About Gender roles

Gender Roles and Their Impact on Society

Gender roles are expectations that society has of people based on their sex, gender, or other characteristics. The concepts of femininity and masculinity serve as the foundation for gender roles in our communities. Due to the importance they place on human interactions, womanly traditions are inherently more communal and compassionate. On the other side, masculine societies tend to be more intimate, with the male gender primarily focusing on achievement and the desire for success.

The Stereotypical Nature of Gender Roles

Thus, gender roles are a societal stereotype that tries to impose on individuals the behaviors that are widely regarded as the appropriate and acceptable approach, depending on one’s sexual orientation. The reason as to why the gender roles are considered a stereotype is because it is focused more on imposing given behaviors on to individuals without considering individual interests and expectations. They dictate how one should carry out themselves in terms of dressing, speech, career choices, a way of thinking and interactions, leadership roles among many others in the society without defying the norms. Thus, gender roles play a major role in the shaping of organizations in the current world.

How Society’s Gender Roles Shape Organizations

Positions involving administration and leadership are seen by the society to be masculine. This implies the necessity for aggression, competition, vigor and self-determination. The society’s perception of women do not line up with these traits. This has become a major dynamic of gender unfairness. Therefore, the belief by the society that these traits are not in possession of women tend to limit the ability of women to be hired by organizations in managerial positions nor get promotions to the same.

Leadership roles according to many societies are solely men’s work and thus having a woman in a leadership position is often seen as a breach of societal norms and conduct. However, this belief is slowly fading away since women have risen to leadership positions and done exemplarily well as compared to their male counterparts. This, consequently, has led to the rise of many women wanting to occupy leadership position but the fear of being branded names keep them away from pursuing the same. This explains why many organizations across the globe are male-dominated and no one seems to be questioning this pattern. This is as a result of gender roles that have kept women at bay, clearly restricting them from venturing into what is considered a man’s territory.

Unequal Evaluation and Workplace Disparities

At the workplace, the performance of different genders also receives unequal evaluation. A man who performs well is credited as; having an eye for goal and hardworking while, a woman’s similar performance does not receive the same valuation. The lack of fair evaluation has seen fewer women in the society ascending higher positions in the organizations. The gap is even made worse by the tendency to allocate women to lesser paying jobs.

The observable trends show that women have been allotted junior roles especially in terms of leadership and career development since the society does not expect them to be above men in anything pertaining success and prestige. This explains why the corporate world has a higher number of male as compared to their female counterparts. The converse of this is true in the world of non-governmental organizations, humanitarian support organizations and relief services where women are taking the lead. This is a clear indication of what the society has shaped the human mind into believing. The position of a woman is clearly defined and so is that of a man.

Embracing Diversity and Potential

The aforementioned divisions in terms of roles do not, however, seek to claim that it is wrong for either sex to be where they are, but it seeks to bring forth the imbalance that is exhibited. Gender roles are denying either sex from exploring their full potential in developing organizations and giving forth their diverse views and capabilities in different spheres of life.

Conclusion

It is important to embrace diversity while in the process of seeking to combine efforts and potentials of both sexes in order to give forth-desired results in an organization. This, therefore means that the societal expectations can still be upheld, though with moderation, yet still both sexes can be equally engaged in an organization’s structuring. Nothing would be as unfortunate as having a person with full potential restricted from taking part in an activity that he or she would give exemplary results just because the gender roles do not allow them to be involved. It is of great benefit to have a team working together, male and female since this will not put performance at jeopardy unknowingly. The uniqueness of each individual, male or female, counts in the growth and shaping of an organization. It does not, therefore, means that we let go of our rich cultures and social norms. It only requires us not to be extremists of our cultural orientation at the expense of unproductive organizations.

References

Beere, C. A. (1990). Gender Roles: A Handbook of Tests and Measures. New York : Greenwood.

Debra Bergoffen, P. R. (2011). Confronting Global Gender Justice: Women’s Lives, Human Rights. London: Routledge .

Dorothy M. Stetson, D. E. (1997). Women’s Rights in the U.S.A.: Policy Debates and Gender Roles. London: Garland Publishing.

Lee, J. W. (2005). Gender Roles. New York : Nova Biomedical Books.

Lindsey, L. L. (2015). Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. New York: Routledge.

Oakley, P. A. (2015). Sex, Gender and Society. Ashgate Publishing Limited .