Alexa, will it be cold today?
Upon hearing a chirpy voice advising you to take a jacket, you notice something you've never noticed before; Alexa is female. Okay, largely unremarkable.
You turn on your GPS, only to hear another female voice directing you to your destination. Just then, you realize that almost every secretary or receptionist you've asked for help was a woman. Does this mean something, or is it purely coincidental?
Many criticize the feminization of voice-activated technology as reinforcing the notion that women should be helpful and cater to you. This is just one example of how gender roles present themselves in society.
No matter who you were born to and how you were raised, your chances of being exposed to gender roles are very high. Gender roles are a topic of high interest for sociologists due to their impact on shaping us as people. How do we learn gender roles, and what exactly do we learn?
In this explanation:
- First, we'll look at the definition of gender roles and consider some examples of gender roles in different parts of society.
- Next, we'll look at how gender stereotypes can influence gender roles.
- We'll assess why it is important to study gender roles in sociology, and briefly consider some gender role theories and explanations.
What is the Definition of Gender Roles?
Let's first look at the definition of gender roles.
Gender roles refer to the societal expectations and beliefs about how men and women should behave and what constitutes masculinity and femininity.
It may help to think of gender roles as 'scripts' that are pre-written and pre-decided for men and women to follow. Gender roles are imposed from a young age, as girls and boys are taught by society to behave according to social norms.
It is important to note that gender is a spectrum - it is not restricted to just 'men' and 'women'. However, traditional gender roles are based on the idea of only two rigid, binary genders.
Learning of Gender Roles Through Socialization
According to Kane (1996), by the age of four or five, most children are well-versed in appropriate gender roles dictated by society. This is done through the process of socialization; our parents, teachers, and peers (among others) pass down society's values, attitudes, and beliefs towards gender and gender roles, which we learn and adopt.
We'll look more at socialization later on in the explanation.
The Relationship Between Capabilities and Gender Roles
It's important to understand how the relationship between capabilities and gender roles works. Gender roles do not question capability, they question gender-appropriate behaviors and attitudes. It might help if we look at an example.
Men and women are equally capable of learning to cook and clean and raising children. However, gender roles dictate that these things should be done by women.
Similarly, men and women are equally capable of becoming accomplished neurosurgeons, but a patient who has been raised with traditional gender roles may believe that a male neurosurgeon should do such a job.
Let's look at some examples of gender roles next.
Fig. 1 - It may help to think of gender roles as pre-written scripts for men and women to follow.
Examples of Gender Roles
Examples of gender roles are all around us, whether we realize it or not. Let's look at them in different contexts.
Gender Roles in the Family
In the family (a primary agent of socialization), gender roles may dictate that girls and women should be caring, nurturing, and domestic. At the same time, boys and men should focus on taking charge, providing, and the more 'masculine' roles.
Young girls may be recruited to help with household chores, while their brothers may not be expected to do so because such chores are 'feminine'.
Women are more likely to be homemakers, and men are more likely to be the sole breadwinners, indicating clear and divided gender roles.
Older female children may be expected to look after their younger siblings more than older male siblings.
Parents may 'assign' certain toys, clothing, and play styles to their children depending on their sex. For example, they may discourage little boys from playing with dolls or pink toys.
Parents may give differing levels of freedom to their children based on gender.
Subtle Gender Roles in the Family
Gender roles are not always as overt or distinct as described above. Gender roles can be more subtle in the family, even where the parents actively seek to eliminate them and establish gender inequality.
Parents may ask both their son and daughter to do the chores. On the face of it, this appears to be equal. However, gender roles can still form if boys and girls are given different types of chores to do.
Boys may be given tasks requiring strength, labor, and toughness (such as helping their dad mow the lawn), and girls may be given tasks requiring attention to detail, care, and cleanliness (such as folding laundry or helping their mom chop vegetables for dinner).
These differences can still have the effect of reinforcing gender roles.
Parental Expectations Towards Boys and Girls
According to Kimmel (2000), fathers are stricter when it comes to gender conformity than mothers are. In addition, the fathers' expectations for gender conformity are stronger for their sons than their daughters.
