{{short description|Social role associated with gender or sex}} {{Redirect|Sex roles|the journal|Sex Roles (journal){{!}}''Sex Roles'' (journal)}} {{multiple issues |1= {{AI-generated|date=September 2025}} {{lead rewrite|talk=Lead needs rewrite|reason=fails to adequately summarize the key points of the article.|date=July 2025}} {{primary sources|talk=Primary sources|find=gender role|date=July 2025}} }} {{Use American English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}} A '''gender role''', or '''sex role''', is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex, and is usually centered on societal views of masculinity and femininity.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Buhl |first1=Sarah |last2=Führer |first2=Jennifer L. |last3=Asbrock |first3=Frank |title=Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior |date=2023 |publisher=Springer, Cham |isbn=978-3-031-08956-5 |pages=1–12 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_2133-1 |language=en |chapter=Sex Roles |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_2133-1 |archive-date=14 April 2025 |access-date=25 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250414074834/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_2133-1 |url-status=live }}</ref>
The specifics of these gendered expectations may vary across cultures, while other characteristics may be common across many cultures. In addition, gender roles (and perceived gender roles) vary based on a person's race or ethnicity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Scott Carter |first1=J. |last2=Corra |first2=Mamadi |last3=Carter |first3=Shannon K. |date=March 2009 |title=The Interaction of Race and Gender: Changing Gender-Role Attitudes, 1974–2006 |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=90 |issue=1 |pages=196–211 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2009.00611.x |issn=0038-4941 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2000/12206 }}</ref>
Gender roles influence a wide range of human behavior, often including the clothing a person chooses to wear, the profession a person pursues, the manner in which a person approaches things, the personal relationships a person enters, and how they behave within those relationships. Although gender roles have evolved and expanded, they have traditionally kept women in the "private" sphere and men in the "public" sphere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Andrea L. |last2=Borgida |first2=Eugene |date=2016-01-22 |title=The Separate Spheres Model of Gendered Inequality |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |article-number=e0147315 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0147315 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4723260 |pmid=26800454|bibcode=2016PLoSO..1147315M |doi-access=free}}</ref>
Various groups, most notably feminist movements, have led efforts to change aspects of prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive, inaccurate, and sexist.
==Background== {{See also|Gender expression}}
A '''gender role''', also known as a '''sex role''',<ref name="Sex Roles and Gender Roles">Levesque R.J.R. (2011) ''[https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-1695-2_602#howtocite Sex Roles and Gender Roles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301200307/https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-1-4419-1695-2_602#howtocite |date=1 March 2021 }}''. In: Levesque R.J.R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Springer, New York, NY. {{ISBN|978-1-4419-1695-2}}. Retrieved 22 January 2018.</ref> is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lindsey |first1=Linda L. |title=Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective |date=14 October 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-34808-5 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjjbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5 |access-date=19 December 2022 |language=en |quote=Gender roles, therefore, are the expected attitudes and behaviors a society associates with each sex.}}</ref><ref name="Alters">{{cite book |last1=Alters |first1=Sandra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lc-YBRQkldAC&pg=PA143 |title=Essential Concepts for Healthy Living |last2=Schiff |first2=Wendy |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-7637-5641-3 |page=143 |quote=gender role - patterns of behavior, attitudes, and personality attributes that are traditionally considered in a particular culture to be feminine or masculine. |access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref><ref name="Gochman">{{cite book |author=David S. Gochman |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hW_1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA424 |title=Handbook of Health Behavior Research II: Provider Determinants |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |year=1997 |isbn=978-1-4899-1760-7 |page=424 |quote=The social roles, behaviors, attitudes, and psychological characteristics that are more common, more expected, or more accepted for one sex or the other; includes a group of interrelated behaviors, attitudes, and psychological characteristics that influence a variety of risk and risk-taking behaviors as well as care-seeking behaviors. |access-date=3 January 2018}}</ref> Gender roles can be linked with essentialism, the idea that humans have a set of attributes that are necessary to their identity based on their gender. Sociologists tend to use the term "gender role" instead of "sex role", because the sociocultural understanding of gender is distinguished from biological conceptions of sex.<ref name="Lindsey 2015">{{cite book |last1=Lindsey |first1=Linda L. |title=Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-34808-5 |pages=4–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjjbCgAAQBAJ |access-date=6 March 2023}}</ref> There are multiple theories that explain how gender roles can affect different aspects of everyday life.
In the sociology of gender, the process whereby an individual learns and acquires a gender role in society is termed ''gender socialization''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Adler |first1=Patricia A. |last2=Kless |first2=Steven J. |last3=Adler |first3=Peter |date=July 1992 |title=Socialization to Gender Roles: Popularity among Elementary School Boys and Girls |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_sociology-of-education_1992-07_65_3/page/169 |journal=Sociology of Education |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=169–187 |doi=10.2307/2112807 |jstor=2112807}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dill |first1=Karen E. |last2=Thill |first2=Kathryn P. |date=December 2007 |title=Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles: Young People's Perceptions Mirror Sexist Media Depictions |journal=Sex Roles |volume=57 |issue=11–12 |pages=851–864 |doi=10.1007/s11199-007-9278-1 |s2cid=55706950 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1= Dietz |first1=Tracy L. |date=March 1998|title=An Examination of Violence and Gender Role Portrayals in Video Games: Implications for Gender Socialization and Aggressive Behavior |journal=Sex Roles |volume=38 |issue=5–6 |pages=425–442 |doi=10.1023/A:1018709905920 |s2cid=56032975 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/facultybib1990/2221 }}</ref>
Gender roles are culturally specific, and while most cultures distinguish only two (boy/man and girl/woman), others recognize more than two. Some non-Western societies have three genders: men, women, and a third gender.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roscoe |first=Will |date=17 June 2000 |title=Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=0-312-22479-6}}<br />See also: Trumbach, Randolph (1994). ''London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture.'' In Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, edited by Gilbert Herdt, 111–36. New York: Zone (MIT). {{ISBN|978-0-942299-82-3}}</ref> Buginese society has identified five genders.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richards |first1=Christina |last2=Bouman |first2=Walter Pierre |last3=Barker |first3=Meg-John |year=2017 |title=Genderqueer and non-binary genders |location=United Kingdom |publisher=Macmillan |pages=22, 306 |isbn=978-1-137-51053-2}}</ref><ref name="Graham">{{cite web |last=Graham |first=Sharyn |url=http://insideindonesia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=982&Itemid=29%2Fedit66%2Fbissu2.htm |title=Sulawesi's fifth gender |website=Inside Indonesia |date=April–June 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090604031253/http://insideindonesia.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=982&Itemid=29%2Fedit66%2Fbissu2.htm |archive-date=4 June 2009}}</ref> Androgyny has sometimes also been proposed as a third gender.<ref>{{cite book |last=Maccoby |first=Eleanor Emmons |title=The Development of Sex Differences |year=1966 |publisher=Stanford University Press |location=Stanford, Calif. |isbn=978-0-8047-0308-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/developmentofsex0000macc/page/25 25–55] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_jumAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27 |chapter=Sex differences in intellectual functioning |url=https://archive.org/details/developmentofsex0000macc/page/25}}</ref> An androgyne or androgynous person is someone with qualities of both the male and female gender. Some individuals identify with no gender at all.<ref>"LGBTQ Needs Assessment" (PDF). Encompass Network. April 2013. pp. 52–53. Retrieved 6 March 2015. {{cite web |url=http://encompassnetwork.org.uk/uploads/LGBTQ-Needs-Assesmentabsolutelyfinal.pdf |title=Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire LGBTQ Needs Assessment |date=April 2014 |access-date=18 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024234412/http://encompassnetwork.org.uk/uploads/LGBTQ-Needs-Assesmentabsolutelyfinal.pdf |archive-date=24 October 2014}}</ref>
Many transgender people identify simply as men or women, and do not constitute a separate third gender.<ref name="vox-trans">{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8483561/transgender-gender-identity-expression |title=9 questions about gender identity and being transgender you were too embarrassed to ask |website=Vox |last=Lopez |first=German |date=18 April 2016 |access-date=31 July 2016 |quote=Transitioning can be made much more difficult by persistent misconceptions, including the myth that transgender people belong to a third gender. |archive-date=27 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927001244/https://www.vox.com/2015/4/24/8483561/transgender-gender-identity-expression |url-status=live }}</ref> Biological differences between (some) trans women and cisgender women have historically been treated as relevant in certain contexts, especially those where biological traits may yield an unfair advantage, such as sport.<ref name="trans-sport">{{cite journal |url=https://www.proquest.com/openview/d8691a6dcaf6f5e469538ddc3fa4a5fb/1?pq-origsite=gscholar |title=Transsexual and Transgender Policies in Sport |last=Sykes |first=Heather |journal=Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal |volume=15 |pages=3–13 |number=1 |year=2006 |access-date=31 July 2016 |doi=10.1123/wspaj.15.1.3|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
''Gender role'' is not the same thing as ''gender identity'', which refers to the internal sense of one's own gender, whether or not it aligns with categories offered by societal norms. The point at which these internalized gender identities become externalized into a set of expectations is the genesis of a gender role.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Adler |first1=P. |last2=Kless |first2=S. |last3=Adler |first3=P. |year=1992 |title = Socialization to gender roles: Popularity among elementary school boys and girls |journal=Sociology of Education |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=169–087 |doi=10.2307/2112807 |jstor=2112807}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Acker |first1=J. |year=1992 |title=From sex roles to gendered institutions |journal=Contemporary Sociology: A Journal of Reviews |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=565–569 |doi=10.2307/2075528 |jstor=2075528}}</ref>
==Theories== [[File:Gobert - Louis XV as child, Fundación Jakober.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Changing norms of gender socialization: Louis XV in 1712, wearing the customary clothes of unbreeched boys, would be considered cross-dressed in the 21st century.]]
Sex differences in psychology can be explained by various theories, see possible causes. According to the theory of social constructionism, gendered behavior is mostly due to the social construction of gender. Other theories such as evolutionary psychology disagree with that position.
