About Gender Role

Biological theory suggests that the differences in male and female roles result from

the biological differences inherent in both sexes (Christen 1995, Dobson 1995, Maccoby,

1966).

The structural-functional theory proposes that in order for society to maintain itself,

each sex must have roles and jobs that will perpetuate society and keep it functioning in an

efficient manner (Eagly, 1987; Parsons, 1960; Parsons & Bales, 1955). Both cognitive

development theory (Baldwin, 1971; Kohlberg, 1966) and social learning theory (Bandura,

1971, 1977; Mischel, 1966) explain that gender roles are learned by children in stages and

are predicated on rewards for correct gender behaviour.

However, the theories differ in their interpretations of rewards and learning. Gender

schema theory, a combination of the stage and the socialization theories, suggests that

humans develop schemas for learning about gender and gender roles (Bem, 1988).

Symbolic interaction theory posits that gender is strictly a social construction, and based on

society's definition of masculine and feminine, distinct gender roles are passed on and

reinforced by different mechanisms within society (Blumer 1969, Lipman-Blumer, 1984,

Mead 1964).

Especially important to this study was the symbolic interaction theory of gender roles.

Symbolic interaction attributes gender role development to the process of socialization which

is "the lifelong process through which individuals learn their culture, develop their potential,

and become functioning members of society" (Lindsey 1997).

Symbolic interaction suggests that social roles are learned over time and are subject

to constant reinforcement (Blumer 1969, Mead 1964). Additionally, symbolic interaction

theory holds that a person's understanding of his or her role is subject to change. If plays
are considered social models, then how female and male characters are presented

suggests how society at large views the roles of women and men. Furthermore, the

presentation of gender in plays can serve to reinforce or to call for a change in accepted

gender behavior for women and men.

Two predominant conclusions came from the biological theories. First, men, because of

their larger physical structure, greater strength, and aggressive behavior, are the protecting

and providing entity for the family. Second, women, because of their reproductive

capabilities and traditionally passive behavior, are more commonly associated with nurturing

and domestic care. In support of these conclusions, Dobson (1995) cited several research

studies that supported the view that women were biologically different and that these

differences were innate and "resistant to change through the influences of culture"

As individuals found themselves in certain groups, the individuals collectively shared

a common experience (Eagly 1987). The division of labor, placing males in the breadwinner

capacity and females in the domestic capacity, existed within society to help children prepare

for their futures as functioning adults within their group. Gender and gender roles created a

stable society because each person comes to understand how his or her position is linked to

a larger group (Lindsey 1997, Eagly 1988). The belief and value system of the culture

exerted pressure on an individual to maintain her or his given roles.\

Mischel (1966) defined the process for how a child developed an understanding of

gender role behaviour. First a child learned to "discriminate" between the differences in

male and female behaviour. From there, the child "generalized" this behaviour from specific

experiences to new situations, and this finally led to "performing" sex-typed behaviour.

Social learning theory was criticized for the passive role given to children in the

process of socialization and for the failure to consider variety in children's cognitive abilities
(Bascow, 1992 Lindsey, 1997). Under social learning theory, children took no part in their

socialization; they merely reacted to rewards that guided them to their sense of identity.

Likewise, a child's mental ability and values from ethnic differences were not taken into

account.

Gender is often described by traits that are dichotomousmales take on certain

characteristics and females take on the opposite. According to Bascow (1992), the term

"opposite sex" characterized how these differences were presumed. Research into gender

and gender roles led to the following overarching division of the male and female roles

(Bascow, 1992; Broverman, Vogel, Broverman, Clarkson, & Rosenkrantz, 1970, 1972;

Chodorow, 1978; Dobson, 1995; Eagly, 1987; Layng, 1995; Lindsey, 1997; Lipman-Blumer,

1984; Tannen, 1990; Wood, 1999). Males were the breadwinners and providers; they were

aggressive and independent. Females were domestic caretakers; they were passive and

dependent.

(Parsons and Bales 1955) suggested that the socialization of a child came in stages, and

that the parents were the primary agents of socialization. For effective socialization, the role

of the father for the sons and the mother for the daughters was the proper role for emulation.

In order to emphasize the different gender roles, they categorized men as being

"instrumental superior" and women as "expressive superior." "Instrumental" meant that a

man had an external concentration that was focused on seeing the family in relation to his

objectives of earning an income and providing status in the world. In contrast to this,

"expressive" meant that a woman had an internal focus that centred on maintaining the

relationships between family members.

Female

Traditionally, females have been expected to wear dresses, cook and clean,

raise children, maintain a beautiful and delicate body, and remain passive, moral,

and pure (Griffin, 1998; Sherrow, 1996; Woolum, 1998; Zimmerman and Reavill,

1998). Deemed to be the weaker sex- physically, mentally, and emotionally, women

have been stereotyped as being feminine.

