Gender Roles

When I was in seventh grade I painted my nails black because I liked the way they looked, but people gave me sh*t for that. When I was in the fifth grade, I was made fun of for having shorts that too closely resembled capris, which are apparently some style of shorts only wearable by the female gender. When I was in preschool my parents thought it was odd that I liked to play with my mother’s old barbies, thought they accepted it. My experience with sexism and socially constructed gender roles may not be as intense as a girl’s, but it is there nonetheless, and it proves that gender roles, sexism, misogyny all affect, not only women, but men as well. With socially constructed gender roles, the positions of men are restricted as well. It is not socially acceptable, for example, for a man to wear women’s clothing. There are perhaps only a few articles of clothing that had originally been designed for women that are now socially acceptable to be worn by men. But for the most part, men can’t wear women’s clothing. As today’s society is gradually becoming more ‘progressive’, women are now finding the way easier to a man’s position, for example, in the business world. Thus, it is more socially acceptable for a woman to wear a suit (let alone pants). This is interesting, for what we see here is the woman having more freedom of dress; however, this seems only to be because the woman is now expected to ‘rise’ of to the ‘positions of men’. Obviously there are more complex factors involved; it is not as though women have the social freedom to wear anything without judgement; certain outfits drag certain weights and significances behind them. What we have not seen as much of, is the expectation for men to rise to the ‘positions of women’. It is not as socially acceptable for a man to be a stay-at-home husband than it is for a woman to be a working wife. This is where we get more deeply into gender dynamics, gender roles, and double-standards, and this is where things become more complex.