The Roles of Men and Women in Modern Society; and How It Differs
Disclaimer: This article is written based on the opinion of the author and does not in any way reflect the view of the organisation.
Growing up, I watched the men in my family carry the burden of work on their shoulders while the women stayed at home to look after the kids. It was an unspoken rule in the house that women simply couldn’t work after marriage and men wouldn’t stay home to look after the kids. This has always made me wonder: why were responsibilities still assigned based on roles despite being the most liberal the society has been? In our society, men and women perform very different yet similar roles. Nowadays, these roles are increasingly overlapping as we begin to normalize women carrying out the roles that men should and vice versa. But before we indulge into the concept of gender roles, there are two questions we need to ponder upon. Should roles be assigned to someone based on their gender? If so, would these roles be considered a stereotype?
What are gender-based roles?
To understand gender roles and how they are assigned, we need to dig deeper into what it truly means. Gender roles mean that a specific gender is expected to conduct themselves based on their assigned sex. Most gender ideology categories are unidimensional, and it ranges from traditional, conservative to egalitarian or liberal. Traditional gender roles emphasise the distinctive roles between men and women while egalitarian gender roles focus more on women and men partaking in equal responsibilities.
Are gender roles stereotypical?
Gender roles are considered to be a norm that most societies and cultures practice to distinguish males and females. Traditionally, societies used the concept of the gender binary to only classify gender into two opposite forms which are men and women. However, with time, society has started to recognize other genders in the social system as well. This means that traditional gender roles have also been changing. One of the reasons for this change is because of gender stereotypes. Traditional gender roles often assign certain traits to men and women based on their genders, and this is still prevalent in modern society. However, oftentimes men and women are pressured into fulfilling these roles to an extreme level. This is when gender roles turn into gender stereotypes. There are mainly three different types of stereotypes regarding gender roles:
1. Personality traits
Growing up, we have all heard how women are supposed to be more emotional, as opposed to men. Men, on the other hand, are more aggressive and realistic. We have also heard how young boys are usually taught not to cry. These stereotypes cause such unrealistic expectations for both men and women as they might have issues trying to openly express their emotions. Women and men are also expected to show their appearances based on their genders, rather than their personalities. For instance, men are supposed to look tall and muscular while women are expected to be slim, petite, graceful, and adorn themselves with makeup and accessories when needed.
2. Occupations
When it comes to occupations, traditional gender roles usually expect women to either tend to household work or work in specific occupations such as a nurse, doctors(gynaecologists), teachers, and so on. Men, on the other hand, are expected to pursue engineering, aeronautics, and other medical departments such as surgery, law, etc. Deeply ingrained gender prejudices constrain males to breadwinning and regard unpaid care work as a feminine prerogative. Another study shows that one in three males worldwide would prefer their wives to stay at home and take care of the family and do unpaid housework rather than work.
3. Domestic traits
The traditional gender role norms also expect women to handle most if not all household duties, from cooking and cleaning to childcare. Men, on the other hand, are expected to work and be the sole breadwinner for the family if possible.
These gender stereotypes are known as hyper-femininity and hyper-masculinity.
Hyper-femininity is the term used to describe the qualities that a woman should have regarding occupations, domestic and personality traits. Hypermasculinity is the term used to describe the stereotypical behavior or attitude that men are expected to show. These stereotypes might result in harmful consequences as they don’t allow men and women to express their emotions and desires openly, rather than forcing them to act based on their genders. This gives rise to mental health issues for both women and men such as anxiety, depression, low self- esteem and so on. One study by OECD based in Burkina Faso shows that 33% of the population believes that men who don’t work and take care of household duties instead are not considered worthy of respect.
Are gender roles important?
In general, gender roles should be looked at as relevant models or examples that can be used as a guide to distributing the responsibilities between two genders. Gender stereotypes, on the other hand, should not be acceptable at all. To prevent stereotyping gender roles, men and women should be given equal opportunities in their upbringing. Later in their adulthood, they should have the right to choose how they wish to divide different roles among themselves and whether they wish to adhere to an existing gender norm. For instance, in a family setting, if both men and women are willing to work, then that should be acceptable. On the other hand, if it’s just the man or the woman who wants to work, then that should also be acceptable as long as both of them agree to nurture their families in that manner. Either way, we as a society should let everyone decide and distribute the duties among themselves, especially when it comes to occupations. Both genders should be treated equally and given equal opportunities to compete in either field.
What roles do men and women play in modern society?
Although gender stereotypes remain prevalent, there has also been a significant improvement that allows men and women to openly pursue their dreams and interchange roles among themselves. Nowadays, men are encouraged to work in departments such as fashion design and culinary alongside women and are also being taught how to participate in childcare. Furthermore, society is becoming more
open-minded towards women pursuing their careers as well. Our modern society’s mindset encourages women to pursue fields such as astronautics, medicine, and engineering accordingly if they wish to.
In my opinion, we should be the ones in charge of distributing the roles among ourselves based on our wants and abilities, instead of gender. By providing equal opportunities and mutual understanding of our abilities to conduct the roles, we will be able to prevent ourselves from becoming targets of gender stereotypes. Only then will we be able to achieve what we want from life and aim to create a non stereotypical environment for us to live in.
[Written by : Subah Tajriyan Karim. Edited by: Ong Li Zhen]
