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Marissa Favela
English 113A
Professor Ditch
29 September 2015
How Society Affects Gender Roles
In western society, gender has played a huge role in how one is supposed to act and how
one is looked upon in society. Growing up, society has learned that gender referred to an
individuals sex, and in cultural views, we are taught that there are feminine or masculine roles
associated with each. Unfortunately, for centuries and in many different cultures, society has
established in one individuals belief that they have to live by certain gender roles to be
considered normal. What quality some people fail to realize is that gender and sex are not the
same thing. Sex is biological, something we are born with and we cannot choose. Even though
gender is sociological and something individuals should be able to decide for ourselves, we still
cannot choose because of the fear of being discriminated against by societys labels. Our society
has continuously put labels on people and restricted what people can and cannot do based on its
standards. How someone acts, behaves, or what interests them should not be categorized into a
gender category but a freedom of choice.
As stated in the article, Rethinking Womens Biology, Ruth Hubbard states that, One
isnt born a woman, one becomes a woman (46). The sex of a person cannot be defined in
simple terms like as male or female or even categorized through the genitalia a person has.
Gender roles are the way people act, what they do or say that will help to express whether they
are a woman or a man. These characteristics are shaped by society and have created imaginary

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barriers. There are so many situations where people are afraid to freely express themselves
because of the fear of being judged for their interests or their behavior. So individuals may
suppress their true feelings or interests because they are afraid of not fitting in or being
discriminated against for having a nontraditional view or interest. This has been a major problem
with most men. Men are often afraid to express emotions due to the fear of being called overly
sensitive and laughed at amongst their peers because society told us that men were supposed to
be strong, tough, and aggressive. This not only affects them on a mentally but makes it harder for
men to open up within their relationships and have an emotional connection with their spouse.
They cannot connect to their spouse because they were raised with the habit of holding in their
feelings and habits are hard to break if practiced for a long period of time. Women are afraid to
be strong and independent because of the fear of being over intimidating because women are
supposed to be soft, gentle, and subordinate. This has translated into the workplace with women
being afraid to play a strong presence within the workplace.
Gender roles do not only affect someones personal upbringing on personal values and
emotions, but as stated earlier, this has also integrated into the workplace. Traditional gender
roles were based off of the idea that men were responsible of taking care and providing for the
household financially, whereas the womens job was to stay home to take care of the home and
the children. Women have always stayed home to cook, clean, and take care of their children.
Compared to men were told to be strong and smart to take care of the family. Luckily in the 20th
century, traditions have changed slowly and have been redefined in what is acceptable and what
is not. Women have finally started to create careers for themselves and they are given the
opportunity to become self-sustainable without feeling the need to depend on a man to provide
for them. However many women are afraid to take on a stronger role within their company due

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to the fear of being seen as intimidating. However women are still believed to be the lesser in
many occupations that are usually involved in careers in a hard labor or business setting. Studies
have shown that women are afraid to take on a higher level position at their jobs due to the fear
of not being able to find a spouse. This is due to the male insecurity and fear of women either
making more than then, or having a higher ranked position than them. If both the man and
woman are both employed within their relationship, the man is supposed to make more money;
otherwise it is seen as an embarrassment or not masculine.
Gender roles were imposed upon our youth through the help of our parents. We were
raised that boys werent allowed to like the color pink because that is a girls color or boys
werent allowed to play with dolls because that's a girl toy. Subconsciously children will start to
act and behave like children who are in their same gender classifications. Many young boys were
forced into playing sports to impress women or even their parents. As well as toys, there are
some sports that are known to be masculine that many females are afraid to play. For example,
football is a masculine sport in todays society, and is mostly only played by men and is a
national sport. Women have just recently been allowed to play football but the sport is seen as a
joke and has been sexualized to appeal to men. The women wear things that expose their bodies
and the sport is staged to keep viewers interested. This is due to the fact that we as a society have
created gender stereotypes and have raised our kids with these ideals. Other professional
womens sports are not respected and this is supported through the simple fact that fewer people
watch or attend womens sporting events. Another factor to support this claim is that professional
womens athletes are paid significantly less compared to men.
Ive personally come across an instance where gender roles affected what I did and who I
hung out with at a young age. I was six years old when my dad put me on an all-boys baseball

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team. Even at such a young age, I felt discriminated against and left out because I was made fun
of for being the only girl on the team. I was always the last one picked and I was never invited to
hang out or play with them after practices and games. I wanted to quit because it wasnt fun for
me because none of the boys liked the idea of having a girl on the team. My dad kept me on the
team to teach me that even if people might be against you doing something or make fun of you
for it, you still continue to do it, because it is something you love. He taught me that I shouldnt
let other people influence what I want to do or what interests me even if it is uncommon.
In the article, Rethinking Womens Biology, Hubbard states, How active we are, what
clothes we wear, what games we play, what we eat and how much, what kinds of schools we go
to, what work we do, all affect our biology as well as our social being in ways we cannot sort
out (46). In the twenty first century, standards are starting to change and disappear through the
help of social media. Major socialite figures have confessed to being transgender or androgynous
completely going against the traditional values and beliefs. Although it is a small difference, it is
the start of a movement that will help remove the fear of originality implemented into our youth.
Regardless of whether parents wanted to raise their kids androgynous, they would come to
realize that they cannot control societal norms and might slowly lose the influence they have had
on their children. Some would say that we are born with gender roles whereas others believe we
are taught. I believe that we are born into a society that tells us what we can or cannot do. It is
our choice as individuals to decide whether we want to follow the standards set before us or
stands against it. Gender roles are one of the biggest forms of suppression causing people to hide
their true individuality. We have the choice to be whoever we want and if we dont allow the fear
of not fitting in to affect us we can show the world that being different and unique is the new
societal normality.

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