Femininity, according to Sherrow (1996), is the issue of what is feminine in

appearance and behaviour (i.e. being attractive, carefully groomed, submissive,

nurturing women). When the principle of femininity is applied, females are expected

to live up to these specific gender roles that are held by both men and women in

mainstream society.

This expectation of femininity often results in women being dissuaded from

lifting weights, sweating, grunting, being aggressive, participating and competing in

sports and physical activities. The main reason for this is because society expects

women to be ladylike, not demonstrate characteristics that are defined as being

masculine. However, when women do cross the line and exhibit these so-called

manly traits, their gender identity, sexual orientation, values, and social roles are

often questioned (Griffin, 1998). Negative stigmas are often attached to athletic

women, and consequently are used as a mechanism to control and limit womens

participation in sports.
 Researchers first became interested in sex and gender in childrens literature in the

1960s and 1970s. At first they only studied and analyzed the characters stereotypical sex

roles. Their main interest was to see whether the characters acted in accordance with these

roles. In these prevailing norms girls were supposed to be nice and well behaved, like the

March sisters in Louisa May Alcotts Little Women, while boys were meant to be mischievous

and adventurous, like Tom Sawyer in Mark Twains novels (Nikolajeva 129).

One big biological difference between men and women is the fact that women bear

children and men do not, something that Nancy Chodorow has given some thought to in her

book The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Psychology of Gender.

Chodorow claims that women are mothering and nurturing. She also tries to understand and

theorize why this is. She says that womens mothering is one of the few universal and

enduring elements of the sexual division of labor and that this has always been taken for

granted. It is the mother who is the childs primary care that is just the way it is.

Chodorow expands the term of mothering so that it not only is applicable to children but also

to men. Women have to be the moral mothers of their husbands when they get home from

work, and they have to nurture and take care of them in the same way that they take care of

their children.

Furthermore, Chodorow states that womens mothering role has gained psychological and

ideological significance, and has come increasingly to define womens lives . A woman is

defined by her mothering, caring and nurturing features. Chodorow also notes that womens

mothering is not a product of biology or of intentional role-training, but that it reproduces

itself in the relation between mothers and daughters.

As women became more literate, they began to read what it meant to be a "True Woman,"

which included the "cardinal virtues of piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity," and
"these were the standards upon which society would judge them and by which they would

judge themselves" (Lindsey, 1997 Blau & Ferber, 1995). Ironically, because women were

paid less than men, in some fields such as teaching or secretarial work, it was economically

feasible to hire women instead of men (Golden, 1995). However, the notion that women

should be protected and confined to the home was the predominant mindset of middle class

society.

Male

Male competiveness has to do with how boys are raised. The construction of

masculinity often happens in sport where boys are not just learning a game, they are

entering an organized institution (Connell 1995). These institutional structures are

hierarchical and competitive in order to prepare boys for a similar structure found in most

workplaces. It is also important that young boys learn the male way of go-getting. They are

trained to have an aggressive advantage, towards women, which helps them in their career

and everyday life because it makes them stay focused (Connell 2009).

Lois Tyson discusses the notions of sex and gender in her book Critical Theory Today: A

user-friendly guide and states that there are some gender roles that are seen as traditional.

Men are viewed as rational, strong, protective and decisive while women are emotional,

irrational, weak, nurturing and submissive. She claims that these gender roles have been

used successfully to justify the inequalities between men and women and to view women as

inferior to men. She goes on to say that we have been lured into thinking that this has

something to do with our sex, our bodies, and not with the constructed notion of gender (83).
The structural-functional perspective has been used as a "justification for the persistence of

male dominance and overall gender stratification" as well as a support for the "white, middle-

class family ethic. Thus, this theory did not consider the rapidly changing dynamics of the

contemporary family nor did the theory consider race, political power, and socioeconomic

differences as relevant factors (Millett 1969, Lindsey 1997).

Social learning theory also placed great emphasis on the father figure as the "most powerful

provider of rewards and punishments"; therefore, gender role development was again

explored from the male perspective (Hargreaves 1987 Bascow 1992, Katz, 1979).

The dominance of the father in Colonial America was a steadfast rule. The father was active

in selecting proper mates for his children (Mintz & Kellogg, 1988). He owned the land and,

in turn, passed that land onto his sons thereby making it economically possible for them to

marry. As a result of this strict patriarchy, the man, upon marriage, absorbed any property

belonging to the woman prior to her marriage.

Fathers in slave households could provide additional food for the family, but they could do

little to protect their wives from sexual assault or their children from brutality (Staples &

Johnson, 1993).

A man was paid a "living wage" for his work, which was the amount of money needed to

support a family. For the first time, the home became a place of refuge for the husband from

the
world of work, and the wife's duty was to make the home a safe and relaxing environment

(Hoffnung, 1995).

While the male characters explored, dreamed, succeeded, or failed. Women were confined

to the domestic world and "aspiration and achievement [were] focused on relations with a

man" (Drucker, 1988)