FOOTBALL AND LINGERIE: What more could a man want?

When speaking about gender roles and how we display our gender, sports sometimes present a conflict. For example, in the NFL, there are no women on any team. I went on various question sites to try to find out why people thought this was so and they all seemed to present the same answer; women are generally weaker than the men on professional football teams, therefore, having both men and women on the same team could result in the women being seriously injured. Valid point. So then what does this have to do with women being actually interested in the sport? A stereotype that is very widespread about football and many other sports is that women are not, or should not be interested in sports. It isn’t considered the “norm”. For a woman to be a die hard football fan, some people would assume she was gay, that she was raised in a family with all men, or that she was trying to fit in with the guys. It seems that some sort of excuse has to be made for a woman who doesn’t fit into the mold a man puts her in. I don’t mean to insinuate that all men are this way, but in my experience, many men react in a similar fashion. Many men seems surprised when a woman knows a good amount about sports, but heaven forbid a woman actually try to play the sport… unless of course she’s half naked.

This then brings to me to my next point. Men are expected to be the villains and the heroes in movies, do the handy work and play sports. These are roles woman are not expected to do and they aren't handled very well until they have on little to no clothing. Then it becomes more acceptable. Why it is so difficult to tolerate a woman doing a man's job until she wears something "sexy"? Its such a double standard. A woman should be able to stand next to a man, do the same things he does, and not have to subject herself to being seen as a sexual object. Man have to stop doing it and women have to stop letting it happen.

Ashley Rivera

Boy/Girl Gender Roles

By: Debbie Langford

     Gender is not valued or weighed by an individuals genitalia or sexuality but is constructed by what our culture labels us and how one should act or carry themselves according to your gender.
     Our social institution is what shapes us into who we are, how we are suppose to dress, act, eat, walk the toys a boy or girl is suppose to play with and even down to what jobs are compatible for your gender.
   In this Disney Cartoon video girls are taught to be soft spoken, kind, weak, sensitive, pretty, submissive  and to stay at home and take care of the children. While boys are taught to be strong, manly, tough, leaders, aggressive and also the bread-winner of the household.

    Society should let an individual decide for themselves how we want to carry ourselves in our western society and not be constructed to what they considered to be the norm for  a boy or girl.  We all have our own minds and we have a sense of  what we can or candle not handle be it a job, profession or just being head of the household.  Gender socialization is the way society wants to try and control the way we think and that's basically  through the media, schools, home and rap videos.

Gender Roles in Sexual Orientaion

Monday, June 27, 2011

By: Rosalia Gentile

   Gender roles are the basic assignments of characteristics each sex is expected to live by. Girls are expected to be sensitive ,understanding, nurturing and dress feminine. For boys, they want to be perceived as tough, dominant, and strong.  These attributes are expected of one another in heterosexual relationships. People say negative things about men who take care of a household as his primary priority. If a man cooks, cleans, and stays home with children, he is perceived as weak. Some people would even say" That guy is defiantly the woman in the relationship." They may say he is ''whipped". It is not expected for a women to take the lead  financially as the household provider.
  I find it disappointing that after all women have fought for , we still are plagued with the traditional stay-at-home mom/wife expectations in the home. As if we were born with a mop on hand!
   Okay, now take gay and lesbian couples. What are the role expectations in those relationships? There has to be some boundary between which partner contributes to the household. Gay men are still men and lesbian women ,women. The answer is they too are judged unequally, by which characteristics they portray.
    Gay men are usually all perceived as overly feminine ,girly, flaky, and flamboyant. This could not be any more un-true. A gay man can obtain the same masculine characteristics as any straight man. He could be just as courageous and strong.
I have had many homosexual friends throughout my life. I  have found that they too struggle with expected roles within there partnerships. You always hear people say  ''So which one of you is the women ?''  that means the male that is more sensitive and  compassionate over dominant and in control is the ''women''. This creates an inequality even between two people with the same sex. The male with  women like qualities is treated less favorable. Two reasons one for attaining so called weaker characteristics and the other for being a man being this way.
     Of course inequality exists significantly between men and women. But if you are a gay feminine male, social and economic advancement will be the hardest of that group to achieve . A  gay friend of mine told me once he and his partner once applied to the same job. His partner was hired. Later on he came to find that he wasn't chosen because he was ''too gay''. That meant that they didn't care that the two men were gay, it was that the gay male that portrayed himself as a man was taken into consideration because he was living up to his gender expectations. I have another example with the same concept . I have straight male friends as well, and one time one of them introduced me to another friend of his, the guy was gay. My friend said ''it's okay to hang out with him because he didn't act gay and that other people couldn't really tell.'' I thought that was terrible. So if it was obvious than I guess they wouldn't be friends.
   You see gender roles in gay couples overdramatized in the media all the time. They always portray them as one the ''guy'' and the other the "lady''.

A scene from the popular movie Sex and the city 2. Both these men are gay however it is obviously portrayed here which one is the ''man''. Also pay attention to some of the associations  people make with this ''gay'' wedding. Anybody’s wedding could be that extravagant!

Another, both gay but the guy with the stroller is the '''women'' of the two.

This picture portrays the men as built ,strong men. Qualities every straight man wants to be recognized for. However all of these men in this picture are gay. Sorry ladies! :)

People are way to quick to judge and make assumptions. Of course everyone wants to be treated equal and as far as we have come to that , we still have alot of work to do to change this shallow world. In this day, people have many characteristics that can be associated with either male or female sex. I feel that the only way to attain equality is to distribute these characteristics throughout your relationships equally. Regardless if it's the man's job or not . Pitch in , cooperate. It couldn't hurt.