Most children learn to categorize themselves by gender by the age of three.<ref name="Pate">{{cite web |last=Pate |first=J. s.d |title=What everyone should know about gender and sexuality |url=http://jamespatemd.com/Pubs/gendersexuality.htm |website=jamespatemd.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121119172004/http://jamespatemd.com/Pubs/gendersexuality.htm |archive-date=19 November 2012}}</ref> From birth, in the course of gender socialization, children learn gender stereotypes and roles from their parents and environment. Traditionally, boys learn to manipulate their physical and social environment through physical strength or dexterity, while girls learn to present themselves as objects to be viewed.<ref>Cahill, S. E. (1986). Language practices and self-definition: The case of gender identity acquisition. The Sociological Quarterly vol. 27, issue 3, pp 295–311</ref> Social constructionists argue that differences between male and female behavior are better attributable to gender-segregated children's activities than to any essential, natural, physiological, or genetic predisposition.<ref name="Fenstermaker">{{cite book |last=Fenstermaker |first=Sarah |title=Doing Gender, Doing Difference: Inequality, Power, and Institutional Change |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-93179-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vLBpyjCFwsC&pg=PA8 |page=8}}</ref>
A 2024 study researched the social construction of gender. The author, V.J. Daniels, discussed the relationship between the gender pay gap and social construction. She looked at the gendered language in different statutes and cognitive dissonance. The author examined whether there was gendered language in literature and in laws governing equal pay. The second part of her research question was to see if the gendered language in these laws, acts, and literature affected how individuals' experiences. The author found that in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, gendered language was strongly feminine, whereas in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Paycheck Fairness Act (2021–22), it was strongly masculine. In total, there were more masculine words than feminine. The results of the interview portion of the study indicated that the male interviewee had a high Bem score, meaning he expected his needs to be heard in his home life and at work. The women who were interviewed had a low score, meaning they did not expect their needs to be listened to in their home life and workplace.<ref>{{Citation |last1=Barbara |first1=Kamińska |title=Impact of Cognitive Dissonance on Social Hysteresis: Insights from the Expressed and Private Opinions Model |date=2024-10-22 |arxiv=2410.16934 |last2=Katarzyna |first2=Sznajd-Weron}}</ref>
As an aspect of role theory, gender role theory "treats these differing distributions of women and men into roles as the primary origin of sex-differentiated social behavior, [and posits that] their impact on behavior is mediated by psychological and social processes."<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Eagly |first=A. H. |date=December 1997 |title=Sex differences in social behavior: Comparing social role theory and evolutionary psychology |magazine=American Psychologist |pages=1380–1383}}</ref> According to Gilbert Herdt, gender roles arose from correspondent inference, meaning that general labor division was extended to gender roles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trumbach |first1=Randolph |editor1-last=Herdt |editor1-first=Gilbert |year=1994 |chapter=London's Sapphists: From Three Sexes to Four Genders in the Making of Modern Culture |title=Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History |location=New York |publisher=Zone (MIT) |pages=111–36 |isbn=978-0-942299-82-3}}</ref>
Social constructionists consider gender roles to be hierarchical and patriarchal.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wood |first1=W. |last2=Eagly |first2=A. H. |year=2002 |title=A cross-cultural analysis of the behavior of women and men: Implications for the origins of sex difference |journal=Psychological Bulletin |volume=128 |issue=5 |pages=699–727 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.128.5.699 |pmid=12206191 |bibcode=2002PsycB.128..699W |s2cid=6751650}}</ref> The term patriarchy, according to researcher Andrew Cherlin, defines "a social order based on the domination of women by men, especially in agricultural societies".<ref>{{cite book |last=Cherlin |first=Andrew J. |title=Public and Private Families: An Introduction |date=2010 |publisher=McGraw-Hill Higher Education |location=New York |isbn=978-0-07-340435-6 |page=93 |edition=6th}}</ref>
According to Eagly et al., the consequences of gender roles and stereotypes are sex-typed social behavior because roles and stereotypes are both socially shared descriptive and prescriptive norms.<ref>Eagly, A. H. (2004). Prejudice: Toward a more inclusive understanding. In A. H. Eagly, R. M. Baron, & V. L. Hamilton (Eds.), The social psychology of group identity and social conflict: Theory, application, and practice (pp. 45–64). Washington, DC, US: American Psychological Association. {{doi|10.1037/10683-003}}</ref>
Conflicts between aspects of gender roles result in gender role conflicts.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=O'Neil |first=James M. |date=1981 |title=Male Sex Role Conflicts, Sexism, and Masculinity: Psychological Implications for Men, Women, and the Counseling Psychologist |journal=The Counseling Psychologist |language=EN |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=61–80 |doi=10.1177/001100008100900213 |issn=0011-0000}}</ref>
==Major theorists==
===Talcott Parsons=== Working in the United States in 1955, Talcott Parsons<ref>[http://www.arte-tv.com Franco-German TV Station ARTE] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704171232/http://arte-tv.com/ |date=4 July 2008 }}, Karambolage, August 2004.</ref> developed a model of the nuclear family, which, at that time and place, was the prevalent family structure. The model compared a traditional contemporaneous view of gender roles with a more liberal view. The Parsons model was used to contrast and illustrate extreme positions on gender roles, i.e., gender roles described in the sense of Max Weber's ideal types (an exaggerated and simplified version of a phenomenon, used for analytical purposes) rather than how they appear in reality.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=West |first1=Candace |last2=Zimmerman |first2=Don H. |date=1987 |title=Doing Gender |journal=Gender and Society |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=125–151 |doi=10.1177/0891243287001002002 |jstor=189945 |issn=0891-2432 }}</ref> Model A described a total separation of male and female roles, while Model B described the complete dissolution of gender roles.<ref>Brockhaus: Enzyklopädie der Psychologie, 2001.</ref> {| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" border="1" style="border-collapse: collapse;" | ! Model A – Total role segregation !! Model B – Total integration of roles |- ! Education | Gender-specific education: a high professional qualification is important only for men. | Co-educative schools, same content of classes for girls and boys, same qualification for men and women. |- ! Profession | The workplace is not the primary domain for women; career and professional advancement are deemed unimportant to them. | For women, a career is just as important as for men; equal professional opportunities for men and women are necessary. |- ! Housework | Housekeeping and child care are the primary functions of the woman; participation of the man in these functions is only partially wanted. | Both parties to the marriage do all housework in equal shares. |- ! Decision making | In case of conflict, man has the last say, for example, in choosing the place to live, the choice of school for children, and buying decisions. | Neither partner dominates; solutions do not always follow the principle of finding a concerted decision; status quo is maintained if disagreement occurs. |- ! Child care and education | Woman takes care of the largest part of these functions; she educates children and cares for them in every way. | Man and a woman share these functions equally. |}
The model is consciously a simplification; individuals' actual behavior usually lies somewhere between these poles. According to the interactionist approach, gender roles are not fixed but are constantly renegotiated between individuals.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ieet.org/archive/IEET-03-PostGender.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://ieet.org/archive/IEET-03-PostGender.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live |title=Postgenderism: Beyond the Gender Binary |last=Dvorsky |first=George |date=2008 |work=ieet.org |access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref>
===John Money=== "In the 1950s, John Money and his colleagues took up the study of intersex individuals, who, Money realized, 'would provide invaluable material for the comparative study of bodily form and physiology, rearing, and psychosexual orientation'."<ref name="Fausto-Sterling-2008">{{cite book |last=Fausto-Sterling |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Fausto-Sterling |title=Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-976qhsz7A4C&pg=PA46 |date=4 August 2008 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=978-0-7867-2433-8 |page=46 |oclc=818855499 |orig-date=1st pub. 2000}}</ref> Money coined the term ''gender role,'' which he defined in a seminal 1955 paper as "all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman."<ref name="Basic-Concepts">{{cite journal |last1=Money |first1=John |author-link1=John Money |last2=Hampson |first2=Joan G |last3=Hampson |first3=John |date=October 1955 |title=An Examination of Some Basic Sexual Concepts: The Evidence of Human Hermaphroditism |journal=Bull. Johns Hopkins Hosp. |volume=97 |issue=4 |pages=301–19 |quote=By the term, gender role, we mean all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman, respectively. It includes, but is not restricted to sexuality in the sense of eroticism. Gender role is appraised in relation to the following: general mannerisms, deportment and demeanor, play preferences and recreational interests; spontaneous topics of talk in unprompted conversation and casual comment; content of dreams, daydreams, and fantasies; replies to oblique inquiries and projective tests; evidence of erotic practices and, finally, the person's own replies to direct inquiry. |pmid=13260820}}</ref>
The team concluded that gonads, hormones, and chromosomes did not automatically determine a child's gender role.{{clarify|reason=Nonsensical on the surface, because children do not have a gender role; only society does. Logical, if understood in terms of Money's 1955 definition of 'gender role', which was closer to gender identity or expression, and not the modern understanding of 'gender role'.|date=July 2025}}<ref name="Fausto-Sterling, Anne 2000">Fausto-Sterling, Anne (2000). Sexing the body: gender politics and the construction of sexuality. New York: Basic Books. {{ISBN|0-465-07714-5}}.</ref> In other words, children do not have a gender role, which is often assigned by society. Money's 1955 definition of 'gender role' was closer to gender identity or expression.
=== West and Zimmerman === {{Further|Doing gender}} Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman developed an interactionist perspective on gender that goes beyond the construction of "roles."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macht |first=Alexandra |date=25 September 2019 |title=Doing Gender |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0229.xml |access-date=30 March 2024 |website=Oxford Bibliographies Online |language=en |archive-date=27 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240527235044/https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199756384/obo-9780199756384-0229.xml |url-status=live }}</ref> For them, gender is "the product of social doings of some sort undertaken by men and women whose competence as members of society is hostage to its production."<ref name="West+Zimmerman-1987">{{Cite journal |last1=West |first1=Candace |last2=Zimmerman |first2=Don H. |date=June 1987 |title=Doing Gender |journal=Gender and Society |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=129 |doi=10.1177/0891243287001002002 |s2cid=220519301}}</ref> Elisabeth K. Kelan describes this approach as an "ethnomethodological approach" which analyzes "micro interactions to reveal how the objective and given nature of the world is accomplished," suggesting that gender does not exist until it is empirically perceived and performed through interactions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kelan |first1=Elisabeth K. |title=Gender Logic and (Un)doing Gender at Work |journal=Gender, Work and Organization |date=March 2010 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=178–179 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0432.2009.00459.x}}</ref> West and Zimmerman argued that the use of "role" to describe gender expectations conceals the production of gender through everyday activities. Furthermore, they stated that roles are situated identities, such as "nurse" and "student," which are developed as the situation demands, while gender is a master identity with no specific site or organizational context. For them, "conceptualizing gender as a role makes it difficult to assess its influence on other roles and reduces its explanatory usefulness in discussions of power and inequality."<ref name="West+Zimmerman-1987" /> West and Zimmerman consider gender an individual production that reflects and constructs interactional and institutional gender expectations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hirst |first1=Alison |last2=Schwabenland |first2=Christina |date=2018 |title=Doing gender in the 'new office' |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwao.12200 |journal=Gender, Work & Organization |language=en |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=159–176 |doi=10.1111/gwao.12200 |issn=0968-6673 |hdl=10547/622118 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=30 March 2024 |access-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330020713/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gwao.12200 |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== Judith Butler === {{Further|Undoing Gender}}
Judith Butler wrote ''Gender Trouble''<ref>Butler, J. (1990).''Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity.'' New York; Routledge.</ref> and ''Undoing Gender.''<ref>Butler, Judith. Undoing Gender. New York: Routledge, 2004.</ref> She claims that people feel pressure to adhere to gender norms and the actions gender roles dictate. Because gender roles are so ingrained in our society, it is difficult to overcome them. Gender becomes concrete through our actions that reinforce gender. Butler calls this "reiteration": doing certain activities that reinforce our gender. Then, through the process of "materialization", these gender roles and norms shape the way we move throughout the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Judith |title=Bodies that matter: on the discursive limits of "sex" |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-90366-0 |location=New York}}</ref> Butler poses that gender is something we "do" through gender roles. Therefore, gender can be "undone," and gender is not a natural occurrence. Societies uphold gender through "functional sex roles", or gender roles.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Risman |first=Barbara J. |date=February 2009 |title=From Doing To Undoing: Gender as We Know It |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0891243208326874 |journal=Gender & Society |language=en |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=81–84 |doi=10.1177/0891243208326874 |issn=0891-2432|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, the structures that uphold gender can change over time.
Departures from the norm show that gender roles are not enforced by anything other than their repeated use and enforcement. Therefore, gender roles are not real, but are constructed by humans in society. When realizing that gender and sex as the basis for these roles are not stable, it is easy to see how the roles themselves are not stable either.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Judith |title=Undoing gender |date=2009 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-96922-2 |edition=Transferred to digital printing |location=New York, NY}}</ref> Gender and sex are more diverse than the gender binary and the sex binary, so gender roles could also be diverse.