A father may react strongly to his son playing with dolls but may not have the same reaction to his daughter wearing 'boy clothing', for example.
This goes for other activities too, such as discipline and personal achievements. Coltraine and Adams (2008) claim that as a result, boys may be particularly afraid of their father's disapproval if they carry out typically feminine activities, such as baking or singing.
Differences in Parental Expectations by Social Group
It's important to note that such parental expectations vary by social group, including social class, ethnicity, and race. Gender roles do not look the same in all families!
An example of this is given by Staples and Boulin Johnson (2004) - they found that African American families are more likely to adopt an equal role structure for their kids than White families.
Gender Roles in Education
In the realm of education, gender roles dictate that certain subjects are inappropriate for girls because they are too masculine, and vice versa.
Like parents, teachers may reinforce gender roles by encouraging or discouraging toys, behaviors, and play styles by gender. For instance, if boys fight in school, they may not punish the behavior if they believe that 'boys will be boys'. However, this is unlikely to be the same if girls are fighting.
Girls may be pushed toward more typically 'feminine' subjects, such as English or humanities (which boys may be teased for or discouraged from studying). Girls may therefore be kept out of 'masculine' subjects such as Science, Math, and Engineering.
Sociological research has found that gender roles and subtle gendered messages start as early as kindergarten. It is indicated to girls that they are not as intelligent or important as boys.
Sadker and Sadker (1994) studied teacher responses to male and female students and found that male students were praised much more than their female counterparts. In addition, teachers gave boys more opportunities to contribute to and discuss their ideas, while they interrupted girls more often. Thorne (1993) found that even in social situations, teachers traditionally reinforce competition instead of collaboration by treating girls and boys oppositely.
Gender Roles in the Media
In the media, gender roles reinforce stereotypes about men and women.
Men tend to have significant, main-character roles in movies and television, while women often have supporting character roles such as mothers or wives.
If women are the main character, they are either hyper-sexualized or portrayed as saintly (Etaugh and Bridges, 2003).
It is more common to see women in laundry or cleaning commercials and in cooking, cleaning, or childcare-related commercials (Davis, 1993).
Women are hyper-sexualized and objectified in music videos.
The family, education, and the media are significant agents of socialization - each agent reinforces gender roles and maintains expectations for men's and women's behavior.
Gender Roles in Personality and Behavior
The same personality traits and behaviors may be perceived differently depending on whether a man or a woman displays them.
Aggressive behavior, such as shouting and/or physical violence, is often gendered; men are more likely to be excused for aggressive behavior due to the belief that aggression is inherently masculine.
Men may be ridiculed for displaying typically feminine behaviors such as crying, being nurturing, or showing sensitivity. The same goes for men carrying out typically feminine roles, such as stay-at-home dads, teachers, and nurses.
Women are expected to be obedient and passive, while autonomy and independence are encouraged in men.
In general, non-conformity with gender roles and behavior can result in ridicule, mocking, and humiliation from children's peers. Some sociologists have found that the sanctions are especially striking for non-conforming boys.
The final point relates to peers - also an important agent of socialization.
The Role of Nature vs. Nurture in Gender
What role does gender have in biology? A few notable case studies may raise some interesting questions on this debate.
David Reimer
The case of David Reimer, studied by Money and Ehrhardt (1972), suggests that gender is determined by nature. A 7-month-old boy suffered a medical accident during a routine circumcision and no longer had normally functioning male reproductive organs. As a result, the child underwent a sex change operation and was raised as a girl (Brenda).
Years later, Brenda wanted a sex change as she felt uncomfortable with her body and gender identity. She was given medical treatment and renamed herself, David. David claimed that he finally knew who he was.
Vietnam Veterans Study
The US government carried out a health study in 1985 on Vietnam veterans. It found that men with higher testosterone levels tend to have higher levels of aggression and a higher likelihood of getting in trouble. This supported earlier studies that found the same relationship between testosterone and aggressive behavior.
Sociologists are interested in how biology interacts with social factors (such as social class, ethnicity, etc.) to explain behavior. It was found that working-class men with high testosterone levels were more likely to get in trouble with the law, perform poorly in education and mistreat women than men from higher social classes.
