Gender roles are built on gender norms, or standards, which are rooted in cultural perceptions or based on societal expectations. In many societies, masculine roles are associated with strength, aggression and dominance whilst female roles are associated with subordination, nurturing and passivity. Men and women are expected to adhere to these roles.
Gender is a learned behavior. From infancy, children are encouraged to adopt behaviours associated with the gender they are “assigned” at birth (based on their physical sex). This affects them for the rest of their lives.
These gender roles perpetuate gender stereotypes and sexism. This affects women and men in the work place, as they may not be given the same opportunities. Most women are paid
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This is a world I would like to see brought about by the gender revolution. This would allow people to be themselves, to be happy with whom they are and achieve their full potential. Such a world would be a better world with less gender-based violence, less sexist or discriminatory behaviour, and less hate crime.
There are several obstacles that must be overcome to achieve such a society. To challenge gender roles requires challenging deeply-held beliefs about gender norms. Many people are resistant to such changes and will not go against these beliefs that are entrenched in their culture or religion. Though the gender revolution has made some headway since its origin, there will always be people who will not embrace these reforms.
A second obstacle is that the gender-role revolution is often associated with the “man-hating” feminist revolution. As such, many people are reluctant to actively participate. This hinders the revolution. Furthermore, many people don’t identify with the gender role issue, as they think it doesn’t affect