Gender Roles

Gender roles refer to the culturally defined expectations, behaviors, and characteristics associated with being male or female. These roles are shaped by a combination of biological, social, and cultural influences, and can vary significantly between different societies and historical periods. While traditional gender roles have often assigned men as providers and women as caregivers, contemporary discussions emphasize the fluidity of these roles and the increasing acceptance of androgynous behaviors, where individuals may embody traits typically associated with both genders.

The socialization process plays a crucial role in defining and reinforcing gender roles from early childhood, with children receiving distinct messages about acceptable behaviors based on their gender. Despite societal advancements, modern expectations still exist, shaping how individuals navigate their identities and roles within their communities. Research suggests that both genetic factors and environmental influences contribute to the development of gender identity and roles, indicating that these constructs are not solely determined by biology.

As societies evolve, there is a growing recognition of the benefits of flexible gender roles that allow individuals to pursue a broader range of expressions and skills, contributing positively to both personal fulfillment and societal progress. Understanding gender roles involves recognizing their complexity and the ongoing discourse surrounding gender identity, social norms, and cultural expectations.

Published in: 2021

By: Wienclaw, Ruth A.

Subject Terms

Gender Roles

Abstract

Gender roles are separate patterns of personality traits, mannerisms, interests, attitudes, and behaviors that are regarded as either "male" or "female" by one's culture. Gender roles are largely a product of the way in which one was raised and may not be in conformance with one's gender identity. Research shows that both genetics and environment influence the development of gender roles. As society changes, its gender roles often also change to meet the needs of the society. To this end, it has been suggested that androgynous gender roles in which both females and males are expected to display either expressive (emotion-oriented) or instrumental (goal-oriented) behaviors as called for by the situation may be better for both the individual and the society in many ways. However, this is not to say that traditional roles, reversed roles, or anything in between are inherently bad. More research is needed to better understand the influences of genetics and environment on the acquisition of gender roles and the ways in which different types of gender roles support the stability and growth of society.

Overview

Gender roles have changed in many ways throughout history as well as within recent memory. In the 1950s, for example, little girls were said to be made of "sugar and spice and everything nice" and wore pastel organdy dresses and gloves to church. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, this all changed for many women; bras were discarded, and patched jeans became de rigueur. In fact, each succeeding generation has brought with it differing expectations for how men and women should act within society. Despite these changes, however, the truth is that modern society still has expectations for how men and women are to act. Although we may be more open to exceptions than were past generations, there still are expected norms of behavior for women and men in society.

Gender vs. Sex. In biosocial terms, gender is not the same as sex. Gender refers to the psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female, male, both, or neither. Gender is defined by one's gender identity and learned gender role. Sex, on the other hand, refers in this context to the biological aspects of being female, male, or intersex, and combines chromosomes, hormones, primary sex characteristics, and secondary sex characteristics. Genetically, females are typically identified by having two X chromosomes and males by having an X and a Y chromosome, while intersex individuals may have these or other chromosomal configurations. In addition, sex can typically be determined from primary or secondary sexual characteristics. To assign a baby's sex at birth, doctors usually rely on observing primary sexual characteristics comprising the reproductive organs (i.e., the vagina, ovaries, and uterus for females and the penis, testes, and scrotum for males). Secondary sexual characteristics comprise the superficial differences between the sexes that occur with puberty (e.g., breast development and hip broadening for women and facial hair and voice deepening for men). Intersex individuals may have a combination of male and female sex characteristics; sex characteristics that are ambiguous, appearing both female and male or neither; or external sex characteristics that differ from their internal sex characteristics. When one's gender is in concordance with one's sex as designated at birth, that person is cis-gender. When one's gender does not comport with their sex designated at birth, that person is transgender.

Biology as Gender Role Determinant. It is relatively easy to see that biology has an impact on gender and the subsequent actions and behaviors that are thought to be more relevant to either females or males. For example, no matter how much a cis-gender man might want to experience giving birth, the simple fact is that he cannot, except as an observer. From this fact it is easy (if not necessarily logical) to assume that biology is destiny and, therefore, women and men have certain unalterable roles in society—for example, that women are the keepers of home and hearth because of their reproductive role, while men are the protectors and providers because of their relatively greater size and strength. However, before concluding that biology is destiny in terms of gender roles, it is important to understand that not only do gender roles differ from culture to culture, they also change over time within the same culture. Early 20th-century American culture emphasized that a woman's role was in the home. As a result, many women did not have high school educations and never held jobs; instead, they raised families and supported their husbands by keeping their households running smoothly. Nearly a century later, this gender role is no longer the norm (or at least not the only acceptable norm) and sounds quite constricting to our more educated, career-oriented 21st-century ears. If biology were the sole determinant of gender roles, such changes would not be possible.