==Biological factors== {{main|Sexual division of labour|Sex differences in humans}}
{{Sex differences}} Historically, gender roles have been largely attributed to biological differences between men and women. Although research indicates that biology plays a role in gendered behavior, the extent of its effects on gender roles is less clear.<ref name="Lindsey"/><ref name="Ryan">{{cite book |vauthors=Ryan MK, Branscombe NR |title=The SAGE Handbook of Gender and Psychology |isbn=978-1-4739-7128-8 |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2013 |pages=149–150 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sBWUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149 |archive-date=27 September 2024 |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927060822/https://books.google.com/books?id=sBWUCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT149#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Sperling">{{cite book |vauthors=Sperling MA |title=Pediatric Endocrinology |isbn=978-1-4557-5973-6 |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |year=2014 |pages=141–142 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GgXnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141 |archive-date=27 September 2024 |access-date=14 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927060717/https://books.google.com/books?id=GgXnAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA141#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
One hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to evolution. The sociobiological view argues that men's fitness is increased by being aggressive, allowing them to compete with other men for access to females, as well as by being sexually promiscuous and trying to father as many children as possible. Women benefit from bonding with infants and caring for children.<ref name="Lindsey"/> Sociobiologists argue that these roles are evolutionary and led to the establishment of traditional gender roles, with women in the domestic sphere and men dominant in every other area.<ref name="Lindsey">{{cite book |last=Lindsey |first=L. L. |title=Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective |publisher=Routledge |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-34808-5 |pages=29–34 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qjjbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 |archive-date=27 September 2024 |access-date=31 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240927060717/https://books.google.com/books?id=qjjbCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> However, this view pre-assumes a view of nature that is contradicted by the fact that women engage in hunting in 79% of modern hunter-gatherer societies.<ref>{{Cite magazine |first1=Cara |last1=Ocobock |first2=Sarah |last2=Lacy |date=1 November 2023 |title=The Theory That Men Evolved to Hunt and Women Evolved to Gather Is Wrong |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-theory-that-men-evolved-to-hunt-and-women-evolved-to-gather-is-wrong1/ |access-date=26 February 2024 |magazine=Scientific American |language=en |archive-date=6 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240906202133/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-theory-that-men-evolved-to-hunt-and-women-evolved-to-gather-is-wrong1/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, an attempted verification of this study found "that multiple methodological failures all bias their results in the same direction...their analysis does not contradict the wide body of empirical evidence for gendered divisions of labor in foraging societies".<ref>{{cite journal |title=Female foragers sometimes hunt, yet gendered divisions of labor are real: a comment on Anderson et al. (2023) The Myth of Man the Hunter |vauthors=Venkataraman et al |date=7 May 2024 |journal=Evolution and Human Behavior |volume=45 |issue=4 |article-number=106586 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513824000497 |doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2024.04.014 |bibcode=2024EHumB..4506586V |url-access=subscription |archive-date=19 December 2024 |access-date=16 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241219093550/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513824000497 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Another hypothesis attributes differences in gender roles to prenatal exposure to hormones. Early research examining the effect of biology on gender roles by John Money and Anke Ehrhardt primarily focused on girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH), resulting in higher-than-normal prenatal exposure to androgens. Their research found that girls with CAH exhibited tomboy-like behavior, were less interested in dolls, and were less likely to make-believe as parents.<ref name="Ryan"/><ref name="Sperling"/> Many methodological problems with the studies have been identified.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1007/s11199-011-9990-8 |title=A Role for Biology in Gender-Related Behavior |year=2011 |last1=Berenbaum |first1=Sheri A. |last2=Blakemore |first2=Judith E. Owen |last3=Beltz |first3=Adriene M. |journal=Sex Roles |volume=64 |issue=11–12 |pages=804–825 |s2cid=145689071}}</ref> A study on 1950s American teenage girls who had been exposed to androgenic steroids by their mothers ''in utero'' exhibited more traditionally masculine behavior, such as being more concerned about their future career than marriage, wearing pants, and not being interested in jewelry.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Money |first1=John |last2=Ehrhardt |first2=Anke |title=Man & Woman, Boy & Girl |date=1974 |url=https://archive.org/details/manwomanboygirl00mone/page/n7/mode/2up |access-date=22 July 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Lewontin |first1=Richard |title=Not In Our Genes |date=1990 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=136}}</ref>
Sociologist Linda L. Lindsey critiqued the notion that gender roles are a result of prenatal hormone exposure, saying that while hormones may explain sex differences like sexual orientation and gender identity, they "cannot account for gender differences in other roles such as nurturing, love, and criminal behavior".<ref name="Lindsey"/> By contrast, some research indicates that both neurobiological and social risk factors can interact in a way that predisposes one to engaging in criminal behavior (including juvenile delinquency).<ref name="Bishop">{{cite book |vauthors=Feld BC, Bishop DM |title=The Oxford Handbook of Juvenile Crime and Juvenile Justice |isbn=978-0-19-020883-7 |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2011 |page=110 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ks0sAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT110}}</ref><ref name="Vaughn">{{cite book |vauthors=DeLisi M, Vaughn MG |title=The Routledge International Handbook of Biosocial Criminology |isbn=978-1-317-93674-9 |publisher=Routledge |year=2014 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bmy2BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13}}</ref>
A 2017 study examined sex and gender differences in empathy and moral cognition. The research question of this study was whether sex differences and gender roles affect empathy. Two studies were conducted in this paper. The first study had 10,802 participants, who completed a survey to assess their empathy for pain and were presented with two moral dilemmas. The second study was a subsample of the first study containing 334 participants. The participants in study two did the same as in study one, but they also had to complete a questionnaire on empathy. The findings of the first study showed a significant difference in empathy levels between reported genders. Women showed higher empathy levels on more tests than men did. In the second study, the results were similar: women had higher empathy scores on the questionnaire than men. There were some limitations in this study. Since their second study was a subset of the first study's population, the results were similar. If a different group of participants had been used, the results may have varied.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Baez |first1=Sandra |last2=Flichtentrei |first2=Daniel |last3=Prats |first3=María |last4=Mastandueno |first4=Ricardo |last5=García |first5=Adolfo M. |last6=Cetkovich |first6=Marcelo |last7=Ibáñez |first7=Agustín |date=2017-06-20 |title=Men, women…who cares? A population-based study on sex differences and gender roles in empathy and moral cognition |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=12 |issue=6 |article-number=e0179336 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0179336 |doi-access=free |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=5478130 |pmid=28632770 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1279336B }}</ref>
Concerning gender stereotypes, the societal roles and differences in power between men and women are much more strongly indicated than is a biological component.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-122216-011719 |title=Gender Stereotypes |year=2018 |last1=Ellemers |first1=Naomi |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |volume=69 |pages=275–298 |pmid=28961059 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==In culture== [[File:90Israhel van Meckenenem Verkehrte Welt.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The world turned upside down'', by Israhel van Meckenem the Younger. The wife is holding the sceptre, and the man is spinning.]] Ideas of appropriate gendered behavior vary among cultures and eras, although some aspects receive more widespread attention than others. In the ''World Values Survey'', respondents were asked whether wage work should be restricted to men only in the case of a shortage of jobs: in Iceland, the proportion who agreed was 3.6%, while in Egypt it was 94.9%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fortin |first1=Nicole |author-link1=Nicole Fortin |year=2005 |title=Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries |journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=416–438 |doi=10.1093/oxrep/gri024}}</ref>
Attitudes have also varied historically. For example, in Europe during the Middle Ages, women were commonly associated with roles in medicine and healing.<ref name="Ehrenreich">{{cite book |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=Barbara |title=Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers |url=https://archive.org/details/witchesmidwivesn00ehrerich |url-access=registration |year=2010 |publisher=The Feminist Press |isbn=978-0-912670-13-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/witchesmidwivesn00ehrerich/page/44 44–87] |edition=2nd |first2=Deirdre |last2=English}}</ref> Because of the rise of witch-hunts across Europe and the institutionalization of medicine, these roles became exclusively associated with men.<ref name="Ehrenreich" /> In the last few decades, these roles have become largely gender-neutral in Western society.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulis |first1=Ann K. |title=The changing face of medicine: women doctors and the evolution of health care in America |year=2010 |publisher=ILR |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-8014-7662-4 |last2=Jacobs |first2=Jerry A. |quote=Encouraging one's daughter to pursue a career in medicine is no longer an unusual idea... Americans are now more likely to report that they feel comfortable recommending a career in medicine for a young woman than for a young man.}}</ref>
Vern Bullough stated that LGBTQ+ communities are generally more tolerant of switching gender roles.<ref name="Bullough">{{cite book |last1=Bullough |first1=Vern L. |title=Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender |year=1993 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1431-4 |page=390 |edition=1st |first2=Bonnie |last2=Bullough}}</ref> For instance, someone with a masculine voice, a five o'clock shadow (or a fuller beard), an Adam's apple, wearing a woman's dress and high heels, carrying a purse would most likely draw ridicule or other unfriendly attention in ordinary social contexts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Butler |first=Judith |author-link=Judith Butler |title=Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |date=2008}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Halberstam |first=Judith |title=Female Masculinity |publisher=Duke University Press |location=Durham and London |date=1998}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Epstein |editor1-first=Julia |editor2-last=Straub |editor2-first=Kristina |title=Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity |publisher=Routledge |location=London |date=1991}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}}
Because the dominant class sees this form of gender expression as unacceptable, inappropriate, or perhaps threatening, these individuals are significantly more likely to experience discrimination and harassment both in their personal lives and from their employers, according to a 2011 report from the Center for American Progress.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Burns |first1=Crosby |last2=Krehely |first2=Jeff |title=Gay and Transgender People Face High Rates of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment |date=May 2011 |url=https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/06/pdf/workplace_discrimination.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/06/pdf/workplace_discrimination.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=Center for American Progress |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>
Gender roles may be a means through which one expresses one's gender identity, but they may also be employed as a means of exerting social control, and individuals may experience negative social consequences for violating them.<ref>Hackman, J.R. (1992). "Group influences on individuals in organizations". In M.D. Dunnette & L.M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, 234–245.</ref>
===Gender stereotypes=== {{See also|Sexism#Gender stereotypes|Implicit stereotype#Gender bias|Stereotypes}} thumb|An 1883 German illustration of children playing house A 1992 study tested gender stereotypes and labeling within young children in the United States.<ref name="fagot">{{Cite journal | last1 = Fagot | first1 = Beverly I. | last2 = Leinbach | first2 = Mary D. | last3 = O'Boyle | first3 = Cherie | title = Gender labeling, gender stereotyping, and parenting behaviors | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_developmental-psychology_1992-03_28_2/page/225 | journal = Developmental Psychology | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 225–230 | doi = 10.1037/0012-1649.28.2.225 | date = March 1992 }}</ref> Fagot ''et al.'' divided this into two different studies; the first investigated how children identified the differences between gender labels of boys and girls, the second study looked at both gender labeling and stereotyping in the relationship of mother and child.<ref name="fagot"/>
In the first study, 23 children between the ages of 2 and 7 underwent a series of gender-labeling and gender-stereotyping tests: the children viewed either pictures of males and females or objects such as a hammer or a broom, then identified or labeled them according to a certain gender. The results of these tests showed that children under three years could make gender-stereotypic associations.<ref name="fagot" />
The second study examined gender labeling and stereotyping in the mother-child relationship using three separate methods. The first consisted of identifying gender labeling and stereotyping, essentially the same method as the first study. The second consisted of behavioral observations that examined 10-minute play sessions between mother and child using gender-specific toys.
The third study used a series of questionnaires, such as the "Attitude Toward Women Scale," the "Personal Attributes Questionnaire" and the "Schaefer and Edgerton Scale," which examined the mother's family values.<ref name="fagot" />
The results of these studies were the same as those of the first study with regard to labeling and stereotyping.
They also identified in the second method that the mothers' positive reactions and responses to same-sex or opposite-sex toys played a role in how children identified them. In the third method, the results showed that the mothers of children who passed the "Gender Labeling Test" held more traditional family values. These two studies, conducted by Beverly I. Fagot, Mar D. Leinbach, and Cherie O'Boyle, showed that gender stereotyping and labeling are acquired at a very young age and that social interactions and associations play a large role in how genders are identified.<ref name="fagot" />
Virginia Woolf, in the 1920s, made the point: "It is obvious that the values of women differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sex. Yet it is the masculine values that prevail",<ref>{{cite book |last = Woolf | first = Virginia | author-link = Virginia Woolf | title = A room of one's own | publisher = Hogarth Press | location = New York | year = 1929 | page = 76 | oclc = 31499943| title-link = A Room of One's Own }}</ref> remade sixty years later by psychologist Carol Gilligan who used it to show that psychological tests of maturity have generally been based on masculine parameters, and so tended to show that women were less 'mature'. Gilligan countered this in her groundbreaking work, ''In a Different Voice'', holding that maturity in women is shown in terms of different but equally important human values.<ref>{{cite book | last = Gilligan |first = Carol | author-link = Carol Gilligan | title = In a different voice |publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-674-44544-4|title-link = In a Different Voice }}</ref>
[[File:Mixed stereotype content model (Fiske et al.).png|thumb|300px|Stereotype content model, adapted from Fiske et al. (2002): Four types of stereotypes resulting from combinations of perceived warmth and competence.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Fiske | first1 = Susan T. | last2 = Cuddy | first2 = Amy J.C. |last3 = Glick | first3 = Peter | last4 = Xu | first4 = Jun | author-link1 = Susan Fiske | title = A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition | journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology | volume = 82 | issue = 6 | pages = 878–902 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878 | date = June 2002 | pmid=12051578| bibcode = 2002JPSP...82..878F | citeseerx = 10.1.1.320.4001 | s2cid = 17057403 |url=http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Fiske_StereotypeContent.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Fiske_StereotypeContent.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]
Gender stereotypes are extremely common in society.<ref>{{cite web | last = Brewer | first = Holly | title = List of gender stereotypes | url = http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15910/1/List-of-Gender-Stereotypes.html | date = 2012 | access-date = 4 April 2015 | archive-date = 8 April 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150408075832/http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15910/1/List-of-Gender-Stereotypes.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Gender and gender identity at a glance | url = http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-identity-26530.htm | website = plannedparenthood.org | publisher = Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. | date = 2012 | access-date = 4 April 2015 | archive-date = 4 March 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140304202825/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-identity-26530.htm }}</ref> One of the reasons this may be is simply because it is easier on the brain to stereotype (see Heuristics).
