Cultutral Gender Roles
Cultural Gender Roles In most cultures, boys and girls are treated very differently. Despite the differences of gender, upbringing creates gender behavior, including aggression and gentility; societal stereotypes of gender, and most importantly, gender-based discrimination. Throughout history and in all cultures the roles of males and females vary. Relating to the article "Girl" written by Jamaica Kincaid at a time when women's roles were to work in the home. By examining gender roles, then one may better understand how women and men interact and how better to build relationships at home and in the world of business. At the time that this article was written, women mainly stayed at home and did housework while few of the very poorest households required the woman to work in an industrial job. Kincaid wrote of the specific roles and responsibilities that a mother would tell her daughter. By what she wrote, one can fully understand what was expected of a woman at that time and in that particular culture.
The general myth about women and their gender role in the American society is that the mother works in the home and supports her man in every way. For each relationship, the people in that relationship must decide the particular roles that they will play. Kincaid shows clearly that the woman's role in this work was to serve the family and to work mainly in the house. The mother writing this story tells her daughter that "this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease" (Kincaid 525). In this marriage, it is understood that the wife does the laundry for the husband. Today's society does not always provide these clear roles since many women work a full time job and the house chores are a responsibility for both husband and wife to handle, though the woman is still mainly held responsible for the home. There should be a constant search for quality in gender roles. Kincaid explains how the man is working to bring home the money and
The general myth about women and their gender role in the American society is that the mother works in the home and supports her man in every way. For each relationship, the people in that relationship must decide the particular roles that they will play. Kincaid shows clearly that the woman's role in this work was to serve the family and to work mainly in the house. The mother writing this story tells her daughter that "this is how you iron your father's khaki shirt so that it doesn't have a crease" (Kincaid 525). In this marriage, it is understood that the wife does the laundry for the husband. Today's society does not always provide these clear roles since many women work a full time job and the house chores are a responsibility for both husband and wife to handle, though the woman is still mainly held responsible for the home. There should be a constant search for quality in gender roles. Kincaid explains how the man is working to bring home the money and
Cited: Hoffman, Jan. “Boys Will Be Boys? Not in There Families.” The New York Times, June 10, 2011. Bedford/St. Martins, 2010. 524-526.Print. United Nations Children’s Fund and Ateneo Wellness Center, 1999.Print. 5/6, 1990. Print. Witt, Susan D. “Parental Influence on Children’s Socialization to Gender Roles. Adolescence, Summer, 1997