Tyasia Riddick
Mr. Kilroy
Engl 101-015
May 8, 2022
Are Gender Roles Still Important?
“Gender role is the role or behavior learned by a person as appropriate to their gender,
determined by the prevailing cultural norms.” (Oxford Languages). At some point in time how a
man and woman were defined and how they should act was decided. The roles of the genders
and the stereotypes associated with them have changed drastically in the last two centuries but
before that, they remained relatively constant. Women were supposed to be docile, submissive,
nurturing, delicate, emotional, caretakers, and feminine. Men were supposed to be strong, stoic,
aggressive, intelligent, controlling, dominant, competitive, and masculine. It was once
considered the norm for a woman's responsibility to be tending to her family and being a
stay-at-home wife while the men were supposed to be the providers and the leaders in society.
Over time the number of people that believe in traditional gender roles has decreased. What
caused this shift in mindset? How did the evolution of society affect gender norms and are
gender norms still “necessary” in modern society? I personally believe that society is better off
without the restrictions of gender norms but I wanted to see if that is truly the case or not and if
so, why?
To answer this question I analyzed how society was shaped by gender roles in the past
and the present. One of the sources I used was Married Women and the Law: Coverture in
England and the Common Law World edited by Tim Stretton and Krista Kesselring. I used this
book to gain insight into the history of gender roles and to understand how they were important
to society.
From the middle ages to the 19th century, a legal doctrine called coverture was common
law around the world. It proclaimed that when married a woman's property and legal status
belonged to her husband. Her rights as an independent person were stripped, and her husband
now had control over her socially and legally. The few exceptions were in the cases where the
woman could cause legal issues for her husband. If she committed a crime she would then be
considered an independent so that the husband would face no consequences. “Coverture did not
mean, however, as many modern legal scholars assume, that a married woman had no legal
personality, still less that she became her husband’s property. Although presumed to be acting
under his direction, a married woman could still independently be found guilty of crimes,
including murder.” (Caswell ch. 5). This exception is unpleasantly amusing, it shows that since
men were at the top of the social hierarchy they were able to freely create restrictive laws with
the purpose of benefiting them. This doctrine was common law for an estimated 700 years; it
helped maintain the ideology of women being subservient to men and enforced what a woman's
role in society was to be. What coverture is defined as can also depend on the country. The
Spanish and French versions of coverture are different from the definition the United States used
which is based on English law, “Coverture held that no female person had a legal identity. At
birth, a female baby was covered by her father’s identity, and then, when she married, by her
husband’s.” (Allgor 4) Since married women were subservient to their husbands it meant that he
could do whatever he wanted to her except for extreme cases like murder but within marriage
rape was not illegal because her body belonged to her husband and domestic abuse was also
acceptable as long as he didn’t beat her to death.
The reason why a woman takes her husband's name originates from coverture, she
becomes “Mrs. Him”. (Married Woman and the Law) I stated earlier that coverture was
commonplace from the middle ages to the 19th century, which is true this “law” was the most
popular during this time period, but coverture still happens today instead of it being considered
legal law it is now social law. Women were not often allowed on juries until the 1960s, if a
woman did not have their husband’s permission they could be refused a credit card until 1974,
and marital rape wasn’t a crime until the 1980s because of coverture. Thankfully, as of 2022
coverture is more of an annoyance than anything serious; women are still expected to take their
husband's name when a man and a woman are filling out legal forms together; the man is
typically automatically considered the primary. In, Coverture: The Word You Probably Don't
Know But Should Catherine Allgor shares her experience:
I am older, I have a longer work history, I am more senior in our common profession… I
also make more money. I’ve got a longer credit history than he and have owned more houses.