The Impact of Gender Roles
While we have mentioned a few areas in which gender roles are made apparent, we are exposed to them everywhere - including in the other secondary agencies of socialization such as in religious organizations and the workplace.
Over time, repeated and steady exposure to gender roles leads people to believe such roles are 'natural', and not socially constructed. As a result, they may not challenge them and may also reproduce them in their own families.
How do Gender Stereotypes Influence Gender Roles?
Whether we realize this or not, gender roles are typically rooted in gender stereotypes. How do gender stereotypes differ from gender roles?
Gender stereotypes are overgeneralizations and oversimplifications of men's and women's behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs.
Look at the table below to consider how gender stereotypes can translate into gender roles.
This gender stereotype.... | ... translates to this gender role |
Women are more nurturing than men. | Women should be in nurturing professions, such as teaching, nursing, and social work. They should also be primary caregivers of children. |
Men are better leaders than women. | The president should be a man - the role isn't suitable for women. |
Men are more innately sexual than women. | Men should initiate and control sexual relations. |
Gender stereotypes not only influence gender roles but form the basis of sexism. We'll look more at sexism below.
Fig. 2 - Gender roles are rooted in gender stereotypes.
Why is it Important to Study Gender Roles in Sociology?
For sociologists, studying gender roles is important because they can help to explain patterns of behavior in men and women and how gender roles impact society (both negatively and positively). We'll consider a few of these impacts now.
Identifying Sexism and Institutional Discrimination
As mentioned above, gender stereotypes result in sexism, which refers to prejudiced beliefs which value one sex over another. Extreme and overt examples of sexism (most commonly, valuing boys over girls) include restricting the rights of women and girls, such as their access to education, in many parts of the world, such as Afghanistan.
Although sex discrimination is illegal in the US, it still happens in almost all aspects of social life. In particular, sociologists are interested in sex discrimination within social structures, referred to as institutional discrimination (Pincus, 2008).
Reducing Social Stratification and Inequality based on Sex and Gender
Social stratification refers to the unequal experiences of certain social groups regarding resources, including education, health, employment, and more.
Gender stratification is prevalent in the US (along with race, income, and occupational stratification). Let's look at a few examples of this.
US Gender Stratification in Employment
In 2020, it was found that for every dollar earned by men, women, on average, earned 83 cents. 1 In 2010, this number was even lower, at 77 cents (even if the jobs were the same).
Women still do the majority of unpaid labor at home, despite also being in paid employment.
According to the US Census Bureau in 2010, men outnumbered women in powerful, high-earning jobs despite women making up nearly half of employees.
US Gender Stratification in Legislation
Women were given the right to own and/or control property in 1840.
Women could not vote before 1920.
Until 1963, it was legal to pay a woman less than a man for doing the same job.
Women did not have the nationwide right to safe and legal abortions until the 1973 landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade.*
In 2022, Roe v. Wade was overturned in some states. Always cite updated information!
Gender Roles: Theories and Perspectives
Sociologists offer many theories and perspectives as to why we have gender roles and what their impact on society is.
These are:
- The structural-functionalist perspective, which states that gender roles are functional and effective for society.
- The conflict theory perspective, which includes the Marxist and feminist perspectives. Both frameworks see gender roles as upholding capitalism and patriarchy, respectively.
- The symbolic interactionist perspective, which looks at the social construction of gender roles and sexuality.
There are separate articles dedicated to each of these topics!
Gender Roles - Key takeaways
- Gender roles refer to societal expectations and beliefs about how men and women should behave and what constitutes masculinity and femininity.
- Examples of gender roles include gender roles in the family, education, the media, and personality, and behavior.
- Gender roles are typically rooted in gender stereotypes. They also form the basis of sexism.
- It is important to study gender roles in sociology, as we can identify institutional discrimination and reduce social stratification and inequality based on sex and gender.
- Sociologists offer many gender role theories and perspectives as to why we have gender roles and their impact on society.
References
- United States Census Bureau (2022). What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your State?. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/03/what-is-the-gender-wage-gap-in-your-state.html
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