Gender role

In the social sciences and humanities, a gender role is a set of behavioral norms associated with males and with females, respectively, in a given social group or system. Gender is one component of the gender/sex system, which refers to "the set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied" (Reiter 1975: 159). Every known society has a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary widely from society to society.

Changing roles

Gender role is composed of several elements. A person's gender role can be expressed through clothing, behaviour, choice of work, personal relationships and other factors.

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Gender roles were traditionally divided into strictly feminine and masculine gender roles, though these roles have diversified today into many different acceptable male or female gender roles. However, gender role norms for women and men can vary significantly from one country or culture to another, even within a country or culture. People express their gender role somewhat uniquely.

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Gender role can vary according to the social group to which a person belongs or the subculture with which he or she chooses to identify. Historically, for example, eunuchs had a different gender role because their biology was changed.

Related Topics:
Social group - Subculture - Identify - Eunuch

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Androgyny, a term denoting the display of both male and female behaviour, also exists. Many terms have been developed to portray sets of behaviors arising in this context. The masculine gender role has become more malleable since the 1950s. One example is the "sensitive new age guy", which could be described as a traditional male gender role with a more typically "female" empathy and associated emotional responses. Another is the metrosexual, a male who adopts similarly "female" grooming habits. Some have argued that such new roles are merely rebelling against tradition moreso than forming a distinct role.

Related Topics:
Androgyny - 1950s - Metrosexual

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According to sociological research, traditional feminine gender roles have become less relevant and hollower in Western societies since industrialization started. For example, the cliché that women do not follow a career is obsolete in many Western societies. On the other hand, in the media there are attempts to portray women who adopt an extremely classical role as a subculture{{fn|8}}.

Related Topics:
Sociological - Western societies

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One consequence of social unrest during the Vietnam War era was that men began to let their hair grow to a length that had previously been considered appropriate only for women. Somewhat earlier, women had begun to cut their hair to lengths previously considered appropriate only to men.

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