Gender and our society

A society labels all male and female individuals according to their genders. It is the way of classifying and separating the males and females in terms of dressing, in terms of behavior, in terms of their respective roles and responsibilities. An individual cannot define his/her gender by himself/herself; the society mostly establishes a gender from their perspective. Most of the communities perceive gender differently. However, gendering people plays an important role in publicizing community organization. Due to globalization and tremendous growth of technologies, the roles of these two separate genders started mixing up. Even though this has not been so prominent, women and men have proven that they can perform each other’s role perfectly without any strain. Is gender today necessary for the society’s organization?

Does it limit our skills and talents? Now days mostly women play the roles of breadwinners in our society. This wasn’t possible in the past because the society made sure that a woman gets married to a man who would take care of her and would support her for family needs. Gendering has always been a part of human culture. Since like culture, the gender roles are so dynamic that keeps on changing from time to time. Gendering takes place soon after birth and all the children are designated according to their particular genders. After the birth of a child, girls and boys are treated accordingly with clear differences in the type of clothes that they wear, the kind of games that they play and also both of them have different behaviors.

The activities carried out by men and women may indeed be genetic and also their behavior may differ according to their genes. For example, biologically it is proven that men are more aggressive than women because of the hormones that are produced in their bodies. The aggressive behavior is common in almost every species but it differs with sex. For example, Crime rates are usually higher in men than in women. But boys usually display a lower level of aggressiveness as compares to girls. Does the genetics really influence the genders? Studies have shown that, if the levels of testosterone between the two sexes in animals are reversed then the aggressive behavior is also influenced.



There are some clear things that we notice like male children usually play with toy guns and violent toys but on the other hand, female girls play with dolls and soft toys. Some of the homely tasks like washing dishes can be done by both the genders but usually females more commonly do this task.



The society today, has failed to promote gender equality. Why is it that even after the developmental measures of equal rights, there are clear discrepancies on the gender roles of the community? Why is it that when people try to cross the gender lines, they are always seen as deviants in our society because they hold a small position in our society?

On the other hand, our society is successfully ensuring that the community is organized along gender lines and that gender cannot be compared to sex. Every individual accepts gender because gender promotes similarity. Living a life in a normal way and by accepting the social norms, these people do not conflict with the society. Every individual wants to be identified with the society. The good thing about gendering people is that is creates recognizable roles, rights and responsibilities to the different sexes making it easy for society organization. Anyhow, gender creates social stratification in our male dominated society that places men above women. We can find many examples and issues like employment, education etc. Girls and boys can be different and at the same time equal in terms of respect. Today living in this world of modernization the society has still not changed when it comes to a task that men can do and women cannot.

Should the rights of the individual or the concerns for the wider society take precedence?

Nowadays, people are penetrating for equal rights and more opportunities. No one should be wretched from any type of discrimination, but unfortunately they are. Discrimination is commonly found in the work place among women. In a workplace where discrimination against women is prevalent; the choices are not made based on the ability of the person, but their gender. The reason why it is a big issue for women in the workplace is because women are looked at as part of the household committee instead of in the economical world. It is a major factor in how some stereotypes are derived. Women are perceived as delicate and are definitely the only part of the human population capable of bearing children, therefore, working conditions that were set for men were considered to be too dangerous for women. However, some do ignore the working conditions and go. This new role in the work place is not so readily accepted in society.

The three major obstacles that are stopping the woman to extend her intention at her career are men, media and the society. According to Bob Enyart "Women are not made to manage things. Men can manage everything instead. When women try to run things and take over the authority of men they mess things." This kind of attitude is what keeps women outshine the men in the world. Most men view women only as housewives, and nothing else. They suppose that women are meant to stay at home and clean the house, raise children and cook meals. However, even if the woman decided to join the workforce they have slight career choices. It was not until the late 1980s that women were accepted into the higher paying careers by men who were already dominating the workforce.

Even today when they are accepted to the workforce they are still not paid as much as men for equal work. A 1998 study shows that a woman in the same job as a man with the same expectations and responsibilities, the woman is paid ten to fifteen percent less than men. The media and television programs are also responsible for the image that is given to the woman. Women play passive roles in films and even television sitcoms. Even sitcoms on TV today women are cast in a career that men stereotyped as women belong in the kitchen or shopping.

American society can be very temperamental in their belief system and not willing to change their minds. Using politics as an example, there has never been a woman President or Vice President. This is because the American society's unwillingness to change this form of discrimination.

Until the society as a whole is adjusted, then the discrimination against women will continue. However, because of men, media, and the Society, women in the past and still to this day continue to be the countries greatest percentage of second-class citizens. Often, many women today withdraw, house and feed their families without the help of men, on an income of less than two thirds that of men doing the same job. For women to be equal in this society they need to earn equal payments for equal work and have everyone accept them into the workforce. When the society as a whole undertakes the awareness rising about the importance of women in the workforce, then we will have achieved equality between men and women.