Putt-Putt Quanpadung

Mrs. Hunt

AP Lang

Gender Essay

Societys Perception of Gender

Gender roles are based on the different expectations that individuals, group, and societies

have of individuals based on their gender and what societys beliefs and values about gender.

There are many factors that influences society to create our perception of gender, such as,

culture, and media.

Societys perception of gender is the product of the interactions between individuals and

and the environment they surround themselves with. The interactions between individual and

their environment give them cues about what sort of behavior is appropriate for what gender.

Culture plays a huge role in how people view each gender around the United States. Expectations

about attributes and behaviors that is appropriate to men or women and the relations between

gender are all shaped by culture. Gender identities and relations are critical aspects of culture

because it shapes the way people live their daily lives in the community that surrounds them and

also in their family. In We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, she believes

that you can not blame culture or society for all of our problems. Boys are not the only problem

when it comes to sexism. Women play a role in creating stereotypes, and that is not going to

change. The idea of feminism is to have an equal right for all, by taking into considering what

both men and women want and how they feel to find the middle where everyone is satisfied and

happy. Because of this she notices that not all women are the same. Everyone is living a different

truth and it is not fair to put all women in one category. Similarly, she knows that all men are not
the same either. Depending on the society, the nature of gender roles varies, but the general

knowledge is that women have less personal freedom, fewer resources at hand, and limited

influence in decision making processes that shapes their own lives. While men are more superior,

more respected by others, more freedom, and have almost all the resources at hand.

Media plays a large role in creating social norms, because various forms of media,

including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost everywhere in current culture.

Gender roles only exist because society as a whole decided to accept them, but they are

maintained by media. In this century technology is everywhere and children have more access to

media and because of that media has a better chance of controlling the gender biases. People of

all ages are gender biased. However, nobody is born as gender biased. Parents plays a huge role

in allowing and leading their kids to become gender biased. Parents categorize kids with certain

activities, colors, and what each gender can and can not do. Younger audiences are more prone

to absorb the information and ideas from media on how to behave and what to become, these

characteristics can be very harmful and lead them to false assumption. This is where gender

stereotypes come in and how it affects us all. The world revolves around the concepts of power

and greed. These ideas are passed down through generations and will not go away. Given, people

of our society have fought to obtain these two things, and in return hiding their emotions. Society

has shaped boys and men to be the brave, tough, and emotionless. In the article, Hyper-

masculinity and Violence as a Social System by Thomas J. Scheff, Alfred Adler, a

psychoanalyst stated that, young children have an intense need for love and connectedness,

especially from their parentsmale children get less affection and intimate talk from parents

than females. This leads boys to feel less loved. Boys at an early age learn that vulnerability is a

sign of weakness, they learn to hide their feelings and never express them, this could lead to
harmful results. In the movie, The Mask You Live In by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, they stated

behind the mask that men live under, they have an immense amount of emotional character that

they are afraid to let out because it does not "fit" into the masculinity standards that we have for

men. Numbing or ignoring their fear of expressing emotions can be very dangerous and could

lead to avoidance in an ever increasing, self perpetuating loop. Boys learn that acting out anger,

even if it is faked, is seen as strength. Boys learn that suppressing feelings that may be

interpreted as signs of weakness for self-protection against society. Scheff states that, the

general sees the mens self control as virtuous. Because of this men learn to show no emotion

and lust for power and domination.

There are many factors that influences society to create our perception of gender, such as,

culture, and media. Culture plays a huge role in how people view each gender. Expectations

about attributes and behaviors that is appropriate to men or women and the relations between

gender are all shaped by culture. Media plays a large role in creating social norms, because

various forms of media, including advertisements, television, and film, are present almost

everywhere in current culture. How do you feel about societys perception of gender? What

would you do to help solve this problem?