...
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...Gender is a social construct created through culture, traditions and observed in texts we read. Texts such as novels and films reinforce gender stereotypes. In some cases, novels and films challenge these ideas as well. The construct of gender sets restrictions and constructs boundaries through stereotypes and traditions we have created ourselves. In news articles, the film Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro, and the novel Tomorrow, When the War Began, written by John Marsden, traditional stereotypes are challenged, either directly or indirectly. Different writing or film techniques are used to portray relatable and personal experiences that the viewer or reader can identify with. Gender is a construct that can be discussed through characterisation,...
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