Gender Roles Effect

Austin Lawrence

Mrs. Hacker

Honors English 10

04 November 2016

The Effect of Gender Roles

Have you ever caught yourself judging someone on how they differ from the norm? When you see a woman who hasn’t shaved her legs recently do you feel disgusted? When you see a man who has shaved his legs recently do you feel uncomfortable? All of these are examples of what forced gender roles have trained us to think. To understand why gender roles were enforced and how they have changed over time is dire. Gender stereotypes negatively influence emotional and social complexity amongst people greatly.

The history of gendered clothes and colors have always altered. Social convention of 1884 dictated that boys wore dresses until the ages of 6 or 7 (Jeanne).

Institutionalized gender is seen everywhere, subconscious or not. Institutionalized gender “Reflects the distribution of power between men and women in the political, educational, and social institutions in society. The institutionalized aspect of gender also shapes social norms that define, reproduce, and often justify different expectations and opportunities for men and women” (Tannenbaum 2). You can see examples of institutionalized gender anywhere. You walk down the street and see women 's boutiques with frilly dresses and pinks. You go to the gym and see posters of muscular men, very rarely women. The stereotype that women must be ‘girly’ and enjoy the color pink and dresses is another example. But where do these stereotypes for men and women leave androgynous and genderqueer individuals? Gender roles and their stereotypes describe “how we see ourselves, and are seen by others, as female or male, or across a feminine-masculine continuum. Individuals may also self-identify dynamically along the continuum of gender-queer and/or transgender. Gender identity affects our feelings and behaviors” (Tannenbaum 3). Naturally if you see someone wearing a dress you think they 're a female. But why are clothes gendered to begin with if they all have the same purpose? These are the

Overall, gender stereotypes negatively influence emotional and social complexity amongst people greatly. Gender roles “represent the behavioral norms applied to men and women in society, which influence individual 's everyday actions, expectations, and experiences. Gender roles often categorize and define individuals within the family, the labour force, or the educational system. May form the basis for stereotypes.” (Tannenbaum 3). How institutionalized gender, the distribution of power between men and women in the political, educational, and social institutions in society, is still ever prominent despite the negative results. How gender identity amongst genderqueer individuals “describe how we see ourselves, and are seen by others, as female or male, or across a feminine-masculine continuum. Individuals may also self-identify dynamically along the continuum of gender-queer and/or transgender. Gender identity affects our feelings and behaviors” (Tannenbaum 3) yet we still categorize people by their clothes, despite the fact that the history of gendered clothes and colors have always altered and that “social convention of 1884 dictated that boys wore dresses until the ages of 6 or 7” (Jeanne). Gender roles also have been proven to have caused multiple serious mental illnesses and mental issues “such as depression and anxiety, sex obligation, low self-esteem, paranoia and psychoneurosis, inter-personal problems like family violence, interpersonal sensitivity, lack of