Viking Gender Roles

1. Different cultures impose different expectations on women and men that prescribe them standards for their gender-linked behavior. Society in general does no have a category for those who is not comfortable with their gender roles or who does not employ the “expected” side of the binary distinction. However in recorded history there are societies which did not employ male female gender binary. Studies of Viking history reveal that Norse culture did not judge a warrior by sex; a great number of warriors were females and thought to be worthy of the hammer. In this kind of society women are not marginalized from cultural life and develop their potential fully, freely and equally. In Saudi Arabia, on the contrary, women are required to have a
Gender identity is a feeling and expressing one’s self as culturally determined female, male, a blend of both or neither. Originally the gender identity term was more binary assuming that people are 100% totally male or 100% totally female. However, the society is adopting more and more non-binary gender identities. We express our gender identity, which can be same or different from the assigned sex, acting masculine, feminine, neither or both. A large number of people foster a gender identity that meets their biological sex. They develop the behaviors associated with a particular gender, in other words, they are gender typed. Moreover, one’s gender does not equal his/her romantic or sexual attraction to other people. Gender identity and sexual orientation are different concepts and distinct parts of our total identity. Unfortunately, even today, gender identity is entangled with fixed categories and orthodox sexualities. Anthropologically and historically however, gender and sexuality appear fluid and
Ideologically manufactured attitudes and expectations regarding one’s sex, gender and roles often result in specific feelings, beliefs and behaviors. Sexism is a display of a low opinion based on assumptions about sex; a disregard. Rooted in patriarchy, sexism toward women imposes stereotypes putting women in inferior positions to men. A sexist feeling about a woman as a weaker sex results in her stereotype as emotional, passive, submissive which consequently results in discrimination, concentrating women in very specific occupations. The interesting thing that I have recently observed in military funerals on news is just another example of the division of labor between male and female soldiers. While men carry the casket, women soldiers and police officers hold hands of mourning and crying family members. Although these women achieved positions in a “not so suitable for a woman” profession, sexism and stereotypes still expect her to carry out duties, which are primary and