But the only qualification that mattered in this transaction was my status as “wife.” When our
broker filled out our application, she listed Andrew first, as the “borrower” and me second, as the
“co-borrower.” (Did I mention that my last name starts with “A” and his with “J”?). When I
pointed this out, our broker… sympathized, but stated that if she had made me the primary
borrower, the lawyers would “fuss” at her and just revert to the traditional categories. “Honey,”
she told me, a professor of women’s history, “it’s a man’s world.” ( Allgor 1)
There are so many single-mother households, over 18.5 million children in the U.S. lived
with a single mother or father. (U.S. Census Bureau, 2020). This makes it bizarre how men are
expected to be the primary when it comes to finances and it is bizarre how men are still being
paid more when women are more likely to be the sole provider for a family. Although during
coverture married women found ways to ignore or work around their limitations “Christine
Churches in her analysis of the transfer of women’s real property held by customary tenure
between 1660 and 1750 in Whitehaven finds that women handled their assets with expertise,
indicating that ‘even before inheriting they had not been excluded from the world of business by
their fathers and husbands’”‎ ( Bailey‎ p. 354).‎ They were still very limited in what they were
allowed to do and it is a disappointing fact that women had to find ways around the law in order
to handle their own assets. Even though the law restricted women there of course were cases of
men wanting to pass down their assets to their daughters and grandchildren and they found ways
to keep money from sons and laws,
The next step in understanding the importance of gender is understanding how it evolved.
There were multiple catalysts for the evolution of gender; one of the many catalysts for change in
society is war. A Brief History of Events Affecting Gender Roles by Kenneth Lawas has
provided me with a timeline of different events that changed how the public's perception of the
role women play in society. The first war shown on the timeline is WW1. When the United
States joined the fight many men were called to battle which provided women with the
opportunity to expand beyond traditional women's professions such as working in factories and
labor jobs traditionally belonging to men. After the war women gained the right to vote in some
states and after the war, women fought to continue having access to traditionally male
occupations. During WW1 a loophole was discovered in the Naval Act of 1916.
“The act declared that the reserve force within the U.S. Navy would consist of those who
had prior naval service, prior service in merchant marines, were part of a crew of a civilian ship
commissioned in naval service, or ‘all persons who may be capable of performing special useful
service for coastal defense’”(National Archives)
The last sentence contained the loophole that Navy Secretary Josephus Daniels used.
Through this loophole he was able to recruit women into the Navy and Marine Corps Reserves,
these women received the same benefits and salary as the men and were called Yeomen (F) or
Yeomanettes. It was expected that they would perform administrative tasks and be in charge of
simple things while men were tasked with the more dangerous positions but they also worked as
mechanics, truck drivers, translating, filling clerical, cryptography, and munitions makers. This
was a big step for women, they went from being too delicate to be allowed to do simple tasks
like fixing a car to being allowed to enter the military. This privilege didn't last long due to
Congress once again finding ways to restrict women; the Naval Reserve Act was revised so those
that were eligible to join were male citizens and the only women that were permitted had to have
Congress's approval. (Woman and War, WW1) World War 1 opened the doors for a lot of
opportunities and strengthened the suffrage movement.
During this time period and prior the limitations of gender norms are especially harmful
to women and seem to be benefiting men but gender norms can be both harmful and helpful. It
can be argued that gender norms are still necessary because they provide a sense of structure and
stability to society, and they help people understand their roles and expectations in different
situations. Since the traditional household would have had the father as the breadwinner and the
mother as the caretaker of the home and children. This expectation of how men and women
should behave together can make it easy for couples to navigate their roles in the relationship and
as a family unit and can help give a sense of order. Even though this type of family structure can
seem ideal, the majority of families do not fit into the idyllic traditional family, with a working
dad and a domestic mom. In 1960 73% of families consisted of two married parents in their first
marriage, 14% consisted of two married parents, one or both remarried, 9% consisted of a single
parent, and 4% consisted of no parent at home. On the other hand, in 2013 46% of families
consisted of two married parents in their first marriage, 14% consisted of two married parents,
one or both remarried, 34% consisted of a single parent, 5% consisted of no parent at home (Pew
Research Center). This data supports the argument that gender roles are not necessary now due to
the change in family structures and how many families do not fit the traditional structure.
The data above shows a big difference between the 1960s and more modern times but it
is also important to take into account that the single-parent category includes same-sex marriage.
One of the biggest changes from the 19th and 20th centuries vs the 21st is LGBTQ relationships
and families. Same-sex relationships are a huge factor in the nonnecessity of gender roles. When
in a same-sex relationship gender roles lose their “importance” since one of the purposes of
gender roles was to give balance and order to a society shaped around men and women.
