Little Giants: Gender Roles In Society

There has been a lot of quarrels over the years about how children’s picture books are embracing traditions and presenting gender stereotypes. In an article I found, author Narahara May of “Gender Stereotypes in Children’s Picture Books,” discusses two major problems. One being that gender stereotypes and sexism has an emotional impact on the development of children’s identity and development. Secondly, she explains about how books in the last decade have portrayed gender negatively. Furthermore, I will be discussing May’s ideas further in depth by examining the portrayals of gender stereotypes found in the popular “Berenstain Bears” picture books.

Judith Halberstam’s essay “Animation Revolt and Revolting Animation” brings to the surface topics such as Neo-anarchist utopian worlds in Chicken Run and Oedipal themes in Toy Story. She states that the movies have subliminal messages that are hidden to the eyes of the average viewer, but still affect the way that the viewers see the rest of the world and society as a whole. The more a child sees a common theme in movies the more used to and accepting they are of the idea in the real world. This essay will be discussing Halberstam's use of rhetorical strategies and the ways that they influence the meaning and purpose of the piece.

During the Progressive Era, many women displayed a deceitful facade when interacting amongst society. They remain respectful and dutiful to their husbands in public, as vowed through their commitment in marriage. Deep down, however, ideas of revenge towards their husbands dominated this facade. Authors Kate Chopin and Susan Glaspell produce several works throughout this era that justifyingly portray the strain between women and their male counterparts in relation to marriage and divorce. Both authors express the way gender roles were set during the Progressive Era, specifically by writing “Story of an Hour” and “Jury of Her Peers” to illustrate the freedom women wanted to achieve apart from their husbands, which reflects these individual’s morals, psychological and social awareness of self identity.

Over time, societal values have evolved along with a society's sanctions, and normalities. These changes have affected many topics like marriage,racial relations, and gender roles in a society. these changes affect the way a society functions and succeeds. Gender roles in society have been affected over time due to an evolution in societal values. For instance, before the second world war, women had to stay at home and do housework.

It is well-known in modern culture that children begin developing gender identities from a very young age. As soon as children are able to comprehend media and the actions of those around them, they are bombarded with examples of gender roles. In fact, they are presented with these examples even before they can comprehend them. Parents may begin reading children books right from birth. The gender roles that are often present in these picture books aimed at young children become ingrained in the minds of the children, kickstarting the development of gender identity.

Gender roles are prevalent in American culture. Yet, the gender roles have adapted through the social changes because gender roles are socially constructed. Previously, gender roles used to be distinct and defined, for example, women have babies and men go to war (Policing Gender). The primary income provider of the family has shifted, in various households, to the women, while the man stays at home with the children. In a study done by the Pew Research Center, in 1960s eleven percent of women were the primary monetary provider of the family.

Gender roles play an important role in A Raisin in the Sun. During the time A Raisin in the Sun was written the idea of set in stone positions in a household and society were common. Women were supposed to do house jobs, keep their mouths shut, and support their husbands’ decisions and men were seen as the headman or boss. A Raisin in the Sun shows readers a window into the world where those gender roles have a twist on them. Women in the time of A Raisin in the Sun were supposed to be subservient to men.

Differences between gender behavior and roles have existed for centuries. Women in the United States during the 1800s to early 1900s were looked upon as housewives and caretakers, and usually stayed at home while men worked and made money. However, as time has progressed, the fight for women’s equality has constantly been changing our society’s gender roles. The path to social reconstruction and the struggle to achieve it has shown a positive result of activists’ attempts to mend the social gap. By looking at past events, both successes and failures, understanding and recognizing the path to equality will bring light upon the issues that have taken place in the United States.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian author, gives a charismatic and enlightening TED talk about representation in literature. As a child, the only literature she was exposed to was American and English novels. The lack of Nigerian literature to consume influenced her perception of the world and her idea of her nation. Adichie’s example has an international echo. Often it is the representation of people in media that shapes society’s perspective of others, especially people with differing religions, ethnicities, and races.

Disney and its princess have been identified as a powerful influence on children (Lacroix, 2004). These movies are contributing to a new “girlhood” that is largely defined by gender roles and consumption of related messages (McRobbie, 2008). Thus, the Disney Princess films and its portrayal of gender role have an important implications on children (Hubka, Hovdestad, & Tonmyr, 2009). There have been several informative researchers that address gender role portrayals in children’s media.

Gender is something that is brought to the attention of people well before people are even brought into the world. Take for instance, when a woman finds out that she is pregnant and is about to have a child. The first question that that women is asked is “What are you having?” In doing this we are automatically emphasizing the importance of being able to identify whether or not to buy “boy” things or “girl” things. As a society we deem it important for each sex to practice a set of “norms” of how to behave via that sex.

Although gender roles have changed over time, where males and females have become more equivalent , a certain level of behaviors and tasks which are acceptable for men and women still exist today. Alternatively of women and men steadily playing the gender roles they always play, they should change it around and try to do something divergent when being defined in a category of gender roles. However, women are becoming equal to men in our generation. For instance , would be men can take supervision of the children when the women go to work. Women are more maverick that they don’t need to depend on a man.

Amanda Putnam’s essay, “Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films”, is a compelling piece on gender portrayal and views in Disney films. Putnam opened the essay with a personal anecdote about her daughter. Her daughter wanted a Disney movie without a “mean lady”, as in most Disney films the villains are scary, evil women. The real life evidence strengthened her claim that children are noticing the characterization of female villains in Disney films. The antidote was brought fill circle when she referred back to her daughter in the final paragraphs of her essay.

In the context of sociology, the term “institution” refers to socially constructed, interconnected arrangements that overarchingly control attitudes and behaviors in a society. Family, religion, and economics are social institutions we have discussed in this course. When discussing gender, it is important to talk about institutions, because gender identity and gender roles significantly influence individual interactions and experiences that occur within social institutions. Comprehensive analysis of gender, requires examination of how an individual’s gender affects the types of experiences encountered in institutional interactions. The role and experience a woman has within a family, religious group, or vocational setting will differ vastly

Gender Inequality Gender inequality is a characteristic of social structure according to which different social groups (in this case men and women) have certain differences resulting in unequal opportunities. Gender inequality is associated with social construction of masculinity and femininity as oppositional categories with unequal social value (Ferree, 1999). One of the main problems in gender theory is the problem of dominance. Together with race and class gender is a hierarchical structure that could to provide both opportunities and oppression (Ferree, 1999). Gender inequality can exist in different forms, depending on culture, region, religion and other factors.