Vera 1 Laura Vera Professor Jones English 115-604 28 June 2023 Gender Roles & Identity Have you ever experienced interest towards things that are typically seen on the opposite gender? Do you struggle asking yourself why that is? Regardless of the growth in society in terms of gender identity and gender roles these have been taught strictly and very rigidly to us, leading to confusion, low self esteem and struggles finding ourselves. Girls tend to be softer, wear pink and dresses. While boys tend to be tougher, only like sports and superheroes. These roles have followed us since we were little kids to our adult life. As we grow up, these behaviors go on into our families. Mom is the one in charge of cleaning, cooking and in charge of the kids while dad is the one in charge of providing. Nowadays new generations are being better educated and behaving with these roles. Positive and relatable representation of gender roles must be implemented to see a change into this matter. In terms of gender identity, society reconstructs our gender identity whether we are male/female and we have all experienced some sort of pressure to comfort throughout our gendered lives. Confusion arises and is typically not spoken up. “But I never got over it. Although my understanding of exactly how much trouble I was in grew more specific over time, as I child I surely understood enough about my condition to know it was something I'd better keep private.” (A Life In Two Genders, Boylan, 325) Men and women in society are judged on Vera 1 their practices, skills, physical appearance and morals. The limits that society builds on us is what is stopping, in this case, males and females on how to identify themselves. One of the biggest issues that come with gender roles is the inequality that exists in between them. These issues reflect on our jobs, wages, and roles inside our homes and family. On the side of women, they tend to have lower wages and no higher positions despite knowledge, skills and availability. According to Slaughter, “We may not have choices about whether to do paid work, as dual incomes have become indispensable. But we have choices about the type and tempo of the work we do.” (Why women still can’t have it all, 543) The lack of leadership that still exists for women is outrageous, despite other difficulties that women go through they still have to show up and do the work. Nowadays, there’s many women that make fair money for themselves, they get paid the money that they deserve, yet their hard work and effort can be seen as competitive or insulting to the opposite gender. Men don’t have it any easier for them. Unfortunately they struggle with many stereotypes such as being too cold, too rough or careless. Dorment describes “The validation of one's feelings is the language of therapy, which is to say that it is how we all talk now. This is not to denigrate the language or the feelings; it is only to say that to use one's feelings as evidence of an injury is no way to advance a serious cause. And to imply that one has been made to feel any way at all.” (Why men still can’t have it all, 564) Men struggle with a lot of indifference towards their feelings. Making them more harsh and less empathic with women. They also don't have as many opportunities like women do, as Dorment stated "Women who ask for family leave are behaving in a more gender normative way, compared with men who request a family leave… Because the concept of work-life balance is strongly gendered.” (569). This is coming from the Vera 1 stereotypes that society creates among men and leads to more absent parents, less family interactions and therefore miscommunications. People’s perspective towards gender identities and gender roles can only turn positive if we implement active changes into our societies. Such as normalizing gender identity by giving equal opportunities to feminine and masculine genders, which is a great way to start a change. Starting in our homes with children by teaching them equality and ways to empathize with each other as well, this not only will create a better understanding between genders, it will create a greater future for them. Schools should put this into practice as well, since education is an important factor in our lives and in this specific topic education is very important because it helps build knowledge and helps us become better citizens. Boylan states “All we can do in the face of this enormous, infinite anguish is to have compassion.” (A life in two genders, 328) By practicing empathy, compassion and respect this will help us grow as a better society, people will assimilate more and speak up about their situations.
