Gender Roles

Why are girls and boys limited?

Girls:

Since an early age, girls are exposed to the things that they should and should not do. Since childhood, girls learn how to be accepted into a society that observes every single detail and make judgments based on the definition of a girl. Here is a short list that describes a girl:

• Play with dolls
• Like princesses
• Like arts and crafts
• Like sparkly things
• Be sensible
• Be weak
• Wear pink

This are only some of the many things that a "normal" girl should do and like according to society. Stereotyping girls into a certain category is becoming more common because since an early age, girls are taught this things and as they grow up, they view it as a normal thing. Because girls are being exposed to certain things, when they grow up, they tend to do things similar to the activities they did when they were little. According to society, girls are support to be sensible and cry for no reasons. A huge label that girls have is that they are viewed as weak. Even at a professional standard, women are only allowed to have certain types of jobs. Just think about it? How many women work as mechanics, electricians or construction workers? Not many and if they do, its really rare. The reason is that if a women does this type of work, they will be viewed in a strange way since they are a minority. This are some of the reasons why women are limited to do certain things since they practically grew up with that perspective of women. Action must be taken on order to eliminate the idea that women are only allowed to do certain things.

 

 

Boys:

Boys also have certain roles that are set by society. From an early age they have certain expectations of the things they should and shouldn't do. Some of the things that boys are expected to do are the following:

• Be emotionless
• Be strong
• Play with cars
• Don't cry
• Wear blue
• Like sports

Society expects boys to be strong in order to fit in the definition of a men. A boy is supposed to act a certain way in order to be respected. For example, they are not support to be sensible. In other words they are forbidden from crying because that can mean that they are vulnerable and sensible. A boy is supposed to play with toys such as cars. Society has formed the wrong concepts of the way men should act because they focus more on the way that things used to be years ago. Society has changed and now men can be able to do many other things and not only certain things that are set by society. For instance, men are perfectly capable of cooking, cleaning, baby sitting, and many other things that are only "allowed" for women to perform. during the years, men have formed the concept that they should be tough and aggressive in order to show that they are a "real" man. Stereotyping men can hurt our society because as a community, we are depriving them from performing many other tasks that will benefit us in the long run.

 

 

This video is a great example of how stereotypes affect people. The video makes a great point on how society is affecting the was men and women should act. The video shows how they should act from the society's perspective. This stereotypes that both men and women suffer from should not be accepted because it can cause irreversible damage in future.