It may feel strange to think of something as established as gender roles as a “trend”, but I would like to explore this concept. Though they are centuries-spanning, binary gender roles are very much a cultural invention meant to create social order. And they may have been effective in that, but at what cost? It is not natural to expect billions of diverse minds to fit into one of two categories for anything, let alone categories that will define their entire life even before birth. And though each category, a.k.a female or male, has its disadvantages, there is clearly one which is more advantaged in our society; whether you are blessed with that category or not depends simply on the law of chance (in your pants). Gender roles are an outdated trend which create both imbalanced power dynamics and unrealistic social expectations. I believe the world is waking up to this, and it is bringing so much more freedom to humanity.
These binary categories emerged to attach cultural significance to biological differences; to connect the different physical strengths of males and females to different levels of societal value. This is the “centuries-spanning” aspect of gender roles, since we can trace back to cave people’s time and find a relationship between primitive-duty and power (a.k.a. male dominance). However, the aspect of the gender roles conversation that is actually fairly new is the use of the word ‘gender’. You see, gender is not a scientific or medical term; that would be the word ‘sex’, meaning biologically male (XY chromosome) or female (XX chromosome). Up until the 1950s, gender was an interchangeable word for sex, if anything. Even in highly scholarly spheres, the term ‘gender role’ did not have its own definition until the 1950s.
In the United States, one of the earliest definitions of gender roles is from a 1955 study by John Money, who founded the Gender Identity Clinic at Johns Hopkins University, which says “gender roles are all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively.” (Source 1) He goes on to explain how gender roles are evident in elements such as one’s demeanor or even their conversation topics. Though this was still a binary viewpoint, I do believe it was a development since it separated biological sex and gender performance. And that paved the way for a wave of feminist texts in the 1960s and 1970s to challenge gender roles, specifically the unfair advantages of males over females. Though even these protestors were still viewing gender roles in a binary way, this was more clear progress towards the questioning of anyone having to participate in a gender role.
In 1990, a book by Judith Butler questioned gender roles in a big way. It says, “There is no reason to assume that gender ought to remain as two. The presumption of a binary gender system implicitly retains the belief in a mimetic relation of gender to sex whereby gender mirrors sex or is otherwise restricted by it” (Source 5). Finally, someone breaks through the binary glass when questioning gender roles! This was at the beginning of the era of gender questioning in popular media, I believe. The days when gender roles were only discussed in scholarly circles were gone, and thank God (who is of course a male, don’t get me started). As anyone living in the United States today can see, not conforming to gender roles is much more common and accepted than ever before. And yet, at the same time, the binary categories are still very present in our culture.
I will be so bold as to say that society runs on the domesticating of women, or at least it has for a long time. Consider the demographics of teachers, one of the most important jobs contributing to societal order by educating future generations and accepting hardly a living wage for doing so. According to a recent study, 74% of all teachers in the United States are female (Source 2). Now compare that to the demographics of billionaires, one of the most privileged positions profiting from societal order by concentrating extreme wealth in the hands of a few while millions starve . According to another study, 86% of billionaires in the United States are male (Source 3). This doesn’t happen by accident. Humans given the female category are trained to serve others before themselves, to keep structures running smoothly, and to be physically pleasing to the world while doing so. Humans given the male category are trained to have ambition and confidence, to prove their inner worth, and to change the world with their ideas. Interesting system, huh?
I would like to bring some personal experience into this. I find that when I am discussing gender roles with a man, I see something quite clearly: sharing their opinion feels like a right, and sharing mine feels like an inconvenience. Ouch. At this point I examine my thought process, honestly, and I come to these conclusions: I do not want to prove that men are the enemy. I don’t want to be blameless. I do not want to ‘win’ the argument. Frankly, I don’t want to argue at all. I just want to share my observation of and experience with gender roles/sexism and have them be taken seriously by a man. Even if he does not (consciously) contribute to the world’s sexism, at least I want to know that he sees it too. In fact, I wish he could see that gender roles are oppressing him as well as me.
As you can see, even I am challenging gender roles through a binary lens– it is hard to shake after living my entire life within! However, I do feel that my greater frustration beyond males in my life not acknowledging the unfair imbalance of gender roles are the gender roles themselves. The fact that things are decided for me before I have a chance to even become me does not feel right. And luckily, I am not alone in this feeling; the most current definition of gender roles by webMD states, “Gender roles are stereotypes regarding attitudes, attributes, and actions imposed on men and women based on gender. These kinds of preconceptions are usually harmful to society — yet, understanding what they are and their history is crucial to overcoming them” (Source 6). This sounds like something I can get behind.
Sources:
Source 1: https://debuk.wordpress.com/2016/12/15/a-brief-history-of-gender/
Source 2: https://www.zippia.com/teacher-jobs/demographics/
Source 3: https://balancingeverything.com/millionaire-statistics/
Source 4: https://medicine.yale.edu/news-article/what-do-we-mean-by-sex-and-gender/
Source 5: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/85767.Gender_Trouble
Source 6: https://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/what-are-gender-roles-and-stereotypes
Emma Tremont 