Gender Roles

“Gender Roles”

By

Tracey Mariner

University of Phoenix Online

January 27, 2008

OUTLINE TITLE

Introduction:

I. Defining the undefined gender role.

A. Male vs. Female

1. What is the male role?

2. What is the female role?

3. Are these roles concrete?

B. Gender Roles

1. Who define gender roles?

2. How are they defined?

3. These definitions are not consists to what we see.

II. Family

A. Gender roles define by our families.

1. What is our mother’s perception of gender role?

2. What is our father’s perception of gender role?

3. Why is our parent’s depiction of these roles important to how we see ourselves?

B. The avenue as to how the perception is shaped.

1. What helps to shape or mothers perception?

2. What helps to shape our fathers perception?

3. This means of how we view ourselves has been tainted.

III. Culture

A. Gender roles define by our culture

1. What is the cultural perception of gender roles?

2. What helps to shape these perceptions?

3. Is one of the number one reasons to why we can’t except ourselves.

B. Changes in gender roles.

1. How has gender roles change over the years in our culture?

2. How will these changes help us and how have they hurt us?

3. Gender roles will never change

IV. Society

A. Gender roles define by our society.

1. What is the societal perception of gender roles?

2. What helps to shape these perceptions?

3. Society portrays the wrong image.

B. Changes in gender roles.

1. How has gender roles change over the years in our society?

2. How will these changes help us and how have they hurt us?

3. The change will come gradually which will hurt the progression of society.

Conclusion:

Tracey Mariner

Beverly Haley

COM 220

12/30/2007

Gender Roles

Introduction

When you see a male in a nurses uniform what is your first impression? As you reflect on your reaction one would say the most common reaction is why he isn’t a doctor. This is because gender roles are not defined, but are impressed upon us by family, society, and the culture in which we are raised.

Although undefined gender roles become define by family, culture, and society. Wikiepdia says:

Gender is a concept which defines social gender of a person as opposite to his/her biological sex. Gender presents a social role status, which defines social opportunities in education, professional sphere, and access to power, family roles, and reproductive behaviour. Gender role is a type of a social role, a set of expected patterns of behaviour (or norms) for women and men. Gender role is understood as execution of certain social prescriptions, i.e. corresponding behaviour to a certain gender expressed by speech, manners, cloths, gestures, etc. Creativity may cause the rules and values to change over time. Cultures and societies are dynamic and ever changing, but there has been extensive debate as to how, and how fast, they may change. Such debates are especially contentious when they involve the gender/sex system, as people have widely differing views about how much gender depends on biological sex. (gender roles)

The roles of male vs. female have been controversial since the beginning of time. Many people have tried to give there versions of the truth as to how they perceive these roles. People like Talcott Parsons who developed a model of the nuclear family in 1955, believed that he had come up with the perfect depiction of the roles of male vs. female within the family as well as society. Parsons decided that the feminine role was an expressive one, whereas the masculine role, in his view, was instrumental. (Wikiepdia, para.4)

A more recent discovery shows that the war or battle of the sexes has turn to one of priority as well as a cease-fire. (Washington post, para.1) One has to determine the things of importance in his or her life and that is what defines the role he or she will take on. As we review this article concerning the position of a man who is working to provide a living for his family, he has to choose if he wants to have a strong marriage or enough money. Often times the lack of time spent together in marriage has been link to the reversal of roles. Women are now choosing to work to help support the family so that their marriages will not suffer.

We have determined the role of the male to be defined as one of a provider and extreme masculinity. The man is the one that provides financially, has the upper hand, has the finally say, and is to be revered as well as feared. He is not to feel or have emotions or show any sign of weakness no matter what. The male role is the role of the protector. The male role is looked at as and portrayed as one of dominance. Although the male role is unclear and in a sense undefined,