Although that's not to say that gender roles play no part in same-sex relationships, instead how it
plays a very moderate role and it's difficult to compare the two relationship types. There are
multiple theories as to why this is the case according to Gender Roles In The Relationship Of
Lesbians And Gay Men, the first theory suggests that lesbians and gay men may have less
exposure to traditional gender roles in intimate relationships compared to heterosexual
individuals. This is due in part to the fact that same-sex relationships challenge traditional gender
norms, as they do not fit into the typical male-female dynamic that is often portrayed in
traditional expectations. The other theory suggests that parents and other significant adults in the
lives of gay men and lesbians may follow fewer gender role expectations than those in the lives
of heterosexual individuals. This could be due to a number of factors, including the fact that
parents of gay and lesbian children may be more accepting of non-traditional gender roles, or
may be less likely to reinforce gender stereotypes. Another theory is that lesbians and gay men
are actively fighting against the idea of gender roles in their relationships and are striving to form
new relationship ideals that are different from heterosexual couples which would be less likely to
embody the traditional idyllic relationship structure.
So far I have found a lot of information about what gender norms were like in the past
and the majority of the information I have gathered focused on the women's perspective. Trying
to find info on the man's perspective was difficult since not a lot of research has been done on the
effect gender roles had on men; Summarizing 25 Years of Research on Men’s Gender Role
Conflict stated that male gender studies were practically nonexistent in psychological literature
until the 1970s and it wasn’t fully recognized in the field until the 1980s, during that time period
and most sources showed the advantages men had with gender roles, but I have discovered a lot
of studies done on a modern-day that focused on the downsides that men faced with gender
norms. A lot of the sources I found showed that even though men generally have an advantage
living in a patriarchal society, gender expectations are taxing on their mental health. Due to the
restrictive personality traits that men are expected to have. Such as being strong in a way that
makes it difficult to show vulnerability out of fear of it being seen as a weakness. In the past,
little was known about how men's gender role socialization impacted their psychological and
emotional well-being. However, over the past 30 years, the study of men and the psychology of
men have become increasingly important areas of research and clinical intervention. This has
allowed for a more systematic understanding of the role of men's gender in their mental health.
(Summarizing 25 Years of Research) Now more studies have been done that show the negative
impact of gender roles and expectations; suicide rates in men are very high due to the fact that
men choose more lethal means and men are more at risk because they are more likely to suffer in
silence instead of seeking help; men die by suicide 3x more than women.
The article Henry the Nurse is a doctor too by Makeba Wilbourn and Daniel Kee
explored how the teaching of gender roles can affect how children view and react to the world
around them. This article explored how gender stereotypes affected children. They performed a
study testing 57 American 8 and 9-year-old studies to see if children’s occupational stereotypes
were less restrictive for females who engaged in counter-stereotypic occupations (Mary-Doctor)
compared to males who engaged in counter-stereotypic occupations (Henry-Nurse). (Willbourn
and Kee p.1) that asked kids to create a phrase from words given to them that referenced
occupational stereotypes. The study resulted in the majority of the kids creating phrases such as
she is a nurse and he is a doctor which abided by gender stereotypes. This study showed that
children between the ages of 8 and 9 are more likely to have a negative opinion of men having
stereotypically feminine jobs. From childhood, boys are taught that having traits that are
considered feminine is bad which is a reason for why the study showed that boys were less open
to men performing traditional feminine occupations in comparison to women performing
traditional masculine occupations. Women felt the need to fight against gender norms because it
was restricting the majority of their population. While a lot of men didn't feel the need to fight
against gender roles this is because the majority of men benefitted from gender stereotypes. This
is why many men still follow traditional gender norms not because they all want to but because
some feel they have to. They continue to stick to masculine activities unlike how women started
to branch out and explore different activities and work fields that were previously kept from
them. It is unusual for men to be encouraged to try feminine activities but it has become very
common for women to be encouraged. “Moreover, young boys are also not typically encouraged
(or required) to engage in more feminine activities.” (Willbourne and Kee p.671) Not only were
boys less likely to associate men with nurses, but studies have also shown that children between
the ages of 7-10 are more negative with their opinions of male nurses compared to their opinion
of women doctors, which they were more welcoming of. In addition to this
The lack of attitude change toward male gender roles is another factor in why suicide
rates are higher for men. Men die by suicide 3x more than women. Adolescent Gender-Role
Identity and Mental Health: Gender Intensification Revisited by Priess, Lindberg, and Hyde
examined whether gender stereotypes lead to differences in depression between boys and girls.