Culture as Gender Role Determinant. In 21st-century United States culture, gender roles continue to be in a state of flux to some extent, although traditional gender roles still apply in many quarters. For example, boys are often encouraged to become strong, fast, aggressive, dominant, and achieving, while traditional roles for girls are to be sensitive, intuitive, passive, emotional, and interested in the things of home and family. However, these gender roles are culturally bound. For example, in the Tchambuli culture of New Guinea, gender roles for women include doing the fishing and manufacturing as well as controlling the power and economic life of the community. Tchambuli women also take the lead in initiating sexual relations. Tchambuli men, on the other hand, are dependent, flirtatious, and concerned with their appearance, often adorning themselves with flowers and jewelry. In the Tchambuli culture, men's interests revolve around such activities as art, games, and theatrics (Coon, 2001). If gender roles were completely biologically determined, the wide disparity between American and Tchambuli gender roles would not be possible. Therefore, it must be assumed that culture and socialization also play a part in gender role acquisition.

Society as Gender Role Determinant. Socialization is the process by which individuals learn to differentiate between what society regards as acceptable and unacceptable behavior and act in a manner that is appropriate for the needs of the society. The socialization process for teaching gender roles begins almost immediately after birth, when infant girls are typically held more gently and treated more tenderly than are infant boys, and continues as the child grows, with both mothers and fathers usually playing more roughly with their male children than with their female children. As the child continues to grow and mature, little boys are typically allowed to roam a wider territory without permission than are little girls. Similarly, boys are typically expected to run errands earlier than are girls. Whereas sons are told that "real boys don't cry" and are encouraged to control their softer emotions, girls are taught not to fight and not to show anger or aggression. In general, girls are taught to engage in expressive, or emotion-oriented, behaviors, while boys are taught to engage in instrumental, or goal-oriented, behaviors. When the disparity between the way they teach and treat their daughters and sons is pointed out to many parents, they often respond that the sexes are naturally different not only biologically but behaviorally as well.

Gender-Specific Toys. The teaching of gender roles does not only come through obvious verbal teaching from parents and other elders in society; it also occurs in more subtle ways. Many people have observed that children's toys are strongly gender-typed. Girls are often given "girl" toys such as dolls, play kitchens, and similar toys that teach them traditional, socially approved gender roles for when they grow up. Boys, on the other hand, are often given sports equipment, tools, and toy trucks, all of which help prepare them to act within traditional male gender roles. Even if nothing is ever said to children about the gender-appropriateness of these toys, research has shown that by the time they reach school age, many children have already come to believe that professions such as physician, pilot, and athlete are the domain of men, while women are supposed to have careers as nurses, secretaries, or mothers (Coon, 2001).

To investigate the influence of gender-specific toys on the development of gender roles, Caldera and Sciaraffa (1998) performed a research study with 42 pairs of parents and toddlers (aged 18 to 23 months). Each dyad was videotaped while playing with a box of toys that contained a large baby doll that cried, a small baby doll with a bottle, and a soft, stuffed clown. For the purposes of the study, the baby dolls were classified as stereotypical girls' toys, while the clown was considered to be more appropriate for boys. The parents were told to play with their children using toys in the box for at least four minutes. The experimenters had three hypotheses:

First, that the dolls would elicit more doll-appropriate play and the stuffed clown would elicit more object-appropriate play.
Second, that mothers would use the dolls to initiate higher rates of doll-appropriate play with daughters and fathers would use the clown to initiate higher rates of object-appropriate play with their sons.
Finally, that girls would be more likely to initiate doll-appropriate play than would boys.

These predictions were generally supported. The researchers concluded that giving stuffed toys to boys is not the same as giving them baby dolls. Further, by giving a toddler a stuffed toy rather than a baby doll, one is not encouraging traditional feminine gender-stereotyped play.

