Gender Roles: what are they and what are their types

Gender roles in our society refer to the set of ideas, behaviors or forms of expression associated with gender. These behavioral patterns have been built based on what is expected of us based on our gender.

For the most part, gender and the roles that arise associated with it have been normatively classified in a binary way: man and woman. Here we are going to refer to these differentiated gender roles between what is socially "proper" to men and of women, but it is important to take into account that there are dissident identities outside the gender binaries; non-binary gender identity exists and is one that cannot be framed in either the feminine or the masculine.

In this article we are going to discuss about what are the gender roles associated with the female and male gender, giving some examples to better understand this concept and the ways in which it is presented in our society, many times without being aware or realizing it.

What are gender roles?

As we have commented, gender roles bring together the different ways of acting and behaving that are guided by our gender. They include, for example, the way we talk, dress, groom ourselves, behave... For example, if femininity is has been associated with politeness and complaisance, while masculinity has been more associated with strength and aggressiveness.

Gender roles can vary depending on societies, cultures and ethnicities; each have different expectations in relation to gender, and they can vary greatly between groups.

Socialization

Learning gender roles occurs through socialization. This is a learning process that begins with our birth, and little by little and based on the experiences we have and the realities we perceive, defines our ways of understanding the world and its components. For example, we observe and learn the different ways in which communication occurs with a girl or a boy. child, the activities that are considered appropriate for them and the behaviors that can be reprehensible.

All this behavioral set It will be defined by our environment in childhood and during our growth, mainly, our family nucleus and closest social context. during this stage. However, gender roles and their acquisition have also been affected by socioeconomic or contextual variables other than the family; the school they go to, the neighborhood or city in which they live and the media consumed affect the process of socialization and the establishment of these ideas.

• Related article: "Socializing agents: what they are, types, characteristics and examples"

stereotypes

The greatest controversy of gender roles is considering them as a reflection of the social stereotypes associated with each gender.. Our society has been patriarchal and macho since the beginning of our days, therefore, the roles and characteristics associated with the masculine will always have a higher value than those associated with the female. While the feminine characteristics are presented as weaker and more emotional, the masculine ones are conceived as stronger and more valuable, not so difficult to break.

This does not mean that women are the only victims of gender stereotypes and roles; men also suffer its consequences. The fact of presenting men as detached from emotionality, for example, can lead to the repression of these emotions and the fear of appearing weak socially, which leads to problems in emotional well-being and mental health in the short and long term term.

Types of gender roles

Four ways have been distinguished when classifying gender roles and the stereotypes to which they refer:

1. Personal characteristics

These roles or stereotypes They refer to personality variables, such as extroversion, self-confidence, aggressiveness... To give a few examples, women have been associated mostly with patience, and men, with action.

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2. domestic behaviors

These attitudes have to do above all with the differential way in which men and women handle domestic and day-to-day tasks. For example, women have always been associated with cleaning, cooking and childcare tasks, while men have been relegated to finances and mechanical repairs.

3. Professions and world of work

These stereotypes or roles refer to the separation of occupations or jobs for women and men. This is evident in the language we use, which is a reflection of the process of socialization and machismo inherent in the society that we mentioned earlier. We almost always say the nurse and the doctor; it is the way in which society has taught us to represent these occupations associated with gender.

• Related article: "Psychology of work and organizations: a profession with a future"

4. physical aspects

Gender differences and socialization have also had an effect on the maintenance of different canons of beauty or physical aspects considered acceptable in men or women. In this way, body femininity is associated with thinness, the existence of hips and hair removal, among others, and masculinity with musculature and height. These physical aspects also refer to the clothes we wear or how we present ourselves to others through our appearance. For example, it has been normalized and it is presumed that the dresses are for women, not men.

Some examples of gender roles

Although we have commented and proposed different examples of the representation of gender roles or social realities that we can verify in our day to day, we are going to review in more depth some examples.

The cares

Care refers to the ability to take care of the needs of those people who cannot cover their own by themselves. Normally, in a normative home, care is associated with little people or older people. This role of care has been normally and historically represented by women.

While men dedicated themselves to the economic maintenance of the family, women focused on offering care and cleaning at home, without this ever being considered as a job in itself, but rather as part of their roles as women. It is said that the entry into the world of work for women has broken this role, but it is not true: more than 80% of households single-parent households in Spain are headed by a woman, and 94% of people who work part-time are women; it is the only way to balance work life with the care they have.

A solution for this sun is to break completely by it, having to come this transformation also by part of the social structures. It cannot be an individual change, but a collective one that leads us towards co-responsibility in care.

• You may be interested in: "The 4 educational styles: how do you educate your children?"

The expression of emotions

As previously presented in this article, the ability and ease of emotional expression has been a construct normatively linked to women. Weakness has always been associated with the feminine, so it is not strange or difficult to understand a woman crying or being emotional. However, men have been educated not to show their emotions or their weakness, so crying is not conceived as an acceptable act for them.

Fortunately, with time and social evolutions, we are becoming more aware of this, but there is still a lot to be done. Changes in this case should be strengthened in socialization and school education. Boys and girls should receive an emotional education from childhood that facilitates their emotional expression and emotionality, accepting their feelings and not being afraid to show them to others. Crying is for girls and boys.

Dominance versus conciliation

Another of the most visible examples of gender roles is the one that differentiates the type of character. Historically, men have been associated with leadership and the ability to manage other people, while women have shown themselves to be more empathetic, conciliatory and focused on obedience.

These stereotypes are reflected in the world of work; the wage gap stands at around 23%, and furthermore, women only hold 36%% of managerial positions in our country, compared to 64% for men. This is a reflection of the value that has been given to men to achieve their objectives and orient themselves towards leadership, in comparison with the association of women to lower positions and to labor capacities more related to the follow-up of instructions.

destroy to build

As a conclusion, gender roles are the reflection of archaic ideas and conceptions that should be aimed at disappearing. Through social education and the generalization of these ideas, populations should realize the number of beliefs that we have assumed as true but that they are strongly influenced by macho, patriarchal and even aggressive ideas for women. women. Only by destroying these conceptions, it will be possible to build a new world that is not governed by these very binary and separatist ideas.