The results showed that boys and girls did not become more stereotypical in their gender roles
during adolescence. The study also found that having positive views of masculinity helped
reduce depressive symptoms, especially when stress levels were moderate. This study suggests
that we need to think differently about gender stereotypes in young people today and that
considering both feminine and masculine traits is important in understanding how they relate to
depression.
This source supports the fact that how children are raised is an important contributor to
how they view themselves and the world when referring to gender roles and expectations. The
study found that parents play an important role in shaping their children's gender roles. For
example, parents were more likely to encourage independence, achievement, self-confidence,
and competitiveness in sons than in daughters, and more expressivity, warmth, and courtesy for
others in daughters compared to sons. The messages that parents communicated to their children
were influenced by their own gender-role identities, especially for fathers. As daughters grew up,
mothers and traditionally masculine fathers discouraged independence and autonomy for girls,
while egalitarian and androgynous fathers encouraged autonomy. These studies suggest that
parents had different goals for their daughters and sons, which may have influenced their
children's gender-role identities in the past. (Lynch, 1981, as cited in Hill & Lynch) This article
also mentioned how individual characteristics and family context also influence how children
and adolescents behave and develop in response to traditional gender roles. Girls tended to
become less traditional in their gender-role attitudes during adolescence, while boys first
declined and then became more traditional. Gender Differences in Child Aggression analyzed
studies done that concluded that in addition to biological differences gender differences are
caused by parental treatment of boys and girls. The study found that fathers with strong
traditional gender-role attitudes were more likely to use physical control strategies with boys
than with girls. When fathers had strong gender-role attitudes, their different treatment of boys
and girls accounted for the gender differences in children's aggressive behavior. These sources
suggest that family and how one is raised play a significant role in shaping gender role attitudes
and behaviors.
Gender and Emotion: Beyond Stereotypes by Leslie R. Brody supports how negative
traits associated with gender are taught and not something certain sexes are born with. People
who behave according to traditional gender roles may be rewarded and accepted by society,
while those who don't may be punished and excluded. This means that there is social pressure to
conform to gender stereotypes, which causes people to stick to what is considered acceptable in
order to not be rejected by society. No one should feel the need to fake who they are in order to
be deemed socially acceptable, especially if being who they are isn’t causing harm to anyone
else. The need to fit into a mold can cause stress, anxiety, and depression, more so in adolescence
when teenagers are trying to figure out who they are and want to fit in. Suicide is the
second-leading cause of death among people aged 15 to 24 in the U.S. Nearly 20% of high
school students report serious thoughts of suicide and 9% have made an attempt to take their
lives, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
After researching my topic I’ve come to the conclusion that gender norms are not
necessary in today's society due to how far we as a society have deviated from what is
considered traditional gender roles. I have found that in the past, and still today but on a lesser
scale, women were oppressed by gender stereotypes in society and the law. Meanwhile, men
were not as oppressed by the law but by social expectations. The difference between the past and
the present is that women are no longer as limited by the law because of their gender but they are
still limited by social expectations. It is a popular opinion that women do not have to be
dependent on men and are capable of financially supporting themselves and their families. As
time has passed women have fought to be viewed as equal to men and are now partaking in
traditionally masculine behaviors. On the other hand, men are still being restricted by gender
stereotypes and are not encouraged to challenge gender stereotypes to the extent that women are.
Growing up with such restrictions can have negative impacts on a person's well-being regardless
of gender, it can cause their mental health and relationships to suffer. Everyone should be taught
how to properly communicate and express their emotions. Not being taught this during
developmental years creates stunted adults. In addition to this, people that do not identify as a
man or a woman might find gender roles to be difficult to fit into and same-sex relationships
could also struggle with this too. I believe that if gender norms were ignored we as a society
would benefit tremendously. A lot of adults spend time trying to unlearn the destructive habits
learned in their youth. While women are given more freedom to express themselves, men are still
ridiculed for behaving outside of what is considered acceptable. At this point in time both sides
should have either the same amount of gender expectations or preferably no gender expectations.
Prevention of harmful gender expectations should be the goal. No one would be at a
disadvantage in life due to their gender identity.
.
References
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