Research Paper On Gender Roles

This sample essay on Research Paper On Gender Roles reveals arguments and important aspects of this topic. Read this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs and the conclusion below.

The important norms of life divide the people in different categories and groups depending upon the race, religion and age. There is another category that is most of the times simply irresistible to be forgotten which is the gender division. It is the just the instant reflex that makes the males and females to observe the difference during any kind of confrontation.

As these issues stand by Sociology plays an important role in describing how the gender roles are devised and how they change as the time passes by. More or less the difference lies in the beliefs of the society including interpretation of different situations and the stereotyping that leads to certain conclusion at times (Wallace & Alison, 1995).

Gender Roles:

Social learning theory works for the socialization. Social learning theory is described as the process in which a person from its birth learns different aspects of life including behaviors and responses to the behaviors as he sees (Giddens et al, 2007).

Socialization is therefore a process in which the person learns how customs, environment and laws work in society. Gender socialization is the focused form of socialization and allows the grooming of different sexes into individuals and how they are supposed to play their roles according to their genders in the society. Defining of the gender roles is an important in how the society works.

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Looking into the developed countries of the world, the gender roles are often termed towards discrimination but still the conventional roles of the women have changed considerably for both males and females. A person’s gender role encloses many different elements including the way of clothing, styling etc. and the differences in these roles have always continued over time (Christie-Mizell, 2006). The division of the roles has been, historically, based on males and females but different gender roles have emerged overtime as well.

Thesis Statement For Gender Roles

Changing of gender roles has been a quite continuous process. Males and females trying to avoid their personal strengths of being a specific sex have changed. Research followed in Western countries have shown that the females have become lot more vulnerable and hollow in their approach towards their main role of bearing child and work domestically. The progressive approach has made them to deviate from their roles considerably causing the momentum to be shifted away from the equilibrium that requires stability (Giddens et al, 2007). Even the role of males has changed in most parts of the world as well.

Gender Roles in America:

The civilization has played an important role in the cultural aspects of the country where the gender role reformation has taken place in recent years. The formation of the laws always stood against the females as they were never allowed to take part in active politics and they didn’t have the right to vote. More importantly the females were more degraded than this specific reality as they were not even considered a responsible part of the society and were treated quite disgracefully. Though they were bearing children and were good at domestic works but they require more than these things in their life. Thus it seems that the changing in the gender roles was quite inevitable for them as they wanted to revitalize their gender so that they can be viewed differently (Scott & Braun, 2006). After considerable work done in the history by some females, they gained a respectable stature in the society. They were allowed to gain education and move freely into the markets and everywhere.

The social aspects of this new role have placed various questions upon the conventionality of the gender roles which are very far away from each other. The important point is the equality which has played a major role in the shaping of lives of both sexes. The males and females have come at direct confrontation with each other considering both of them as enemy of each other. This particular statement has made both sexes to move away from their main role and they have tried to invent things of their opposite gender into their own.

Those who agree with these changing of roles describe this as a healthy change which could provide prosperity to the society but the socialization has predominantly been affected. The women now have achieved respect; they are now in fashion and media and are running side by side with men. They have taken job positions which few years back would have been only appropriate for men. They even try to gain access to these jobs because this is the way they feel secure whereas the males have continued to show their dominance by going into wars, running the business and taking responsibility of the family in previous years are now having direct competition from the females (Connell, 1987).

The critics of these changing in the gender roles describe it as a curse which is causing the natural phenomenon to worn out without benefits and with serious consequences. The people are no longer interested in marriages and having families rather than work for money. They are just moving away from the basic means of life. The inclusion of stress, pain and sleeplessness with the essence of loneliness has made the whole American society to become solvent in the current society. The birth rates are going down, new born babies are not having the right kind of learning scenarios and the gender differentiation is causing the frustration as well (Andersen, 1993). The discrimination and racism has also increased considerably against the women. Many men are still unable to realize the reality that females now hold equal rights and require respect. When this happen they are going around the way and try to gain the dominance by either beating or by other measly actions. This has caused the ratio of domestic violence to gain as well.

