The Impact of Gender Roles on Society

Throughout history and in today's society, social roles have always been present and evident. Among the most pronounced roles in society are gender roles. Regardless of whether they are portrayed as masculine or feminine, gender roles are social roles attributed to both sexes. During early childhood, these gender roles become embedded in a person through a process referred to as gender socialization. Normally friends, family, and the media teach a person the gender roles in which they should act. Over the years, women have been assigned feminine roles, which has, in turn, limited their opportunities in society. 

Gender socialization takes place right after birth when a baby is born. A baby boy is dressed in blue, and a baby girl is in pink. In their early years, young girls are given Barbies and taught how to play house. For boys, however, toy trucks are provided and they are taught how to play some kind of sport. According to Giddens, "by age two, children understand the concept of gender partially." (93). In children's books and movies, women are portrayed as cooking and caring for the children while the husband is away at work. In text by Khaled Hossein, characters deal with the effects of gender roles proving the ways that this issue impacts society, such as women not being able to have an education, no right, and no protection. Hossein’s article demonstrates the challenge of being a woman in society.  In the article, when Mullah shares the news of Marriam’s interest to start learning, Nana sharply responds “what is there to learn?” (14). “What’s the sense schooling a girls it in school?” (14).  Women fail to achieve their education goals due to gender roles imposed by a given society. 

In professions that are traditionally seen as masculine, such as medicine, women are increasingly taking over their male counterparts. However, women still face a glass ceiling at work, even though they are on the rise in the workplace. If a woman is allowed to occupy the same job as a man, she will still generally be paid less, even if she is performing the same job. Coy states that  “Comparing annual pay of full-time, year-round workers, women earned only 77 percent of what men earned in 2010”( 4). While the Equal Pay Act of 1963 was signed to hopefully stop the considerably less pay of female employees, the battle is still going on almost half a century later. 

Women have found it extremely difficult to achieve the highest success they can when they reach adulthood because of the widespread use of gender socialization. Our society teaches girls that it is okay to settle down and become stay-at-home moms or occupy a career that is considered feminine. In most cases, despite the recent strides made in ensuring equal opportunities for women, even laws cannot entirely remedy the lessons being taught at such a young age. 

In an attempt to overcome this inequality, women are desperately pursuing higher education. With more girls attending college than boys, the gender gap in college attendance is widening. “Still, men now make up only 42 percent of the nation's college students” (Lewin 1). Despite this, men still view it “as an insult that their daughters had to leave home, attend school, and work alongside men”(Hosseini 136). There are more women than men earning higher education levels, which should mean that they are better equipped for jobs, but that is not the case. The majority of high paying jobs in the workplace still go to men. 

While gender inequality is not as prevalent as it has been in the past, it remains an issue nonetheless. In order to receive gender socialization, girls have been taught it is normal for them not to be the dominant figure, resulting in them possibly not pursuing the best jobs in the future. The fact that they are enrolling in universities across the country and the world proves that women are capable of standing on a par with men in high-level occupations that are considered masculine. Even though women have the same written rights as men, it is the absence of unwritten rights that shackles them today. 

Work Cited

Coy, Peter, and Elizabeth Dwoskin. "Shortchanged: Why Women Get Paid Less Than Men." Bloomberg Businessweek Politics and Policy. Bloomberg Businessweek, 21 June 2012. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. 

Giddens, Anthony, Mitchell Duneier, Richard P. Appelbaum, and Deborah Carr. Introduction to Sociology. 8th ed. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2012. Print. 

Hosseini, Khaled. A thousand splendid suns. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2009. Lewin, Tamar. "At Colleges, Women Are Leaving Men in the Dust." The New York Times. The New York Times, 09 July 2006. Web. 25 Nov. 2012.