Gender

By: Aftab Ali

      As biology differentiate sexual difference between male and female, society also plays a very strong role in distinguishing gender role. For example, children realize gender expectations before they come to know biological difference between male and female. From dress to play in the early childhood, children know about his/her status and role in the society. As they grow up they come to know other complicated difference between male and female. They observe and learn from their parents, teachers and from outside world. The culture which I belong to from Pakistan, as children grow up, girls stay inside home and play indoor games and helping their mothers in kitchen and other house work. Boys stay most of the time outside, and play outdoor games and help with their fathers in fields. If boys play with girls even to their relatives inside the house or girls want to play with boys outside, both are violating social norms.

      When I was young, I was going to school with my older sister. She was young too. But when she reached to the 5^Th grade she went to girls’ school from boys’ school. She was young but that is the culture that is the culture the girl should be in girl’s school.  The society makes the rules which are masculine and which are feminine.  For example, when I was young I and my two brothers were going to the fields with my father every day but I never saw my sister accompanied us. The society made this rules that females have nothing to do with fields or outside hard work, although, I know many cultures where women work in the fields like men or with the men every day for the whole life.

      My analysis is that society is very important in gender role. Every society has different norms which have to follow. Culture also has a strong role in people’s lives even more than religion. For example women are allowed to pray in Mosques in Islam. But I never saw a woman in Mosque in my society. In my culture women are not allowed to pray in Mosques. And if suppose the female are allowed to pray in Mosques with men. I am sure they will not go to Mosques. Praying in the Mosques is masculine. So to conclude my points that there are many cultures around the world which have their own cultural rules. Every culture looks weird to other people but still they are important for their own people.

Gender Roles in a Relationship

 By: Amanda Tadrzynski

In societies all around the world, gender roles, expectations regarding the proper behavior, attitudes, and activities of males and females play a large part in how people socialize with each other. Whether at work, school, or just walking down the street, we change of we act towards a person depending on their gender.

Besides everyday socialization with strangers, gender roles also play a large part in how we act in our romantic relationships. Traditionally, men are considered the dominate sex. They are expected the protect the woman they care for, and shower her with lavish gifts and presents to show his affection towards her. The woman are suppose to be submissive towards the men, and let them  be the bread winners, while they stay home bare footed pregnant in the kitchen.

I noticed just how large a role gender roles play in a relationship while going out the dinner with my boyfriend one night. We had agreed to go out together and split the bill between the two of us. However, before going into the restaurant, my boyfriend asked for me to give him my share of the money so it would appear he was paying for the bill himself. He felt as a man he should pay for the bill himself. He of course was not born with this kind of thinking. Years of the media and other people telling him the man must pay for dinner surly influenced his actions.

In the end, gender roles play a large part in our everyday reactions, but none more so then in our romantic relationships.

Gender

By: Stephanie King

Gender roles were defined as expectations regarding the proper behavior attitudes, and activities of males and females.The roles of females and males are taught to be different but if the way we are taught is not followed its weird or strange to society. Females are taught to be gentle and courteous and males are taught to be strong and rough.Therefore if a male is working as a hairstylist or a female as a construction worker to society takes that as being out of the norm.

When gender roles are reversed it may seem strange but if  it was to happen I think the opposite gender would see and appreciate the opposite gender. Such as if a women is taught to be the one the stays home cook and clean and tend to the kids, thats actually a hard job and if a male was to do it I bet you the male would appreciate women more or vice versa. So think about it switch gender roles for a day

Here's a clip of students that pretended to switch roles

The traditional gender roles that society  has taught us are sometime not even noticeable except when something out of the norm is not followed like if a little boy is playing with a Barbie doll and a little girl is playing with a truck. Society has really played an influential part in gender roles.

R.I.P Domestic Violence

By: Cheryl Chandler

In March of 2009, I lost the most important person in my life, my mother. She was murdered by her long time boyfriend of 15 years. A man I grew to love and look at like my father. But when I thought about it, I lost my mother to Domestic Violence. And that is not fair at all. I would never wish this pain on anybody. I often tell people I could have probably dealt better if my mother died from a health issue or natural causes. But someone taking her away from me hurts the most.

So when I was looking for something to do for my organic post, I jumped at the fact that I could do whatever I wanted to do, as long as it tied in with sociology. Well violence is a big issue and Domestic Violence is an even bigger issue. And its not really looked at but for a month and they have a walk in honor of victims. No one ever thinks about the people that have to deal with it every day of their lives. The families, the victims of domestic violence and the survivors. The children that lose a mother or father, a mother that loses a child, and brother that loses a sister. 

Domestic violence could happen to anybody not just women. Some people get it twisted it. There are some Men that are victims to Domestic Violence its not just women. But there are more cases of women then men. When most people of Domestic Violence they automatically think a man beating on a women. That made me think of Gender roles in society( which we were just talking about in class today). Men have been giving that label because there stronger then women and it's more likely that a man is beating on a woman. Like I stated before there are a very few cases of men being abused. 

The violence in todays society is so out of control. With men killing other men, men killing cops, gang shootings, and people killing little kids, fighting, bullying and I can go on and on. The point is violence is everywhere. But the thing I hate the most is Domestic Violence, what gives a man the right to beat on a women and do what he wants to her. There are so many cases of Domestic Violence and its men beating and/or killing women. It has to stop somewhere, some how, by somebody. R.I.P Domestic Violence.

Heres an article about domestic violence, it has facts and statistics about the issue:

http://forcoloredgurls.com/2010/10/domestic-violence-awareness-month-2010