Heredity & Environment. There has been ongoing debate for years regarding whether gender roles are a biological imperative or the result of socialization. As the example of the Tchambuli gender roles demonstrates, it is difficult if not impossible to argue that gender roles are completely biologically determined. However, this is not to say that there is not a biological component in their acquisition. Research suggests, for example, that the exposure of female fetuses to androgens (male hormones) during the second trimester results in individuals more likely to break out of traditional female gender stereotypes (Udry, 2000). Mitchell, Baker, and Jacklin (1989) performed a twin study with pre-adolescents and adolescents to attempt to determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors in the development of femininity and masculinity in children. The sample included both monozygotic pairs of twins (identical twins with the same genetic background) and dizygotic pairs of twins (fraternal twins with similar genetic backgrounds). Data on femininity and masculinity were collected by asking subjects to respond to two standardized instruments of personality and self-perception. The analysis of the data suggested that both heredity and environment are important in the development of gender identity. Genetics was found to play a significant role in the acquisition of gender identity, accounting for 20 to 48 percent of the observed variation, and so was environmental influences, which accounted for the remaining 52 to 80 percent of the variation.

Applications

Androgyny in Contemporary Society. When it comes to gender roles, traditional instrumental behavior for men and traditional expressive behavior for women are not the only two options available, nor are they the only two options that are accepted and tolerated by modern society. Women can become pilots, nuclear physicists, business owners, or politicians without most people thinking that they are accomplishing anything more out of the ordinary than if a man had done the same thing. Similarly, men are readily accepted as artists, poets, nurses, and social workers. In fact, 21st-century Western society is very accepting of the concept of androgyny, or the presence of both traditionally feminine and masculine characteristics or traits in one individual.

It has been posited that the twenty-first century's complex society is best supported by flexible rather than traditional gender roles. So, for example, in addition to being nurturing and caring and displaying expressive behaviors, girls need also to learn instrumental behaviors, such as being assertive, self-reliant, and independent when the situation calls for it. Similarly, boys should not only display instrumental behaviors, such as being goal-oriented and aggressive, but should also learn to be compassionate, sensitive, and yielding when appropriate. It can be argued that such blurring of the lines between traditional gender roles is good for both the individual and the society. When women display more instrumental behaviors, they are able to use their talents more fully than if they restrict themselves to traditional gender roles such as wife, mother, or support person. Further, by learning to display instrumental behaviors, women become better able to take care of themselves when a man is not available to do so, whereas the paradigm of traditional gender roles often necessitates the presence of a man in a woman's life. Similarly, this situation is also good for society because it widens the pool of talent for many jobs and allows people to fulfill the role best suited for them, no matter their gender.

Society also benefits when men learn to be more androgynous and demonstrate more expressive behavior when appropriate, such as when fathers are more nurturing to their mates and children or express their emotions and communicate more fully. In some ways, the move toward more androgynous gender roles in itself reinforces the need for androgynous gender roles by making it easier for people of all genders to break out of the traditional gender stereotypes. Another way androgyny in gender roles is good for both society and the individual is that androgynous individuals have been shown to be more adaptable. Particularly in modern society, with its rapidly changing technological demands and opportunities, faster communications channels, and globalization, adaptability is a characteristic greatly to be desired. Research has shown that androgynous individuals tend to be more flexible when coping with difficult situations and also tend to be more satisfied with their lives (Coon, 2001).

Conclusion

Virtually every culture in the world has gender role expectations for how women and men should act. Sometimes these are in line with biological factors and the extrapolation of reproductive roles to other areas in society, such as in traditional Western gender roles, where the woman is nurturing and expressive and the man is aggressive and instrumental. However, such roles are not the result of biological destiny, as the gender roles of the Tchambuli people in New Guinea illustrate. Further, individuals in postmodern 21st-century society are increasingly performing androgynous gender roles in which they are either expressive or instrumental as the situation demands.

Gender, however, is more than a socialized role that one learns; it is also part of one's identity and self-concept. Neither the traditional Western gender roles of expressive females and instrumental males nor the New Guinea Tchambuli gender roles of instrumental females and expressive males are inherently good or bad or even better than the other. Similarly, although there is evidence that androgynous gender roles can be good for both the individual and society, they, too, are not inherently superior. Although some observers advocate for traditional roles and others advocate for androgynous roles or even anti-traditional roles, in the end, it is what works best for the individual and for society that is important. Families can be functional under any of these paradigms, and so can societies. More research is needed in order to better understand the biological and social components of gender roles, how gender roles affect one's self-concept and mental health, and how gender roles change over time to support the needs of society.