The brain has limited perceptual and memory systems, so it categorizes information into fewer, simpler units, allowing for more efficient information processing.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Martin | first1 = Carol Lynn | last2 = Halverson | first2 = Charles F. Jr. | title = A schematic processing model of sex typing and stereotyping in children | journal = Child Development | volume = 52 | issue = 4 | pages = 1119–1134 | doi = 10.2307/1129498 | jstor = 1129498 | date = December 1981 }}</ref> Gender stereotypes appear to have an effect at an early age. In one study, the effects of gender stereotypes on children's mathematical abilities were tested. In this study of American children between the ages of six and ten, it was found that the children, as early as the second grade, demonstrated the gender stereotype that mathematics is a 'boy's subject'. This may show that mathematical self-belief is influenced before the age at which discernible differences in mathematical achievement emerge.<ref name="Cvencek">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cvencek | first1 = Dario | last2 = Meltzoff | first2 = Andrew N. | last3 = Greenwald | first3 = Anthony G. | title = Math–gender stereotypes in elementary school children | journal = Child Development | volume = 82 | issue = 3 | pages = 766–779 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x | pmid = 21410915 | date = May–June 2011 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.300.2757 }}</ref>
According to the 1972 study by Jean Lipman-Blumen, women who grew up with traditional gender roles were less likely to want higher education, while women brought up with the view that men and women are equal were more likely to want higher education. This result indicates that gender roles that have been passed down traditionally can influence stereotypes about gender.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Lipman-Blumen | first = Jean | title = How ideology shapes women's lives | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_scientific-american_1972-01_226_1/page/34 | journal = Scientific American | volume = 226 | issue = 1 | pages = 34–42 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0172-34 | date = January 1972 | bibcode = 1972SciAm.226a..34L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=9 July 2015 |first1 = Leigh|last1 = Goodmark|first2 = Juanita|last2 = Flores|first3 = Julie |last3 = Goldscheid|first4 = Andrea |last4 = Ritchie |last5=SpearIt |title=Plenary 2—Redefining Gender Violence |url= https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=umrsjlr |journal= University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review |volume=5 |page=289 |ssrn=2628984|author-link=Leigh Goodmark}}</ref>
In a later study, Deaux and her colleagues (1984) found that most people think women are ''more'' ''nurturant'' but ''less self-assertive'' than men, and that this belief is universal, though this awareness is related to women's ''role''. To put it another way, women do not have an ''inherently'' nurturing personality; rather, a nurturing personality is acquired by whoever happens to do the housework.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deaux |first1=Kay |last2=Lewis |first2=Laurie L. |title=Structure of gender stereotypes: interrelationships among components and gender label |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=991–1004 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.46.5.991 |date=May 1984}}</ref>
A study of gender stereotypes by Jacobs (1991) found that parents' stereotypes interact with the sex of their child to directly influence the parents' beliefs about the child's abilities. In turn, parents' beliefs about their child directly influence their child's self-perceptions, and both the parents' stereotypes and the child's self-perceptions influence the child's performance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=Janis E. |title=Influence of gender stereotypes on parent and child mathematics attitudes |journal=Journal of Educational Psychology |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=518–527 |doi=10.1037/0022-0663.83.4.518 |date=December 1991}}</ref>
Stereotype threat involves the risk of confirming, as a self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group.<ref name="SteeleAronson">{{Cite journal |last1=Steele |first1=Claude M. |last2=Aronson |first2=Joshua |author1-link=Claude Steele |title=Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=797–811 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797 |pmid=7473032 |date=November 1995 |bibcode=1995JPSP...69..797S |s2cid=4665022 |url=http://users.nber.org/~sewp/events/2005.01.14/Bios+Links/Good-rec2-Steele_%26_Aronson_95.pdf |archive-date=18 September 2017 |access-date=19 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170918235737/http://users.nber.org/~sewp/events/2005.01.14/Bios+Links/Good-rec2-Steele_%26_Aronson_95.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In the case of gender it is the implicit belief in gender stereotype that women perform worse than men in mathematics, which is proposed to lead to lower performance by women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spencer |first1=Steven J. |last2=Steele |first2=Claude M. |last3=Quinn |first3=Diane M. |author2-link=Claude Steele |title=Stereotype threat and women's math performance |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=4–28 |doi=10.1006/jesp.1998.1373 |date=January 1999 |citeseerx=10.1.1.370.3979 |s2cid=12556019 |url=http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/carnegie/learning_resources/LAW_PGCHE/SteeleandQuinnStereotypeThreat.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108184501/http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/carnegie/learning_resources/LAW_PGCHE/SteeleandQuinnStereotypeThreat.pdf |archive-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>
A review article of stereotype threat research (2012) relating to the relationship between gender and mathematical abilities concluded "that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for this [as a] mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stoet |first1=Gijsbert |last2=Geary |first2=David C. |title=Can stereotype threat explain the gender gap in mathematics performance and achievement? |journal=Review of General Psychology |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=93–102 |doi=10.1037/a0026617 |date=March 2012 |s2cid=145724069}}</ref>
In 2018, Jolien A. van Breen and colleagues conducted research into subliminal gender stereotyping. Researchers took participants through a fictional "Moral Choice Dilemma Task", which presented eight scenarios "in which sacrificing one person can save several others of unspecified gender. In four scenarios, participants are asked to sacrifice a man to save several others (of unspecified gender), and in four other scenarios they are asked to sacrifice a woman." The results showed that women who identified as feminists were more willing to 'sacrifice' men than women who did not identify as feminists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jolien A. |first1=van Breen |last2=Spears |first2=Russell |last3=Kuppens |first3=Toon |last4=de Lemus |first4=Soledad |title=Subliminal gender stereotypes: who can resist? |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |volume=44 |issue=12 |pages=1648–1663 |doi=10.1177/0146167218771895 |pmid=29781373 |date=May 2018 |s2cid=29170275 |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/76613806/0146167218771895.pdf}} [Epub ahead of print]</ref> "If a person wanted to counteract that and 'level the playing field', that can be done either by boosting women or by downgrading men", said van Breen. "So I think that this effect on evaluations of men arises because our participants are trying to achieve an underlying aim: counteracting gender stereotypes."<ref>{{cite news |last=Airaksinen |first=Toni |title=STUDY: Feminists more willing to 'sacrifice' men |url=https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10984 |work=Campus Reform |publisher=Leadership Institute |date=5 June 2018 |access-date=11 June 2018 |archive-date=12 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141428/https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10984 |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to Professor Lei Chang, gender attitudes within the domains of work and domestic roles can be measured using a cross-cultural gender role attitudes test. Psychological processes in the East have historically been analysed using Western models (or ''instruments'') that have been translated, a process that may be more far-reaching than linguistic translation. Some North American instruments for assessing gender role attitudes include: * Attitudes Towards Women Scale, * Sex-Role Egalitarian Scale, and * Sex-Role Ideology Scale. Through such tests, it is known that American southerners exhibit less egalitarian gender views than their northern counterparts, demonstrating that gender views are inevitably affected by an individual's culture. This also may differ among compatriots whose 'cultures' are a few hundred miles apart.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Lei |year=1999 |title=Gender Role Egalitarian Attitudes in Beijing, Hong Kong, Florida, and Michigan |journal=Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=722–741 |doi=10.1177/0022022199030006004 |s2cid=145646892}}</ref>
A study by Richard Bagozzi, Nancy Wong, and Youjae Yi examines the interaction between culture and gender that produces distinct patterns of association between positive and negative emotions.<ref name="Bag"/> The United States was considered a more 'independence-based culture', while China was considered {{'}}'''''inter'''''dependence-based'. In the US, people tend to experience emotions in oppositional terms, whereas in China, they do so in dialectical terms (i.e., those of logical argumentation and contradictory forces). The study continued with sets of psychological tests administered to university students in Beijing and Michigan. The fundamental goals of the research were to show that "gender differences in emotions are adaptive for the differing roles that males and females play in the culture". The evidence for differences in gender role was found during the socialization in work experiment, proving that "women are socialized to be more expressive of their feelings and to show this to a greater extent in facial expressions and gestures, as well as by verbal means".<ref name="Bag">{{cite journal |last1=Bagozzi |first1=Richard P. |last2=Wong |first2=Nancy |last3=Yi |first3=Youjae |year=1999 |title=The Role of Culture and Gender in the Relationship between Positive and Negative Affect |journal=Cognition & Emotion |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=641–672 |doi=10.1080/026999399379023}}</ref> The study extended to the biological characteristics of both gender groups — for a higher association between PA and NA hormones in memory for women, the cultural patterns became more evident for women than for men.
===Implicit gender stereotypes=== {{See also|Implicit stereotype}} Gender stereotypes and roles can also be supported implicitly. Implicit stereotypes are the unconscious influence of attitudes that a person may or may not even be aware that they hold. Gender stereotypes can also be held in this manner. Research has shown that these roles are reinforced through socialization and institutional practices.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stewart |first1=Rebecca |last2=Wright |first2=Breanna |last3=Smith |first3=Liam |last4=Roberts |first4=Steven |last5=Russell |first5=Natalie |date=April 2021 |title=Gendered stereotypes and norms: A systematic review of interventions designed to shift attitudes and behaviour |journal=Heliyon |volume=7 |issue=4 |article-number=e06660 |doi=10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e06660 |doi-access=free |issn=2405-8440 |pmc=8066375 |pmid=33912699 |bibcode=2021Heliy...706660S }}</ref>
These implicit stereotypes can often be demonstrated by the Implicit-association test (IAT).
One example of an implicit gender stereotype is the belief that males are better at mathematics than females. It has been found that men have stronger positive associations with mathematics than women, while women have stronger negative associations with mathematics, and the more strongly a woman associates herself with the female gender identity, the more negative her association with mathematics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nosek |first1=Brian A. |last2=Banaji |first2=Mahzarin R. |last3=Greenwald |first3=Anthony G. |title=Math = male, me = female, therefore math ≠ me |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=44–59 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.83.1.44 |date=July 2002 |citeseerx=10.1.1.463.6120 |pmid=12088131 |s2cid=204321795}}</ref>
These associations have been disputed for their biological connection to gender and have been attributed to social forces that perpetuate stereotypes such as aforementioned stereotype that men are better at mathematics than women.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYw7ZZzCqNYC&pg=PR5|title=Myths Of Gender: Biological Theories About Women And Men, Revised Edition|first=Anne|last=Fausto-Sterling|date=4 August 2008|publisher=Basic Books|access-date=22 October 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-7867-2390-4}}</ref>
This particular stereotype has been found in American children as early as second grade.<ref name="Cvencek" />
The same test found that the strength of a Singaporean child's mathematics-gender stereotype and gender identity predicted the child's association between individuals and mathematical ability.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cvencek |first1=Dario |last2=Meltzoff |first2=Andrew N. |last3=Kapur |first3=Manu |title=Cognitive consistency and math–gender stereotypes in Singaporean children |journal=Journal of Experimental Child Psychology |volume=117 |pages=73–91 |doi=10.1016/j.jecp.2013.07.018 |pmid=24141205 |date=January 2014}}</ref>
It has been shown that this stereotype also reflects mathematical performance: a study was done on a worldwide scale, and it was found that the strength of this mathematics-gender stereotype in varying countries correlates with 8th graders' scores on the TIMSS, a standardized math and science achievement test that is given worldwide. The results were adjusted for general gender inequality and remained significant.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nosek |first1=B. A. |last2=Smyth |first2=F. L. |last3=Sriram |first3=N. |last4=Lindner |first4=N. M. |last5=Devos |first5=T. |last6=Ayala |first6=A. |last7=BarAnan |first7=Y. |last8=Bergh |first8=R. |last9=Cai |first9=H. |last10=Gonsalkorale |first10=K. |last11=Kesebir |first11=S. |last12=Maliszewski |first12=N. |last13=Neto |first13=F. |last14=Olli |first14=E. |last15=Park |first15=J. |last16=Schnabel |first16=K. |last17=Shiomura |first17=K. |last18=Tulbure |first18=B. |last19=Wiers |first19=R. W. |last20=Somogyi |first20=M. |last21=Akrami |first21=N. |last22=Ekehammar |first22=B. |last23=Vianello |first23=M. |last24=Banaji |first24=M. R. |last25=Greenwald |first25=A. G. |title=National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=106 |issue=26 |pages=10593–10597 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0809921106 |pmid=19549876 |pmc=2705538 |date=30 June 2009 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10610593N |doi-access=free}}</ref>
===Changing roles=== {{multiple image | perrow = 2 | total_width = 300 | image1 = Jordmor jim- oslo.jpeg | width1 = 2976 | height1 = 1940 | image2 = 160313-N-NL127-453 (25177838634) - Afghan policewomen.jpg | width2 = 4042 | height2 = 3234 | image3 = SOLS0013 (10721719304).jpg | width3 = 4370 | height3 = 2913 | image4 = 110627-F-MY013-033.jpg | width4 = 4288 | height4 = 2848 | footer = Men and women in non-traditional gendered occupations clockwise from top left: a male midwife in Oslo, Norway; women being sworn into the Afghan National Police; a male kindergarten teacher in Colorado Springs, U.S. playing the ukulele; a woman doing construction work in the Solomon Islands|a woman doing construction work in the Solomon Islands, a male kindergarten teacher in Colorado Springs, U.S. playing the ukulele. }} [[File:AssemblyOfQuakers.jpg|thumb|right|A woman publicly witnessing at a Quaker meeting seemed an extraordinary feature of the Religious Society of Friends, worth recording for a wider public. Engraving by Bernard Picart, ''ca'' 1723.]] Throughout history, spouses have been charged with certain societal functions.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Marriage Trends in America: Estimates, Implications, and Underlying Causes |journal=Population and Development Review |date=1 January 1985 |pages=193–245 |volume=11 |issue=2 |doi=10.2307/1973487 |first=Thomas J. |last=Espenshade |jstor=1973487}}</ref> With the rise of the New World came the expected roles that each spouse was to carry out specifically. Husbands were typically working farmers - the providers. Wives were caregivers for children and the home. However, the roles are now changing, and even reversing.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=essai |title=Gender Roles Within the American Marriage: Are They Really Changing? |last=Hawke |first=Lucy |date=2007 |journal=ESSAI |archive-date=2 February 2017 |access-date=9 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202002716/http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=essai |url-status=live }}</ref>
Societies can change in ways that rapidly alter gender roles. The 21st century has seen a shift in gender roles due to multiple factors, including new family structures, education, and media. A 2003 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that about 1/3 of wives earned more than their husbands.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27instincts.html |work=The New York Times |first=M. P. |last=Dunleavey |title=A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles |date=27 January 2007}}</ref>
With the importance of education emphasized nationwide and access to college degrees (online, for example), women have begun furthering their education. Women have also started to get more involved in recreation activities such as sports, which in the past were regarded to be for men.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=7 November 2012 |title=Women and the Wild: Gender Socialization in Wilderness Recreation Advertising |journal=Gender Issues |volume=29 |issue=1–4 |pages=39–55 |doi=10.1007/s12147-012-9111-1 |last1=McNiel |first1=Jamie N. |last2=Harris |first2=Deborah A. |last3=Fondren |first3=Kristi M. |s2cid=143305053}}</ref> Family dynamic structures are changing, and the number of single-mother or single-father households is increasing. Fathers are also becoming more involved in raising their children, rather than the responsibility resting solely with the mother.
