Gender and sex Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Gender and sex - Essay Example A term associated with describing gender roles is androgyny- denoting the display of both male and female behaviour. A number of terms have emerged portraying behaviors arising in this context. For instance, the "sensitive new age guy" is described as a traditional male gender role with a more typically "female" empathy and correlated emotional qualities. The "metrosexual male" adopts or claims to be born with similarly "female" grooming habits. This have given rise to arguments in various quarters that such new roles are mere rebellion against tradition and hence do not form a distinct role. Sociological research points out that the conventional feminine gender roles have become less relevant in Western societies. This trend is attributed to the starting of industrialization. Indeed, the notion that women do not follow a career no more valid in a majority of Western and many of the Oriental societies.For a long time now, gender roles have occupied a central place in the nature-nurture debate. Traditional theories argue that a person's gender identity, and thus gender role, is a product of nature. For instance, in patriarchal societies it is often claimed that women are naturally better placed to nurture children. Various circles in the scientific community have come to support the concept that differences in gender roles originate in differences in biology. Many nineteenth century anthropologists refer to the life of primitive hunter- gatherer societies for evolutionary explanations for gender differences. For instance, they assert that the need to take care of offspring may have limited the females' freedom to hunt and hence assume the role of the gatherer. Current trends in...Crises demand the kinds of strength and intelligence associated with hunting. Fleeing a natural disaster or fighting a band of attackers requires strength, speed, and strategic thinking. In wake of such situations, people naturally follow and rely on those who are physically strong and strategically intelligent. These leaders are usually males. Repeated and frequent crises have a severe impact on the social organization of communities. There are anthropological and archaeological evidence, which indicate that in times of prosperity hunting-gathering communities tended to organize around groups of related females. Egalitarian collaboration was the norm in such communities. Frequent crises resulted in organization around strong and strategically intelligent males not only during the crises, but also at other times. This hierarchical organization tended to exist side by side with, be overlaid on, and to intertwine wi th the egalitarian one. Thus, for instance, in villages, most casual everyday encounters were egalitarian, but people made formal decisions affecting the whole tribe only in meetings ruled over by a male leader and in which elite males exercised more power than do females. It may be inferred that gender roles are mainly conditioned by social value systems. Men and women are made to behave the way they are. Right from childhood, men are expected to grow up to be powerful, encouraged better for careers. They are expected to be tough, independent, demanding, aggressive, good problem-solvers, and so on.