Terms & Concepts

Androgyny: The presence in one individual of both feminine and masculine characteristics or traits as traditionally classified.

Culture: A complex system of meaning and behavior that is socially transmitted and defines a common way of life for a group or society. Culture includes the totality of behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and other products of human work and thought.

Dyad: A group with only two members (e.g., husband and wife; father and child).

Gender: Psychological, social, cultural, and behavioral characteristics associated with being female or male. Gender is defined by one's gender identity and learned gender role.

Gender Identity: The recognition that one is male, female, or nonbinary, based on both biological and psychosocial considerations, and the internalization of this gender concept into one's self-identity.

Gender Role: Separate patterns of personality traits, mannerisms, interests, attitudes, and behaviors that are regarded as "male" or "female" by one's culture. Gender role is largely a product of the way in which one was raised and may not be in conformance with one's gender identity.

Gender Stereotype: A culturally defined pattern of expected attitudes and behaviors that are considered appropriate for one gender but not the other. Gender stereotypes tend to be simplistic and based not on the characteristics or aptitudes of the individual but on overgeneralized perceptions of each gender.

Norms: Standards or patterns of behavior that are accepted as normal within the culture.

Sex: The biological aspects of being female, male, or intersex as determined by chromosomes, hormones, primary sex characteristics, and secondary sex characteristics.

Socialization: The process by which individuals learn to differentiate between what the society regards as acceptable and unacceptable behavior and to act in a manner that is appropriate for the needs of the society.

Society: A distinct group of people who live within the same territory, share a common culture and way of life, and are relatively independent from people outside the group. Society includes systems of social interactions that govern both culture and social organization.

Subject: A participant in a research study or experiment whose responses are observed, recorded, and analyzed.

Twin Study: A research study in which the subjects are pairs of twins. The object of twin studies is to try to better understand the relative contributions of heredity and environment to behavior, traits, and other attributes of interest. Twin studies often involve some pairs of twins who have been reared together in the same situation, so that environment remains relatively stable, and some who have been reared apart in different situations, so that environmental factors vary significantly.

Bibliography

Caldera, Y. M. & Schiarraffa, M. A. (1998). Parent-toddler play with feminine toys: Are all dolls the same? Sex Roles, 39(9/10), 657-668.

Coon, D. (2001). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior (9th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

de Lemus, S., Spears, R., Bukowski, M., Moya, M., & Lupiáñez, J. (2013). Reversing implicit gender stereotype activation as a function of exposure to traditional gender roles. Social Psychology, 44, 109–116. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=86687968&site=ehost-live

Drury, K., Bukowski, W., Velásquez, A., & Stella-Lopez, L. (2013). Victimization and gender identity in single-sex and mixed-sex schools: Examining contextual variations in pressure to conform to gender norms. Sex Roles, 69(7/8), 442–454. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=90470594&site=ehost-live

Mitchell, J. E., Baker, L. A., & Jacklin, C. N. (1989). Masculinity and femininity in twin children: Genetic and environmental factors. Child Development, 60, 1475-1485. Retrieved August 26, 2008, from EBSCO Online Database Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=9772487&site=ehost-live

Parrott, H. M. (2014). Housework, children, and women’s wages across racial–ethnic groups. Social Science Research,46, 72–84. Retrieved December 4, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=95672888

Patterson, M. (2012). Self-perceived gender typicality, gender-typed attributes, and gender stereotype endorsement in elementary-school-aged children. Sex Roles, 67(7/8), 422–434. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=79616942&site=ehost-live

Udry, J. R. (2000). Biological limits of gender construction. American Sociological Review, 65, 443-457. Retrieved August 25, 2008, from EBSCO Online Academic Search Premier. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=3405755&site=ehost-live

Yang, T., & Aldrich, H. E. (2014). Who’s the boss? Explaining gender inequality in entrepreneurial teams. American Sociological Review, 79, 303–327. Retrieved December 3, 2014 from EBSCO Online Database SocINDEX with Full Text. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=95319358

Gender Roles

On this Page

Subject Terms

Gender Roles

Abstract

Overview

Applications

Conclusion

Terms & Concepts

Bibliography

Suggested Reading