Ralph H. Turner claims that as more women work, we expect gender roles to be more evenly distributed between husband and wife. While that is true to some extent, as men may take on more roles within the house and women contribute more financially, there are few large-scale changes. Gender roles are so ingrained in our society that it is difficult to break out of them and change our overall societal norms. As long as gender roles exist, they will continue to be enforced. Thus, changing our practices can change gender norms. As we continue to see certain gender roles as archaic, we will stop regulating gender norms and will displace gender roles.<ref name=":43">{{Cite book |last=Butler |first=Judith |title=Undoing gender |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-96922-2 |location=New York; London}}</ref>
According to the Pew Research Center, the number of stay-at-home fathers in the US nearly doubled in the period from 1989 to 2012, from 1.1 million to 2.0 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/ |title=Growing Number of Stay-at-Home Dads |publisher=Pew Research Center |date=5 June 2014 |work=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304110558/http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This trend appears to be mirrored in a number of countries including the UK, Canada and Sweden.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/9822271/Rise-in-stay-at-home-fathers-fuelled-by-growing-numbers-of-female-breadwinners.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/9822271/Rise-in-stay-at-home-fathers-fuelled-by-growing-numbers-of-female-breadwinners.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Rise in stay-at-home fathers fuelled by growing numbers of female breadwinners |first1=Louisa |last1=Peacock |first2=Sam |last2=Marsden |date=23 January 2013 |work=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=14 June 2015 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/stay-at-home-dads-on-the-rise-increasingly-because-they-want-to-be/article19014624/ |title=Stay-at-home dads on the rise – increasingly because they want to be |work=The Globe and Mail |access-date=14 June 2015 |location=Toronto |date=5 June 2014 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306043036/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/stay-at-home-dads-on-the-rise-increasingly-because-they-want-to-be/article19014624/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 October 2010 |access-date=6 June 2021 |title=Sweden: Land of the Stay-At-Home Dad |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/sweden-land-stay-home-dad/story?id=11918278 |work=ABC News |archive-date=6 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606125540/https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/sweden-land-stay-home-dad/story?id=11918278 |url-status=live }}</ref> However, Pew also found that, at least in the US, public opinion in general appears to show a substantial bias toward favoring a mother as a care-taker versus a father, regardless of any shift in actual roles each plays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ |title=Breadwinner Moms |date=29 May 2013 |work=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project |publisher=Pew Research Center |access-date=14 June 2015 |archive-date=6 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306193903/http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Gender equality allows gender roles to become less distinct, and according to Donnalyn Pompper, is the reason "men no longer own breadwinning identities and, like women, their bodies are objectified in mass media images."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pompper |first1=Donnalyn |year=2010 |title=Masculinities, The Metrosexual, And Media Images: Across Dimensions Of Age And Ethnicity |journal=Sex Roles |volume=63 |issue=9/10 |pages=682–696 |doi=10.1007/s11199-010-9870-7 |s2cid=144577635}}</ref> The LGBTQ rights movement has played a role increasing pro-gay attitudes, which according to Brian McNair, are expressed by many metrosexual men.<ref>McNair, Brian. Striptease culture: Sex, media and the democratization of desire. London: Routledge, 2002.Print.</ref>
Besides North America and Europe, other regions are also seeing changes in gender roles. In Asia, Hong Kong is very close to the USA because female surgeons in these societies are focused heavily on home life, whereas in Japan, they are focused more on work life. After a female surgeon gives birth in Hong Kong, she wants to reduce her work schedule but continues working full-time (60–80 hours per week).<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Kawase |first1=Kazumi |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=The Attitude and Perceptions of Work-Life Balance: A Comparison Among Women Surgeons in Japan, USA, and Hong Kong China |journal=World Journal of Surgery |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=2–11 |doi=10.1007/s00268-012-1784-9 |pmid=22955955 |s2cid=30292858}}</ref> Similar to Hong Kong, Japanese surgeons still work long hours, but they try to rearrange their schedules so they can be at home more (end up working less than 60 hours).<ref name=":4" /> Although all three places have women working advanced jobs, the female surgeons in the US and Hong Kong feel more gender equality at home, where they have equal, if not more control of their families, and Japanese surgeons feel the men are still in control.<ref name=":4" />
A big change was seen in Hong Kong because wives used to deal with unhappy marriages. Now, Chinese wives have been divorcing their husbands when they feel unhappy with their marriages, and are stable financially. This makes the wife seem more in control of her own life rather than letting her husband control her.<ref name=":5" /> Other places, such as Singapore and Taipei, are also seeing changes in gender roles. In many societies, but especially in Singapore and Taipei, women hold more leadership positions (e.g., doctors or managers) and fewer regular worker positions (e.g., clerks or salespeople).<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Tai |first1=Po-Fen |year=2013 |title=Gender Matters in Social Polarisation: Comparing Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei |journal=Urban Studies |volume=50 |issue=6 |pages=1148–1164 |doi=10.1177/0042098012460734 |bibcode=2013UrbSt..50.1148T}}</ref> The males in Singapore also have more leadership roles, but they have more lower level jobs too. In the past, women would get the lower-level jobs, and men would get all the leadership positions.<ref name=":5" /> There is an increase in male unemployment in Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong, so women are having to work more to support their families.<ref name=":5" /> In the past, the males were usually the ones supporting the family.
In India, women are married young and are expected to run the household, even if they did not finish school.<ref name=":6" /> It is seen as shameful if a woman has to work outside of the house to help support the family.<ref name=":6" /> Many women are starting jewelry businesses inside their houses and have their own bank accounts because of it. Middle-aged women can now work without shame because they are no longer childbearing.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Nitya |year=2012 |title=Male 'Providers' and Female 'Housewives': A Gendered Co-Performance in Rural North India |journal=Development and Change |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=1025–1048 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7660.2012.01789.x}}</ref>
==In sexual relationships== {{Further|Dating#Gendered norms and preferences|Crossamory|Hypergamy}}
===Communication of sexual desire=== Metts, et al.<ref name="metts">Metts, S., Sprecher, S., & Regan, P. C. (1998). Communication and sexual desire. In P. A. Andersen & L. K. Guerrero (Eds.) Handbook of communication and emotion. (pp. 354–377). San Diego: Academic Press.</ref> explain that sexual desire is linked to emotions and communicative expression. Communication is central in expressing sexual desire and "complicated emotional states", and is also the "mechanism for negotiating the relationship implications of sexual activity and emotional meanings". Gender differences appear to exist in communicating sexual desire; for example, masculine people are generally perceived to be more interested in sex than feminine people, and research suggests that masculine people are more likely than feminine people to express sexual interest.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baumeister |first1=R. |last2=Catanese |first2=K. |last3=Vohs |first3=K. |year=2001 |title=Is there a gender difference in strength of sex drive? Theoretical views, conceptual distinctions, and a review of relevant evidence |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Review |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=242–273 |doi=10.1207/s15327957pspr0503_5 |citeseerx=10.1.1.186.5369 |s2cid=13336463}}</ref>
This may be greatly affected by masculine people being less inhibited by social norms for expressing their desire, being more aware of their sexual desire, or succumbing to the expectations of their cultures.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seal |first1=D. |last2=Ehrhardt |first2=A. |year=2003 |title=Masculinity and urban men: Perceived scripts for courtship, romantic, and sexual interactions with women |journal=Culture, Health & Sexuality |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=295–319 |doi=10.1080/136910501171698 |s2cid=144924015}}</ref> When feminine people employ tactics to show their sexual desire, they are typically more indirect in nature. On the other hand, it is known that masculinity is associated with aggressive behavior in almost all mammals. It most likely explains at least part of the fact that masculine people are more likely to express their sexual interest. This is known as the Challenge hypothesis.
Various studies show different communication strategies with a feminine person refusing a masculine person's sexual interest. Some research, like that of Murnen,<ref name="murnen">{{cite journal |last1=Murnen |first1=S. K. |last2=Perot |first2=A. |last3=Byrne |first3=D. |year=1989 |title=Coping with unwanted sexual activity: Normative responses, situational determinants, and individual differences |doi=10.1080/00224498909551493 |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=85–106}}</ref> show that when feminine people offer refusals, the refusals are verbal and typically direct. When masculine people do not comply with this refusal, feminine people offer stronger and more direct refusals. However, research from Perper and Weis<ref name="perper">{{cite journal |last1=Perper |first1=T. |last2=Weis |first2=D. L. |year=1987 |title=Proceptive and rejective strategies of U.S. and Canadian college women |journal=Journal of Sex Research |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=455–480 |doi=10.1080/00224498709551385}}</ref> showed that rejection includes acts of avoidance, creating distractions, making excuses, departure, hinting, arguments to delay, etc. These differences in refusal communication techniques are just one example of the importance of communicative competence for both masculine and feminine gender cultures.
===In marriage=== thumb|300px|Weekly hours dedicated to home production in US, by gender thumb|300px|Hours per week spent on child care, United States The institution of marriage influences gender roles, inequality, and change.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=C. |year=2012 |title=Introduction: Marriage, gender relations and social change |journal=Journal of Development Studies |volume=48 |issue=1 |pages=1–9 |doi=10.1080/00220388.2011.629653 |s2cid=144978684}}</ref> In the United States, the media, social interaction, and language communicate gender roles. Through these platforms, society has influenced individuals to fulfill from a young age the stereotypical gender roles in a heterosexual marriage. Spouses increasingly negotiate roles traditionally assigned by biological sex on an equal footing.
In the U.S., marriage roles are generally decided based on gender. For approximately the past seven decades{{When|date=October 2024|reason=Seven decades after what time? '40s? '50s?}}, heterosexual marriage roles have been defined for men and women based on society's expectations and the influence of the media.<ref name=":1">Gauntlett, D. (2008). ''Media, gender and identity: An introduction''. Routledge.</ref> Men and women are typically associated with certain social roles, dependent upon the personality traits associated with those roles.<ref name="Gerber, G. L. 1988">{{cite journal |last1=Gerber |first1=G. L. |year=1988 |title=Leadership roles and the gender stereotype traits |doi=10.1007/BF00288051 |journal=Sex Roles |volume=18 |issue=11–12 |pages=649–668 |s2cid=143607687}}</ref> Traditionally, the role of the homemaker is associated with a woman, and the role of a breadwinner is associated with a male.<ref name="Gerber, G. L. 1988"/>
In the U.S., single men are outnumbered by single women at a ratio of 100 single women to 86 single men,<ref>{{cite news |last=Pritchard |first=Justin |title=Men hold the edge on gender gap odds |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6970963.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510202548/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-6970963.html |archive-date=10 May 2013 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=21 October 2003}}</ref> though never-married men over the age of 15 outnumber women by a 5:4 ratio (33.9% to 27.3%) according to the 2006 U.S. Census American Community Survey. The results are varied between age groups, with 118 single men per 100 single women in their 20s, versus 33 single men to 100 single women over 65.<ref>Facts for features: Valentine's Day U.S. Census Bureau Report 7 February 2006</ref>
The numbers also vary between countries. For example, China has many more young men than young women, and this disparity is expected to increase.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCurry |first1=Justin |last2=Allison |first2=Rebecca |date=8 March 2004 |title=40m bachelors and no women. the birth of a new problem for China |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/09/china.justinmccurry |url-access=registration}}</ref> In regions with recent conflict, such as Chechnya, women greatly outnumber men.<ref>{{cite news |title=Polygamy proposal for Chechen men |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610396.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=13 January 2006 |archive-date=31 October 2012 |access-date=29 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031015027/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4610396.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
In a cross-cultural study by David Buss, men and women were asked to rank the importance of certain traits in a long-term partner. Both men and women ranked "kindness" and "intelligence" as the two most important factors. Men valued beauty and youth more highly than women, while women valued financial and social status more highly than men.
