Gender Roles and Media Essay Example
105065258 Page 1
Tara Smith
WRT 102.86
5/01/05
Zucker
Gender Roles Over the years as I have grown up I have made many observations about the differences between men and women. Men differ from women in attitude, physical make up, and biologically. Women tend to be more nurturing than men. Men have a physical body that permits them to gain muscle more easily so that they can do physical labor with more ease. Women's body are designed for bearing and nurturing a child. There is also the biological differences between men and women. Men are born with male genitalia and produce sperm. Women are born with female genitalia and are able to bear a child. Men and women have different specified gender roles. According to Anne Bolin, in her book "Perspectives on Human Sexuality": "Gender roles, sometimes referred to as a script or scripting is the internalization and acting out of culturally defined male or female behavior, affect, and attitudes" (144). In other words, gender roles are the different characteristics in a man and a woman. Along with Anne Bolin's description of gender roles, is the idea the gender behavior is more informed by biology than by culture. There is much speculation about the origin of gender roles. Some people believe that they have been formed by society over time; and that people are coaxed into the certain roles of their gender. However, there is another argument that gender roles have, over time, become
105065258 Page 2 internalized in people. People are born with the natural instinct to be drawn to different things related to their gender. For example, boys will be drawn to play with toy trucks. Whereas girls will want to play with make-up and Barbie dolls. Males and females are just born with the internal knowledge that they should be either more masculine or more feminine. By examining the issue that gender roles are an internalized behavior, I can open a door that has been closed shut.
Tara Smith
WRT 102.86
5/01/05
Zucker
Gender Roles Over the years as I have grown up I have made many observations about the differences between men and women. Men differ from women in attitude, physical make up, and biologically. Women tend to be more nurturing than men. Men have a physical body that permits them to gain muscle more easily so that they can do physical labor with more ease. Women's body are designed for bearing and nurturing a child. There is also the biological differences between men and women. Men are born with male genitalia and produce sperm. Women are born with female genitalia and are able to bear a child. Men and women have different specified gender roles. According to Anne Bolin, in her book "Perspectives on Human Sexuality": "Gender roles, sometimes referred to as a script or scripting is the internalization and acting out of culturally defined male or female behavior, affect, and attitudes" (144). In other words, gender roles are the different characteristics in a man and a woman. Along with Anne Bolin's description of gender roles, is the idea the gender behavior is more informed by biology than by culture. There is much speculation about the origin of gender roles. Some people believe that they have been formed by society over time; and that people are coaxed into the certain roles of their gender. However, there is another argument that gender roles have, over time, become
105065258 Page 2 internalized in people. People are born with the natural instinct to be drawn to different things related to their gender. For example, boys will be drawn to play with toy trucks. Whereas girls will want to play with make-up and Barbie dolls. Males and females are just born with the internal knowledge that they should be either more masculine or more feminine. By examining the issue that gender roles are an internalized behavior, I can open a door that has been closed shut.