gender roles

Comp 105 11 February 2014
Whose Role Is it Anyways?
Gender is a very interesting thing. Most things, you are able to decide on your own as you grow up and see new things in the world, but gender is something that is determined before you are born and is not decided by you, your parents or anyone. It is a crazy to think to yourself how life would be different if you were the opposite gender. Some people would love that, and for others that could be the last thing they want. The roles are very different for each gender, and the males are very complex. They need to be the rock of the family and be strong. They have to do some things that women could never imagine but at the same time women do some things men could never. The way society is, is somewhat different than what it used to be. Many years ago, it was the job of the man to provide for the family and only the man. He would be the one to work and make the money. The women would stay at home and do things around the house like clean, cook and take care of the kids. As years have gone on it has slowly but surely changed. If you were to ask someone sixty years ago if they thought women would be doing what they’re doing today they would look at you like you are out of your mind. Nowadays, women are much more independent. Instead of relying on a husband to provide everything, women are doing many more things on their own. There are much more job opportunities for women and not just little jobs that aren’t very good. Women can make their own money for a family and really do what the male had always done many years ago. Most families in today’s age have a household with both partners working and having an income. It has really been a great step forward for women and I’m sure it is only the beginning of greater things to come. In Rereading America Devor says the ‘generalized other’ as “a sort of monitoring or measuring device with which individuals may judge their own actions against those of their generalized conceptions of how members of society are expected to act.” (389). He goes on later to say, “by virtue of the sheer volume of time spent in interaction with someone, or by virtue of the nature of particular interactions, ‘significant others’ become prominent in the formation of one’s self-image and one’s ideals and goals. (Devor 390) He is saying that there is this a norm for each gender to take on in our day in age, and the more people around us that want to be like that, the more influenced you are to be the same and want to fit in.
After all that being said, there still are conventional roles that are followed by most in today’s modern world. When it comes to jobs, most are capable of being done by both genders but there are a lot that are preferred for each. When you think of a school teacher, most think of women and they are right. Obviously a man could become a teacher and a lot of them do. But that is not one of the first options for a lot of guys. Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of good, male teachers, but the majority are female. Also, someone who answers calls at an office, or is the person at the front desk; very capable of being done by a man, but for some reason, a lot more women do it. I believe this is because a lot of men are working 9-5’s or some type of job that usually makes more money than their wife, and she just wants something to do that will help the family and bring in income. The same goes for some jobs for males. If you were to look at people doing construction, or building things, you would be hard pressed to find a woman. This is because we have been taught that women aren’t supposed to be doing hard labor like that, lifting things and putting them together and doing dirty work. Whether this is because women might not be capable of it or they just don’t like doing things like that. Society has shaped a lot of the work place in America and across the world.

Works Cited

Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin 's, 1993. Print.

Cited: Colombo, Gary, Robert Cullen, and Bonnie Lisle. Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford of St. Martin 's, 1993. Print.