Gendered roles in heterosexual marriages are learned through imitation. People learn what society views as appropriate gender behaviors from imitating the repetition of actions by one's role-model or parent of the same biological sex.<ref name=":2" /> Imitation in the physical world that impacts one's gendered roles often comes from role-modeling parents, peers, teachers, and other significant figures in one's life. In a marriage, each person's gendered roles are often determined by their parents. If the wife grew up imitating the actions of traditional parents and the husband those of non-traditional parents, their views on marital roles would differ.<ref name=":2" /> One way people can acquire these stereotypical roles is through a reward and punishment system. When a little girl imitates her mother by performing traditional domestic duties, she is often rewarded with praise for doing a good job. Nontraditionally, if a little boy were performing the same tasks, he would be more likely to be punished for acting feminine.<ref name=":2" /> Because society holds these expected roles for men and women within a marriage, it creates a mold for children to follow.<ref>Lindsey, L. L. (2015). ''Gender roles: A sociological perspective''. Routledge.</ref>
====Changing gender roles in marriage==== Over the years, gender roles have continued to change and have a significant impact on the institution of marriage.<ref name=":0"/> Traditionally, men and women had completely opposing roles; men were seen as the providers for the family, and women were seen as the caretakers of both the home and the family.<ref name=":0"/> However, in today's society, the division of roles is starting to blur. More and more individuals are adopting non-traditional gender roles in their marriages to share responsibilities. This view on gender roles seeks equality between the sexes. In today's society, it is more likely that a husband and wife are both providers for their family. More and more women are entering the workforce, while more men are contributing to household duties.<ref name=":0"/>
Around 1980, divorce rates in the United States stabilized.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Greenstein |first1=Theodore N. |year=1995 |title=Gender Ideology, Marital Disruption, and the Employment of Married Women |journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=31–42 |doi=10.2307/353814 |jstor=353814}}</ref> Scholars in the area of sociology explain that this stabilization was due to several factors including, but not limited to, the shift in gender roles. The attitude concerning the shift in gender roles can be classified into two perspectives: traditional and egalitarian. Traditional attitudes uphold designated responsibilities for the sexes – wives raise the children and keep the home nice, and husbands are the breadwinners. Egalitarian attitudes uphold the idea that responsibilities are carried out equally by both sexes – wives and husbands are both breadwinners, and they both take part in raising the children and keeping the home nice.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Lucier-Greer | first1 = M. | last2 = Adler-Baeder | first2 = F. | year = 2016 | title = Gender role attitude malleability in the context of divorce and remarriage: A longitudinal growth curve perspective | journal = Journal of Adult Development | volume = 23 | issue = 3| pages = 150–162 | doi = 10.1007/s10804-016-9231-z | s2cid = 146939829 }}</ref> Over the past 40 years, attitudes in marriages have become more egalitarian.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Davis | first1 = Shannon N | last2 = Greenstein | first2 = Theodore N | year = 2004| title = Interactive Effects of Gender Ideology and Age at First Marriage on Women's Marital Disruption | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-family-issues_2004-07_25_5/page/658 | journal = Journal of Family Issues | volume = 25 | issue = 5| pages = 658–682 | doi = 10.1177/0192513x03257795 | s2cid = 6912666 }}</ref> Two studies carried out in the early 2000s have shown strong correlation between egalitarian attitudes and happiness and satisfaction in marriage, which scholars believe lead to stabilization in divorce rates. The results of a 2006 study conducted by Gayle Kaufman, a sociology professor, indicated that those who hold egalitarian attitudes report significantly higher levels of marital happiness than those with more traditional attitudes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Kaufman | first1 = G. | last2 = Taniguchi | first2 = H. | year = 2006 | title = Gender and marital happiness in later life | journal = Journal of Family Issues | volume = 27 | issue = 6| pages = 735–757 | doi = 10.1177/0192513x05285293 | s2cid = 146362115 }}</ref> Another study executed by Will Marshall in 2008 had results showing that relationships with better quality involve people with more egalitarian beliefs.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Perry | first1 = Samuel L | last2 = Whitehead | first2 = Andrew L | year = 2016| title = For Better or for Worse? Gender Ideology, Religious Commitment, and Relationship Quality | journal = Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion | volume = 55 | issue = 4| pages = 737–755 | doi = 10.1111/jssr.12308 }}</ref> It has been assumed by Danielle J. Lindemann, a sociologist who studies gender, sexuality, the family, and culture, that the shift in gender roles and egalitarian attitudes have resulted in marriage stability due to tasks being carried out by both partners, such as working late-nights and picking up ill children from school.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindemann |first1=D. |year=2018 |title=Doing and undoing gender in commuter marriages |journal=Sex Roles |volume=79 |issue=1–2 |pages=36–49 |doi=10.1007/s11199-017-0852-x |s2cid=149096803}}</ref> Although the gap in gender roles still exists, roles have become less gendered and more equal in marriages compared to how they were traditionally.
===Sexual orientation=== {{Further|Gender roles in non-heterosexual communities|Societal attitudes towards homosexuality|Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures}} {{LGBTQ sidebar}} Sexual orientation is defined by the interplay between a person's emotional and physical attraction toward others.<ref>Issues in Society : Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. (2014). Thirroul, AU: The Spinney Press.</ref> Generally, sexual orientation is broken into three categories: heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. By basic definition, the term heterosexual is typically used in reference to someone who is attracted to people of the opposite sex, the term homosexual is used to classify people who are attracted to those of the same sex, and the term bisexual is used to identify those who are attracted to both the same and opposite sexes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lindley |first1=Lisa |last2=Walsemann |first2=Katrina |last3=Carter |first3=Jarvis |year=2012 |title=The Association of Sexual Orientation Measures With Young Adults' Health-Related Outcomes |journal=American Journal of Public Health |volume=102 |issue=6 |pages=1177–1178 |doi=10.2105/ajph.2011.300262 |pmid=22021310 |pmc=3483939}}</ref> Sexual orientation can be variously defined based on sexual identity, sexual behavior, and sexual attraction. People can fall anywhere on a spectrum from strictly heterosexual to strictly homosexual.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Epstein |first1=Robert |last2=McKinney |first2=Paul |last3=Fox |first3=Shannon |last4=Garcia |first4=Carlos |year=2013 |title=Support for a Fluid-Continuum Model or Sexual Orientation: A Large-Scale Internet Study |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |volume=59 |issue=10 |pages=1356–1358 |doi=10.1080/00918369.2012.724634 |pmid=23153024 |s2cid=37966088}}</ref>
Scientists do not know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences,<ref name="pediatrics2004"/><ref name="Lamanna">{{cite book |last1=Lamanna |first1=Mary Ann |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fofaAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA82 |title=Marriages, Families, and Relationships: Making Choices in a Diverse Society |last2=Riedmann |first2=Agnes |last3=Stewart |first3=Susan D. |publisher=Cengage Learning |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-305-17689-8 |page=82 |quote=The reason some individuals develop a gay sexual identity has not been definitively established – nor do we yet understand the development of heterosexuality. The American Psychological Association (APA) takes the position that a variety of factors impact a person's sexuality. The most recent literature from the APA says that sexual orientation is not a choice that can be changed at will, and that sexual orientation is most likely the result of a complex interaction of environmental, cognitive and biological factors. is shaped at an early age. and evidence suggests biological, including genetic or inborn hormonal factors, play a significant role in a person's sexuality (American Psychological Association 2010). |access-date=11 February 2016}}</ref><ref name="Stuart">{{cite book |first=Gail Wiscarz |last=Stuart |title=Principles and Practice of Psychiatric Nursing |publisher=Elsevier Health Sciences |isbn=978-0-323-29412-6 |year=2014 |page=502 |access-date=11 February 2016|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ivALBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA502 |quote=No conclusive evidence supports any one specific cause of homosexuality; however, most researchers agree that biological and social factors influence the development of sexual orientation.}}</ref> and do not view it as a choice.<ref name="pediatrics2004"/><ref name="Lamanna"/><ref name="Kersey-Matusiak">{{cite book |first=Gloria |last=Kersey-Matusiak |title=Delivering Culturally Competent Nursing Care |publisher=Springer Publishing Company |isbn=978-0-8261-9381-0|year=2012 |page=169 |access-date=10 February 2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X8O_wGedAYoC&pg=PA169 |quote=Most health and mental health organizations do not view sexual orientation as a 'choice.'}}</ref> Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biologically based theories.<ref name="pediatrics2004">{{cite journal |doi=10.1542/peds.113.6.1827 |last1=Frankowski |first1=B. L. |author2=American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Adolescence |title=Sexual orientation and adolescents |journal=Pediatrics |volume=113 |issue=6 |pages=1827–32 |date=June 2004 |pmid=15173519 |doi-access=free}}</ref> There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males.<ref name=Bailey16>{{cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=J. Michael |last2=Vasey |first2=Paul |last3=Diamond |first3=Lisa |author4-link=Marc Breedlove |last4=Breedlove |first4=S. Marc |last5=Vilain |first5=Eric |last6=Epprecht |first6=Marc |title=Sexual Orientation, Controversy, and Science |journal=Psychological Science in the Public Interest |date=2016 |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=45–101 |doi=10.1177/1529100616637616 |pmid=27113562 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301639075 |doi-access=free |archive-date=2 December 2019 |access-date=2 August 2019 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20191202204542/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301639075_Sexual_Orientation_Controversy_and_Science |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=LeVay>{{cite book |last=LeVay |first=Simon |date=2017 |title=Gay, Straight, and the Reason Why: The Science of Sexual Orientation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HmQFFfa03nkC |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-975296-6}}</ref><ref name=Balthazart>{{cite book |last=Balthazart |first=Jacques |date=2012 |title=The Biology of Homosexuality |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3fjGjlcVINkC |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-983882-0}}</ref> There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role with regard to sexual orientation.<ref name="rcp2007">{{cite web |title=Submission to the Church of England's Listening Exercise on Human Sexuality |url=http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/workinpsychiatry/specialinterestgroups/gaylesbian/submissiontothecofe/psychiatryandlgbpeople.aspx#history |publisher=The Royal College of Psychiatrists |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117212459/http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/workinpsychiatry/specialinterestgroups/gaylesbian/submissiontothecofe/psychiatryandlgbpeople.aspx |archive-date=17 January 2013 |access-date=13 June 2013}}</ref>
An active conflict over the cultural acceptability of non-heterosexuality rages worldwide.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Maurianne |last1=Adams |first2=Lee Anne |last2=Bell |first3=Pat |last3=Griffin |date=2007 |title=Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice |publisher=Routledge |pages=198–199 |isbn=978-1-135-92850-6 |quote=Because of the complicated interplay among gender identity, gender roles, and sexual identity, transgender people are often assumed to be lesbian or gay (See Overview: Sexism, Heterosexism, and Transgender Oppression). ... Because transgender identity challenges a binary conception of sexuality and gender, educators must clarify their own understanding of these concepts. ... Facilitators must be able to help participants understand the connections among sexism, heterosexism, and transgender oppression and the ways in which gender roles are maintained, in part, through homophobia.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Claire M. |last1=Renzetti |first2=Jeffrey L. |last2=Edleson |date=2008 |title=Encyclopedia of Interpersonal Violence |publisher=SAGE Publications |page=338 |isbn=978-1-4522-6591-9 |quote=In a culture of homophobia (an irrational fear of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender [GLBT] people), GLBT people often face a heightened risk of violence specific to their sexual identities.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_SSHR_2014_Eng.pdf |title=STATE-SPONSORED HOMOPHOBIA - A world survey of laws: Criminalisation, protection and recognition of same-sex love |publisher=International Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans and Intersex Association |date=May 2014 |access-date=12 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020202330/http://old.ilga.org/Statehomophobia/ILGA_SSHR_2014_Eng.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite report |last1=Bruce-Jones |first1=Eddie |last2=Itaborahy |first2=Lucas Paoli |date=May 2011 |title=State-sponsored Homophobia |url=https://ilga.org/resources/state-sponsored-homophobia-report-2011-ilga/ |publisher=ILGA |access-date=15 October 2011 |archive-date=5 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240405171007/https://ilga.org/resources/state-sponsored-homophobia-report-2011-ilga/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=West |first=D. J. |title=Homosexuality re-examined |location=Minneapolis |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |date=1977 |isbn=0-8166-0812-1}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}} The belief or assumption that heterosexual relationships and acts are "normal" is described as heterosexism or in queer theory, heteronormativity. Gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate aspects of individual identity, although they are often mistaken in the media.<ref name="GLAAD">Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. [http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender "GLAAD Media Reference Guide, 8th Edition. Transgender Glossary of Terms"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530061657/http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender |date=30 May 2012 }}, ''GLAAD'', USA, May 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2011.</ref>
Perhaps it is an attempt to reconcile this conflict that leads to a common assumption that one same-sex partner assumes a pseudo-male gender role and the other assumes a pseudo-female role. For a gay male relationship, this might lead to the assumption that the "wife" handled domestic chores, was the receptive sexual partner, adopted effeminate mannerisms, and perhaps even dressed in women's clothing.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mager |first1=Don |title=Gay Theories of Gender Role Deviance |journal=SubStance |date=1985 |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=32–48 |doi=10.2307/3684953 |jstor=3684953}}</ref> This assumption is flawed because homosexual couples tend to have more equal roles; the effeminate behavior of some gay men is usually not adopted consciously, but is often more subtle.<ref name=Dwyer>{{cite book |last=Dwyer |first=D. |title=Interpersonal Relationships |year=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-203-01971-9 |page=104 |edition=2nd}}</ref>
Cohabitating same-sex partners are typically egalitarian when they assign domestic chores.<ref name=":7">{{cite book|last=Cherlin|first=Andrew|title=Public and Private Families, an introduction|year=2010|publisher=McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.|page=234}}</ref> Sometimes these couples assign traditional female responsibilities to one partner and traditional male responsibilities to the other. Same-sex domestic partners challenge traditional gender roles in their division of household responsibilities, and gender roles within homosexual relationships are flexible.<ref>{{cite book|last=Crook|first=Robert|title=Our Sexuality|year=2011|publisher=Wadsworth Cengage Learning|page=271}}</ref> For instance, cleaning and cooking, traditionally regarded by many as female responsibilities, might be assigned to different people. Masculine women may take on traditionally male and female roles within the house, depending on their family's needs.<ref name=":9" /> Carrington observed the daily home lives of 52 gay and lesbian couples and found that the length of the work week and level of earning power substantially affected the assignment of housework, regardless of gender or sexuality.<ref>Carrington, C. (1999) No place like home: Relationships and family life among lesbians and gay men. The University of Chicago Press.</ref><ref name=":7"/>
In many cultures, gender roles, especially for men, simultaneously act as an indicator of heterosexuality and as a boundary of acceptable behavior for straight people. Therefore, lesbians, gay men, and bisexual people may be viewed as exempt from some or all components of gender roles or as having different "rules" they are expected to follow by society.
