An Open Letter to Parents
Dear Parents,
Greetings, my name is Zachary and I am currently a student at a charter school called Summit Shasta. In my English class, we have been doing a project about learning and researching different topics using fiction articles. My topic happened to be about relationships and family which extends to many modern world issues such as gender equality, gender roles, and abortion. Throughout this project, I have learned that interpersonal relationships are complicated and cannot be described in a few words. I wanted to write specifically to you, because I believe that you have the most influence on gender roles in today’s society. Gender roles are the behaviors, values, and attitude that society deems correct for both men and women. This means that both genders now have to worry about how they will be perceived by society if they are not doing something considered to be “feminine” or “masculine.” Why do people need to be restricted to what society thinks their gender should be? Isn’t wrong for people to have to worry about how other people will view them when they try to express themselves? Based on my research, I argue that traditional gender roles negatively impact our society because it has damaging effects on our mental health and limits both men and women’s choice in career.
To start off, traditional gender roles negatively affect society because it has damaging effects to our mental health. To give some context on this issue, research shows that people who conform to traditional gender role have a higher chance of developing mental illnesses such as depression. According to MBBS Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli et al, “ from the ¨Journal of Adolescent Health¨,” a peer-reviewed medical journal covering adolescent health and medicine, about the negative impacts of gender norms, “Among consequences that the study noted when girls conform to gender stereotypes [the consequences are depression, child marriage, leaving school early and exposure to violence] And consequences when boys conform to gender stereotypes[are engaging in physical violence to a much greater extent than girls, dying more frequently from unintentional injuries, being more prone to substance abuse and suicide, and having a shorter life expectancy than women]”(Implications of the Global Early Adolescent Study’s Formative Research Findings for Action and for Research). Here the author explains that although both genders are negatively impacted, men who conform to gender roles tend to take more risks and be violent, while women tend to be more depressed, but also make bad decisions. Men’s behavior can correlate to the idea of toxic masculinity, which is the traditional male gender role that prohibits boys and men to express their emotions and limits their emotional range to just anger because society expects them to. Men subconsciously follow male gender roles when they think about how they “should not display emotion,” ”should not display weakness” and “should not depend on anyone” as these things are not considered “being a man.” This information is significant because it directly supports the idea of upholding traditional gender roles which deteriorates both men and women’s precious mental states. In addition, according to Christopher Liang, associate professor of counseling psychology, and Nicole L. Johnson, assistant professor of counseling psychology from Lehigh University, a private research-based university, in their article, “The Impacts of Gender Role Socialization on Health and Culture,” they also talk about how gender norms negatively affect both gender’s mental health, ”While socialized behaviors might not be unhealthy unto themselves, the researchers say, problems can develop or persist when men and women are rigid in their conformity to those expectations, resulting in health issues for individuals or fueling violence against women.” Here the authors talk about how a strict following of traditional gender roles can deteriorate one’s health and increase violent tendencies. This information is important because it fortifies my claim that conforming to traditional gender roles is harmful to a person’s health. Overall, this data shows how traditional gender roles are overall harmful to society as it can cause mental health issues and increase violent tendencies.
Furthermore, traditional gender roles also negatively impact our society by limiting both gender’s career choices. What gender do you first think of when the occupation “CEO” is mentioned? Most people would usually say men. To give context, there is an unconscious belief that your gender restricts the profession you want to be in your life. According to the article, “Perceptions of masculinity and career specific gender stereotypes” by author Brian A. Golden from Eastern Michigan University, he states, ”An example is the field of public relations; more than 70 percent of the employees in the field of public relations are female[…]Since this development, data from subsequent research suggests that men believe that if a similarly qualified man and woman applied for the same public relations job, the woman would be hired[…]Communication ability has become a perceived gendered skill set, with most public relations professionals believing women have a clear advantage over men when communicating[…]” Here the author talks about how over time, the field of public relations have predominantly become female. This means that there are indeed gendered occupations and people still believe in them. This is significant because this information directly proves the idea that people are more prone to doing a job that “suits” their gender. Why should people be questioned for doing a job which isn’t regularly considered “masculine” or considered “feminine”? Additionally, according to the research papers conducted by David Hesmondhalgh and Sarah Baker from the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, in their article, “Sex, gender and work segregation in the cultural industries,” they also state the prevalence of gendered jobs, “When a woman has a set of talents that would make her well suited to thrive in a particular occupation, but that occupation is considered ‘male’, then this makes it much more likely that she will not pursue that occupation. The same is true of men who wish to pursue occupations that are gendered female, but given the extra limitations on women entering labour markets, occupational segregation as a whole disadvantages women more than men, and this exacerbates inequality.” Here the authors explain how even if a person has the skills to do a certain job, they will not partake in careers that are not tied in to their gender. This information is important because it strengthens the idea that people think that gender does limit your career choices.
Some people might argue that traditional gender roles are natural for human nature. According to the article, “Comparing Prescriptive and Descriptive Gender Stereotypes About Children, Adults, and the Elderly,” by author Anne M. Koenig, from the Department of Psychological Sciences, University of San Diego, she states that, “Gender stereotypes are both descriptive and prescriptive in nature. That is gender stereotypes have descriptive components, which are beliefs about what men and women typically do. They also contain strong prescriptive components, or beliefs about what men and women should do.[…] This prescriptive nature is assumed to stem from the high level of contact and interdependence between men and women[…], which not only allows perceivers to create estimates of how men and women actually act but also creates expectations for how they should act.” Here the author talks about how gender stereotypes form most of people’s ideas on what a man or woman is. However, parental influences and how genders are portrayed in social media contributes to the cause of why traditional gender roles still continue to exist today. According to the journal “Early Child Development and Care” written by Aud Torill Meland and Elsa Helen Kaltvedt, both from the Department of Early Childhood and Education in their article “Tracking gender in kindergarten,” they talk about how people unconsciously think about gender norms,“Both Norwegian and international research shows that ECEC staff either consciously or subconsciously maintain traditional gender patterns when they interact with children”. What’s the cause for this? I emphasize the reason kids continue to follow gender stereotypes is because society continues to teach them that this belief is correct, but it does not under undermine the negative impact that it has in our society.
Therefore, I call on you the parents, to change societal norms by being understanding and slowly teaching your kids that it’s okay to be a little “feminine” for men or that it’s okay to be a little “masculine” for women and that it’s always okay to be yourself. This makes a difference because parental influence along with the portrayal of genders in social media are one of the biggest contributors of why strict following of gender roles continue to thrive in today's society and that teaching them that they should follow the path they want to take, will ultimately lessen the negative impacts of gender roles.
Imagine this. Your children can live in a society where instead of living in the chains of traditional gender roles, they can be empowered for expressing themselves truthful.
Thank you very much,
Zachary Alipio