The families and household structures in America have changed considerably therefore. The females are not confined to the homes only and the males are not confined to offices only. Males also take the responsibilities for the growth of their children when their wives are doing office works. This is where the sociological aspects of the America have changed quite a lot. The gender discrimination might not be present on a larger scale and at one place where they have provided good results, bad results are also present.

Gender Roles in Hong Kong:

Hong Kong has a very strong cultural and sociological structure. The Chinese structure of the families play an important role in the Hong Kong culture where the gender roles are changing but they are being kept at a steady pace (AU, 1993). Though with recent advancements in the field of science and technology and the industries, the progressive approach around the world have required some changes in Hong Kong as well. Chinese remains a great follower of their family cultures. The women are devised to raise the families but there are many examples where they are quite active in the work as well though the ratio of respect for the elders and the males is quite more than that is present in the American culture. Chinese believe in providing better services to their grandparents more than in the American culture. The combined family system is still applicable in various parts of the country as opposed to the American society where the grandparents are stuck into the old age houses.

The gender roles in Hong Kong have never been hyped before the 1980s. The country gained these propositions from the fueling from the United Nations about the human rights of the women. After these incidents, the gender roles started to change but less gradually than any other country in the West. The gender roles were clearly stereotyped since recently. Today, Hong Kong has placed various complications in their system which not only provides right to the women but also the freedom to choose whatever role they want to attain regardless of their gender importance (AU, 1993). Women are present in politics, in businesses, in social welfare and then there are those who are actively taking part in the domestic role for their families. The understanding of the role basically depends upon the individual. The stereotyping can become an important factor to provide easy access to the decisions.

Difference in Gender Changing Roles in Hong Kong and America:

At this point we are much clear about the gender roles in traditional as well as modern American society. Situation however, is very different in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is still is in the transition phase when view in terms of changing gender roles. In terms of traditional gender roles America and Hong Kong are much similar. America being a liberal nation showed less resistant to changing gender roles than Hong Kong. Things are on the go in Hong Kong too, but it has been observed that resistance factor still creating many hurdles. Men here still want their wives to stay at home and perform the household hold duties and domestic chores. Eventually, media played a very positive role, employers are creating jobs for women, and equal employment opportunities are available in most if not in all organizations. Despite of all these facts, Hong Kong is still far behind. .

Many researches highlighted different factors which are still to be addressed. Issue has been discussed widely too, may be youth can make it possible. Different studies has been conducted to have an inside towards genders inequality, it is derived from these studies that the textbooks offered to students (even at primary level) intends to believe in stereotypes about men superiority. Portrayals in different textbooks highlighted men as social person and women as household manager (Au, 1993: 13). Apart from this, women are repeatedly under presented in the textbook character portrayal. When these children were asked about their perception towards gender they replied as expected (Au, 1993: 18). Now the question arises if teachers, parents, principals and publishers are aware of what they are intending their children to learn, or not. These types of activities are the clear wisdom of the intensions of Hong Kong policies towards gender inequality.

Conclusion

Americans are leading the world, not because they have adequate resources to do so, because they care about the issues and try to trigger that out. They are liberal towards human rights and believe that both men and women have capacities to perform duties traditionally symbolize to one. Hong Kong on the other hand is not paying attention to what we can say “call of Time”. Increasing number of women physicians, judges, teachers, scientists are the resources of America.

Though we know, Americans still have to do a lot towards actual gender equality and ideal changing gender roles, they have to rectify the pay inequality, they need to increase the number of women in top level management to show that women can do almost everything associated to men, traditionally.

This is the wakeup time for Hong Kong Government to educate their people towards changing gender roles and to create equal employment opportunities with positive intensions. Women of this era are not t all less than man.

At this stage, we need to promote and encourage gender equality and equal employment opportunities and to do this first we need to introduce more gender equality curriculum. Otherwise, we will remain behind not only from America but from other nations too. This is not an easy task as we don’t know how much this gender-based curriculum penetrated in our upcoming youth.

Policy measures are required at organizational level both in education and business organization. Apart from curriculum and equal employment opportunity, media should be the source to educate people. Power of media can be use as an opportunity to educate people quickly and effectively.