These modified "rules" for lesbian, gay, and bisexual people may also be oppressive. Morgan examines the plight of homosexuals seeking asylum from homophobic persecution who US customs have turned away for "not being gay enough:" not conforming sufficiently to standard (Western) conceptions of the gender roles occupied by gays and lesbians.<ref>Morgan, D. (2006) Not gay enough for the government: Racial and sexual stereotypes in sexual orientation asylum cases. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Legal Issues http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/lsex15&div=9&g_sent=1&collection=journals#141 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412000915/http://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/lsex15&div=9&g_sent=1&collection=journals#141 |date=12 April 2015 }}</ref>
Liberation from gender roles and norms also works to enforce them.<ref name=":43"/> To be consciously existing outside of a gender role means to acknowledge its existence constantly. Therefore, although gay couples do not exhibit gender roles in the same way as a heterosexual couple would, they are not free from gender roles. They still exist in a society that upholds those roles, making their diversion notable.<ref name=":43" /> Because gender roles and sexuality are closely related, where sexuality is seen as diverse or fluid, gender roles could also be seen as such. However, true fluidity would require reframing gender within society.
Conversely, heterosexual men and women who are not perceived as being sufficiently masculine or feminine, respectively, may be assumed to be homosexual and persecuted for their perceived homosexuality. In his book ''Female Masculinity'', Jack Halberstam attributes this to the multiple possible masculinities embodied by women and men. Almost no one rigidly follows gender roles and gender norms, but we still consider there to be only two genders.<ref name=":9">{{Cite book |last=Halberstam |first=Jack |title=Female Masculinity |date=2019-01-05 |publisher=Duke University Press |isbn=978-1-4780-0270-3 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv11cwb00.6 |jstor=j.ctv11cwb00 }}</ref> That leads to the punishment of those who do not fit into our typical ideas of masculine and feminine.
==Communication== {{See also|Gender role in language|Grammatical gender|Language and gender|Gender differences in social network service use}} Gender communication is viewed as a form of intercultural communication, and gender is both an influence on and a product of communication.
Communication plays a large role in the process of people becoming male or female because each gender is taught different linguistic practices. Gender is dictated by society through expectations of behavior and appearance, and is then shared from one person to another through communication.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Gender in Communication: A Critical Introduction |publisher=SAGE Publications |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-4522-2009-3 |page=3}}</ref> Gender does not create communication, communication creates gender.<ref>{{cite book |last1=DeFrancisco |first1=Victoria L. |last2=Palczewski |first2=Catherine Helen |last3=McGeough |first3=Danielle Dick |title=Gender in Communication: A Critical Introduction |location=Los Angeles |publisher=SAGE Publications |date=2014}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}}
For example, females are often more expressive and intuitive in their communication, but males tend to be instrumental and competitive. In addition, there are differences in accepted communication behaviors for males and females. To improve communication between genders, people who identify as male or female must understand the differences between them.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Gender Differences in Communication |title=Intercultural Communication: A Global Reader |editor-first=Fred E. |editor-last=Jandt |location=Thousand Oaks, CA |publisher=SAGE Publications |date=2004 |pages=221–229}}</ref>
As found by Cara Tigue (McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada), the importance of powerful vocal delivery for women in leadership<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 May 2012 |title=Voice pitch influences voting behavior |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513811001024 |journal=Evolution and Human Behavior |language=en |volume=33 |issue=3 |pages=210–216 |doi=10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2011.09.004 |issn=1090-5138 |last1=Tigue |first1=Cara C. |last2=Borak |first2=Diana J. |last3=O'Connor |first3=Jillian J. M. |last4=Schandl |first4=Charles |last5=Feinberg |first5=David R. |bibcode=2012EHumB..33..210T |s2cid=146720126 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=3 March 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303143648/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090513811001024 |url-status=live }}</ref> could not be underestimated, as famously described in accounts of Margaret Thatcher's years in power.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Martinson |first=Jane |date=15 November 2011 |title=Must a woman lower the tone of her voice to be successful? |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/the-womens-blog-with-jane-martinson/2011/nov/15/woman-lower-tone-voice-successful |access-date=8 June 2021 |work=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref>
===Nonverbal communication=== Hall published an observational study on nonverbal gender differences and discussed the cultural reasons behind them.<ref>Hall, J. A. (1990). Nonverbal sex differences: Accuracy of communication and expressive style. Baltimore, MD, US: Johns Hopkins University Press.</ref> In her study, she noted women smile and laugh more and have a better understanding of nonverbal cues. She believed women were encouraged to be more emotionally expressive in their language, leading them to develop more in nonverbal communication.
Men, on the other hand, were taught to be less expressive, to suppress their emotions, and to be less nonverbally active in communication, using nonverbal cues more sporadically. Most studies on nonverbal communication described women as more expressive and more judgmentally accurate in nonverbal communication when it was linked to emotional expression; other nonverbal expressions were similar or the same for both genders.<ref>Fischer, A. H. (2000). Gender and emotion: Social psychological perspectives. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.</ref>
McQuiston and Morris also noted a major difference in men's and women's nonverbal communication. They found that men tend to show body language linked to dominance, like eye contact and interpersonal distance, more than women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=McQuiston |first1=D. |last2=Morris |first2=K. A. |year=2009 |title=Gender differences in communication: Implications for salespeople |journal=Journal of Selling & Major Account Management |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=54–64}}</ref>
===Communication and gender cultures=== thumb|upright|Words, phrases, and topics most highly distinguishing English-speaking females and males in social media in 2013 According to author Julia Wood, there are distinct communication 'cultures' for women and men in the US.<ref>Wood, J (2010). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Cengage Learning.</ref> She believes that in addition to female and male communication cultures, there are also specific communication cultures for African Americans, older people, Native Americans, gay men, lesbians, and people with disabilities. According to Wood, it is generally thought that biological sex is behind the distinct ways of communicating, but in her opinion, the root of these differences is gender.<ref>Wood, J (2010). Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender, and Culture. Cengage Learning. p. 37</ref>
Maltz and Borker's research suggested that the games children play may contribute to socializing children into masculine and feminine gender roles:<ref name="maltz">Maltz, D., & Borker, R. (1982). A cultural approach to male-female miscommunication. In J. Gumperz (Ed.), Language and social identity (pp. 196–216). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.</ref> for example, girls being encouraged to play "house" may promote stereotypically feminine traits, and may promote interpersonal relationships, as playing house does not necessarily have fixed rules or objectives; boys tend to play more competitive and adversarial team sports with structured, predetermined goals and a range of confined strategies.
==In religion== {{main|Gender and religion}}
Different religious and cultural groups within one country may have different norms that they attempt to "police" within their own groups, including gender norms.
===Christianity=== {{Further|Gender roles in Christianity|Christian views on marriage|Sex and gender roles in the Catholic Church}} [[File:Cranach the Younger, Lucas - Christ and the adulteress.jpg|thumb|''Christ and the Woman Taken in Adultery'' Hermitage Museum, Russia]] The roles of women in Christianity can vary considerably today (as they have historically since the first-century church). This is especially true in marriage and in formal ministry positions within certain Christian denominations, churches, and parachurch organizations.
Many leadership roles in the organized church have been restricted to males. In the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, only men may serve as priests or deacons, and in senior leadership positions such as pope, patriarch, and bishop. Women may serve as abbesses. Some mainstream Protestant denominations are beginning to relax their longstanding constraints on ordaining women as ministers, though some large groups are tightening their constraints in response.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Masci |first=David |title=The divide over ordaining women |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/09/09/the-divide-over-ordaining-women/ |access-date=2024-03-30 |website=Pew Research Center |date=9 September 2014 |language=en-US |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330020713/https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/09/09/the-divide-over-ordaining-women/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Many subsets of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements have embraced the ordination of women since their founding.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Langford |first=Joy |date=2017 |title=Feminism and Leadership in the Pentecostal Movement |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0966735017714402 |journal=Feminist Theology |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=69–79 |doi=10.1177/0966735017714402 |issn=0966-7350|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Christian "saints", persons of exceptional holiness of life having attained the beatific vision (heaven), can include female saints.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Yarrow |first=Simon |title=Saints: A Very Short Introduction |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |isbn=978-0-19-178130-8 |language=en |chapter=Gendering the saints |doi=10.1093/actrade/9780199676514.003.0005 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780199676514.003.0005}}</ref> Most prominent is Mary, mother of Jesus who is highly revered throughout Christianity, particularly in the Catholic and Orthodox churches where she is considered the "Theotokos", i.e., "Mother of God". Women prominent in Christianity have included contemporaries of Jesus, subsequent theologians, abbesses, mystics, doctors of the church, founders of religious orders, military leaders, monarchs, and martyrs, evidencing the variety of roles women have played within the life of Christianity. Paul the Apostle held women in high regard and worthy of prominent positions in the church. However, he was careful not to encourage disregard for the New Testament household codes, also known as New Testament Domestic Codes or ''Haustafelen'', of Greco-Roman law in the first century.
A 2024 study used critical collaborative autoethnography to determine that people's experiences with their sexuality and gender were consistent with their religious upbringing. This confirmed the authors' hypothesis that queer, gender, and religious socialization impacted identity development.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Killian |first1=Thomas |last2=Peters |first2=Harvey Charles |last3=Chan |first3=Christian D. |last4=Attia |first4=Mina |date=2025-01-02 |title=Intersections of queer, gender, and religious socialization: a critical collaborative autoethnography |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09518398.2024.2348797 |journal=International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=31–57 |doi=10.1080/09518398.2024.2348797 |issn=0951-8398|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
===Islam=== {{Further|Gender roles in Islam|Islam and gender segregation|Marriage in Islam}} According to Dhami and Sheikh, gender roles in Muslim countries are centered on the importance of the family unit, which is viewed as the basis of a balanced and healthy society.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dhami |first1=Sangeeta |title=The Muslim family |journal=West J Med |date=Nov 2000 |volume=173 |issue=5 |pages=352–356 |pmid=11069879 |pmc=1071164 |doi=10.1136/ewjm.173.5.352 }}</ref> Islamic views on gender roles and family are traditionally conservative.
Many Muslim-majority countries, most prominently Saudi Arabia, have interpretations of religious doctrine regarding gender roles embedded in their laws.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Offenhauer |first1=P. |title=Women in Islamic Societies: A selected review of social scientific literature |website=Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Women_Islamic_Societies.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/pdf-files/Women_Islamic_Societies.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref> In the United Arab Emirates, non-Muslim Western women can wear crop tops, whereas Muslim women are expected to dress much more modestly when in public. In some Muslim countries, these differences are sometimes even codified in law.
In some Muslim-majority countries, even non-Muslim women are expected to follow Muslim female gender norms and Islamic law to a certain extent, such as by covering their hair. (Women visiting from other countries sometimes object to this norm and sometimes decide to comply on pragmatic grounds, in the interest of their own safety, such as "modest" dress codes, which failing to abide by risk being perceived as a prostitute.)
Islamic prophet Muhammad described the high status of mothers in both of the major hadith collections (Bukhari and Muslim). One famous account is: <blockquote>"A man asked the Prophet: 'Whom should I honor most?' The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother!'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your father!'"</blockquote>The Qur'an prescribes that the status of a woman should be nearly as high as that of a man.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://quran.com/2/228?translations=22,101,18,17,84,19,21,85,95,20|title=Surah Al-Baqarah [2:228]|website=Surah Al-Baqarah [2:228]|language=en-US|access-date=15 November 2018|archive-date=15 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115113455/https://quran.com/2/228?translations=22,101,18,17,84,19,21,85,95,20|url-status=live}}</ref>
How gender roles are honored is largely a matter of culture. While some cultures encourage men and women to take on the same roles, others promote a more traditional, less dominant role for women.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Global Connections. Roles of Women|url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/women/|website = www.pbs.org|access-date = 5 February 2016|archive-date = 28 July 2017|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170728002040/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/globalconnections/mideast/questions/women/|url-status = live}}</ref>
===Hinduism=== {{main|God and gender in Hinduism}}
Hindu deities are more ambiguously gendered than the deities of other world religions. This informs relations between females and males and how the differences between males and females are understood.<ref>Gopal, Madan (1990). K.S. Gautam, ed. India through the ages. Publication Division, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India. p. 69.</ref> [[File:God marriage AS.jpg|thumb|upright|Image of Ardhanarishvara]] However, in a religious cosmology like Hinduism, which prominently features female and androgynous deities, some gender transgression is allowed. This group is known as the hijras and has a long tradition of performing at important rituals, such as the births of sons and weddings. Despite this allowance for transgression, Hindu cultural traditions portray women in contradictory ways. Women's fertility is given great value, but female sexuality is depicted as potentially dangerous and destructive.<ref name="Peletz">Peletz, Michael Gates. Gender, Sexuality, and Body Politics in Modern Asia. Ann Arbor, MI: Association for Asian Studies, 2011. Print.</ref>
==In the military== {{See also|Women in the military|Women in combat|Conscription and sexism|Male expendability}} [[File:WASPS-Women-Airforce-Service-Pilots-Training-1943-Army-Navy-Screen-Magazine-No.-16.ogv|thumb|Short film about the Women Airforce Service Pilots in the United States, produced in 1943 as part of the series ''Army–Navy Screen Magazine''|thumbtime=1:01]] [[File:Dahomey-amazoner.jpg|thumb|upright|From approximately 1700 through 1900, women served as soldiers for the kingdom of Dahomey.]] {{Excerpt|Women in the military|paragraphs=1-3|files=1|only=paragraphs|hat=no}}
== In the workplace == {{Further|Occupational segregation}} [[File:Land Army girl Vera Howson at the Women's Timber Corps training camp at Culford in Suffolk. TR913.jpg|thumb|A female lumberjack on the home front during World War II. The gendered mass-mobilization for military service created many opportunities for women to work in traditionally male jobs.]]
