Gender roles are social constructs that vary from one society to another, they are norms that dictate how people ought to behave and express themselves according to their biological gender presentation. Males and females are socialized to behave and express themselves in a certain way according to their gender characteristics. The societal perspective of individuals’ behavior, reactions, and interactions contributes to the development and evolution of gender roles. In this regard, this paper seeks to examine how gender roles create societal norms and expectations according to sexuality and sexual behavior in the US.
Exaggeration of stereotyped gender norms can easily lead to the creation of individuals portraying hyperfeminist and hypermasculinity behavior (Stewart et al., 2021). The gender schema theory suggests that children learn about being boys or girls as early as their childhood. Little children learn about stereotypical messages concerning gender in their childhood and grow with that knowledge (Van Oosten et al., 2017). For instance, boys will always be boys or girls are weaker than boys, consequently developing schemas linked to self-preservation, pride, judgments, and behaviors that progressively guide future perceptions towards the opposite gender (Van Oosten et al., 2017).
Primarily, socialization on gender roles is the most common way individuals learn specific behaviors deemed appropriate regarding gender appearance, attitudes, and characteristics. For instance, boys are taught to be competitive, independent, and assertive whereas girls learn to be nurturing, submissive and emotional. As such, girls become passive, naive, flirtatious, sexually inexperienced, graceful, and nurturing and boys grow to become excessively competitive, dominant over the female gender, insensitive, abusive, and overly demanding over a soft gender. In this regard, the principles of gender norms and segregation of roles have been carried out upon four key categories (Van Oosten et al., 2017). Childcare and Household work, Family income and breadwinning, job segregation, and leadership (Halimi et al., 2016). As such, gender socialization influences how individuals develop their beliefs, personal concepts, perceptions, and expectations.
Many societies are based on some traditional gender culture but contemporary perceptions are increasingly redefined as the dynamics of the gender landscape change spontaneously. Nevertheless, perceptions of gender norms do not always reflect the reality. Whereas the doctrine of equality is highly publicized and practiced in the US. Traditional roles are still deeply entrenched (Tabassum and Nayak, 2021). For instance, many more women than men still carry the mantle of primary caregivers of the household and children. Similarly, gender socialization continues to influence the personal attitudes and behavior of individuals at home, school, and work (Halimi et al., 2016). Evidence-based studies on gendered social norms in the US indicate that investing in the gender equality concept creates a positive shift away from traditional obstacles that block the full economic liberation of women (Ellemers, 2018).
The US society is known for its efforts to fight off various forms of injustice due to inequality, and marginalization; thus, it is possible to nurture a society that does not dwell much on individuals’ appearance or biological characteristics to determine their roles in the society but instead a community that capitalizes on individual’s capacity, skills and knowledge to execute a given task. American society can achieve better gender integration rates by breaking down prejudices and stereotypes created by traditional teachings and values on gender roles (Stewart et al., 2021). These attributes should be taught to young children to instill a renewed culture of inclusivity and the value of individual capabilities to carry out a task.
References
Ellemers, N. (2018). Gender stereotypes. Annual review of psychology, 69, 275-298. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719
Halimi, M., Consuegra, E., Struyven, K., & Engels, N. (2016). The relationship between youngsters’ gender role attitudes and individual, home, and school characteristics: A review. Sage Open, 6(3), 2158244016656230.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016656230
Stewart, R., Wright, B., Smith, L., Roberts, S., & Russell, N. (2021). Gendered stereotypes and norms: A systematic review of interventions designed to shift attitudes and behaviour. Heliyon, 7(4). https://doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.heliyon.2021.e06660
Tabassum, N., & Nayak, B. S. (2021). Gender stereotypes and their impact on women’s career progressions from a managerial perspective. IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review, 10(2), 192-208. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2277975220975513
Van Oosten, J. M., Vandenbosch, L., & Peter, J. (2017). Gender roles on social networking sites: Investigating reciprocal relationships between Dutch adolescents’ hypermasculinity and hyperfemininity and sexy online self-presentations. Journal of Children and Media, 11(2), 147-166. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17482798.2017.1304970
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