Gender stereotypes can disadvantage women during the hiring process.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gorman |first1=Elizabeth H. |title=Gender Stereotypes, Same-Gender Preferences, and Organizational Variation in the Hiring of Women: Evidence from Law Firms |journal=American Sociological Review |date=August 2005 |volume=70 |issue=4 |doi=10.1177/000312240507000408 |pages=702–728 |s2cid=143766494}}</ref> It is one explanation for the lack of women in key organizational positions.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heilman |first1=Madeline E. |title=Description and Prescription: How Gender Stereotypes Prevent Women's Ascent Up the Organizational Ladder |journal=Journal of Social Issues |date=2001 |volume=57 |issue=4 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00234 |pages=657–674 |s2cid=144504496}}</ref> Gender stereotypes have been linked to bias and discrimination in the workplace, which affect hiring, performance, and promotion, often to the detriment of women in male-dominated work environments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Heilman |first1=Madeline E. |last2=Caleo |first2=Suzette |last3=Manzi |first3=Francesca |date=2024-01-22 |title=Women at Work: Pathways from Gender Stereotypes to Gender Bias and Discrimination |url=https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-110721-034105 |journal=Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior |language=en |volume=11 |pages=165–192 |doi=10.1146/annurev-orgpsych-110721-034105 |issn=2327-0608}}</ref> The impact of gender stereotypes also extends to how people view women in leadership positions. In studies carried out among military personnel, contact with female leaders was found to generate favorable opinions about women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nicol |first1=Adelheid A. M. |last2=Mayrand Nicol |first2=Amélie |date=2024 |title=Attitudes towards women in the military and their relation to both quantity and quality contact with female leaders |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=15 |article-number=1282835 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1282835 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=10965798 |pmid=38544517}}</ref> Management and similar leader positions are often perceived to be "masculine" in type, meaning they are assumed to require aggressiveness, competitiveness, strength and independence. These traits do not line up with the perceived traditional female gender role stereotype.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Heilman |first1=Madeline E.|last2=Eagly|first2=Alice H. |title=Gender Stereotypes Are Alive, Well, and Busy Producing Workplace Discrimination |journal=Industrial and Organizational Psychology |date=2008 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=393–398 |doi=10.1111/j.1754-9434.2008.00072.x |s2cid=143990135}}</ref> (This is often referred to as the "lack of fit" model which describes the dynamics of the gender bias.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Heilman |first=Madeline E. |year=1983 |title=Sex Bias in Work Settings: The Lack of Fit Model |journal=Research in Organizational Behavior}}</ref>) Therefore, the perception that women do not possess these "masculine" qualities limits their ability to be hired or promoted into managerial positions.
One's performance at work is also evaluated based on one's gender. If a female and a male worker show the same performance, the implications of that performance vary depending on the person's gender and on who observes the performance; if a man performs exceedingly well, he is perceived as driven or goal-oriented and generally seen in a positive light, while a woman showing a similar performance is often described using adjectives with negative connotations.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Taylor|first1=Shelley E.|last2=Fiske|first2=Susan T.|last3=Etcoff|first3=Nancy L.|last4=Ruderman|first4=Audrey J.|title=Categorical and Contextual Bases of Person Memory and Stereotyping|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_1978-07_36_7/page/778|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|date=1978|volume=36|issue=7|page=778|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.36.7.778 }}</ref> Female performance is therefore not evaluated neutrally or unbiased and stereotyped in ways to deem their equivalent levels and quality of work as instead of lesser value.
A study in 2001 found that if a woman does act according to female stereotypes, she is likely to receive backlash for not being competent enough; if she does not act according to the stereotypes connected to her gender and behaves more masculine, it is likely to cause backlash through third-party punishment or further job discrimination.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rudman |first1=Laurie A. |last2=Glick |first2=Peter |date=2001 |title=Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes and Backlash Toward Agentic Women |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=743–762 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00239 |hdl-access=free |hdl=2027.42/146421|s2cid=54219902 }}</ref> This puts women in the workforce in a precarious, "double bind" situation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Joan C. |date=2009 |title=Reconstructive Feminism: Changing the Way We Talk About Gender and Work Thirty Years After the PDA |journal=21 Yale J.L. & Feminism |volume=79 |page=104}}</ref> A proposed step to protect women is the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, as it would prohibit gender-based discrimination<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kilgarlin |first1=William Wayne |last2=Tarver |first2=Banks |date=1989 |title=Equal Rights Amendment: Governmental Action and Individual Liberty |journal=Tex. L. Rev. |volume=68}}</ref> regardless of whether a woman is acting according to female gender stereotypes, or in defiance of them.
Consequently, that gender stereotype filter leads to a lack of fair evaluation and, in turn, to fewer women occupying higher-paying positions. Gender stereotypes contain women at certain, lower levels, getting trapped within the glass ceiling. While the number of women in the workforce occupying management positions is slowly increasing,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kalysh|first1=Kateryina|author-link2=Carol Kulik|last2=Kulik|first2=Carol T.|last3=Perera|first3=Sanjeewa|title=Help or hindrance? Work-life practices and women in management|journal=The Leadership Quarterly|date=2016|volume=27|issue=3|page=504|doi=10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.12.009}}</ref> women currently fill only 2.5% of the higher managerial positions in the United States.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite journal|last1=Sanchez-Huckles|first1=Janis V.|last2=Davis|first2=Donald D.|title=Women and Women of Color in Leadership: Complexity, Identity, and Intersectionality|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-psychologist_2010-04_65_3/page/171|journal=American Psychologist|date=2010|volume=65|issue=3|pages=171–181|doi=10.1037/a0017459|pmid=20350016}}</ref> The fact that most women are being allocated to occupations that pay less, is often cited as a contributor to the existing gender pay gap.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Blau|first1=Francine D.|last2=Kahn|first2=Lawrence M.|title=Differences in Pay|journal=The Journal of Economic Perspectives|date=2000|volume=14|issue=4|pages=75–99|doi=10.1257/jep.14.4.75|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Petersen|first1=Trond|last2=Morgan|first2=Laurie A.|title=Separate and Unequal: Occupation-Establishment Sex Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-sociology_1995-09_101_2/page/329|journal=The American Journal of Sociology|date=1995|volume=101|issue=2|pages=329–365|doi=10.1086/230727|s2cid=145707764}}</ref> In the United States gender pay gap has decreased throughout the years, but it continues to exists, with women earning less than men on average in many jobs. <ref>{{Cite web |last1=Fry |first1=Richard |last2=Aragão |first2=Carolina |date=2025-03-04 |title=Gender pay gap remained stable over past 20 years in US |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/gender-pay-gap-in-us-has-narrowed-slightly-over-2-decades/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref>
In relation to white women, women of color are disproportionally affected by the negative influence their gender has on their chances in the labor market.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Browne|first1=Irene|last2=Misra|first2=Joya|title=The Intersection of Gender and Race in the Labor Market|journal=Annual Review of Sociology|date=2003|volume=29|issue=1|doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100016|pages=487–513 |bibcode=2003ARSoc..29..487B }}</ref> In 2005, women held only 14.7% of Fortune 500 board seats, with 79% of them being white and 21% being women of color.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> This difference is understood through intersectionality, a term describing the multiple and intersecting oppressions an individual might experience. Activists during second-wave feminism have also used the term "horizontal oppressions" to describe this phenomenon.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Doing Feminist Theory: From Modernity to Postmodernity |last=Mann |first=Susan Archer |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2012 |page=172}}</ref> It has also been suggested that women of color, in addition to the glass ceiling, face a "concrete wall" or a "sticky floor" to visualize the barriers better.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
A 2025 study found that women were subjected to gender stereotype threat in the workplace when the leaders were people who identified as men. The authors conducted a three-part study to prove this. The results collectively showed that leaders' behaviors were positively correlated with gender stereotype threat in the workplace.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lin |first1=Szu-Han (Joanna) |last2=Woodall |first2=Justin P. |last3=Mitchell |first3=Marie S. |last4=Chi |first4=Nai-Wen |last5=Johnson |first5=Russell E. |date=August 2025 |title="The gendered nature of leader behaviors: Navigating stereotype threat from conservation of resources and gender role perspectives." |url=https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/apl0001263 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |language=en |volume=110 |issue=8 |pages=1083–1104 |doi=10.1037/apl0001263 |pmid=39836133 |issn=1939-1854 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250827192702/https://psycnet.apa.org/doi/10.1037/apl0001263 |archive-date=27 August 2025 |access-date=8 December 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Liberal feminist theory states that due to these systemic factors of oppression and discrimination, women are often deprived of equal work experiences because they are not provided equal opportunities based on legal rights. Liberal feminists further propose that an end needs to be put to discrimination based on gender through legal means, leading to equality and major economic redistributions.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Scientific Reproduction of Gender Inequality: A Discourse Analysis of Research Texts on Women's Entrepreneurship |last=Ahl |first=Helene |publisher=Copenhagen Business School Press |year=2004 |page=14}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wendell |first=Susan |year=1987 |title=A (Qualified) Defense of Liberal Feminism |doi=10.1111/j.1527-2001.1987.tb01066.x |journal=Hypatia |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=65–93 |s2cid=143213609}}</ref>
While activists have tried to invoke Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to ensure an equal hiring and promotion process, that practice has had limited success.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Abrams |first1=Kathryn |title=Gender Discrimination and the Transformation of Workplace Norms |journal=Vanderbilt Law Review |date=1989 |volume=42}}</ref> The pay gap between men and women is slowly closing. Women make approximately 21% less than their male counterparts, according to the Department of Labor.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.dol.gov/wb/media/gender_wage_gap.pdf |title=Breaking down the gender wage gap |publisher=United States Department of Labor Women's Bureau |access-date=3 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035654/https://www.dol.gov/wb/media/gender_wage_gap.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2018 }}</ref> This number varies by age, race, and other perceived attributes of hiring agents. A proposed step towards addressing the gender pay gap and unequal work opportunities is the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment, which would constitutionally guarantee equal rights for women.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soule |first1=Sarah A. |last2=Olzak |first2=Susan |title=When do Movements Matter? The Politics of Contingency and the Equal Rights Amendment |journal=American Sociological Review |date=2004 |volume=69 |issue=4 |pages=473–497 |doi=10.1177/000312240406900401 |s2cid=143583752}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brown |first1=Barbara A. |last2=Emerson |first2=Thomas I. |last3=Falk |first3=Gail |last4=Freedman |first4=Ann E. |title=The Equal Rights Amendment: A Constitutional Basis for Equal Rights for Women |journal=The Yale Law Journal |date=1971 |volume=89 |issue=5 |pages=871–985 |doi=10.2307/795228 |jstor=795228 |url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/2799}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ginsburg |first1=Ruth Bader |title=The Need for the Equal Rights Amendment |journal=American Bar Association Journal |date=1973 |volume=59 |issue=9}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Emerson |first1=Thomas I. |title=In Support of the Equal Rights Amendment |journal=Harv. CR-CLL Rev. |date=1970 |volume=6}}</ref> Recent statistics show that despite the progress made in the educational and labor arenas, women still face many challenges in areas such as earnings, leadership positions, and caregiving. <ref>{{Cite web |last=Schaeffer |first=Katherine |date=2024-02-27 |title=Gender gains and gaps in the US, ahead of Women's History Month |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/02/27/for-womens-history-month-a-look-at-gender-gains-and-gaps-in-the-us/ |access-date=2026-04-17 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}</ref> This is hoped to end gender-based discrimination and provide equal opportunities for women.
==In sports== As strength has been strongly associated with masculinity for many years,<ref name="Klomsten">{{cite journal |last1=Klomsten |first1=Anne T. |last2=Marsh |first2=Herb W. |last3=Skaalvik |first3=Einar M. |title=Adolescents' Perceptions of Masculine and Feminine Values in Sport and Physical Education: A Study of Gender Differences. |journal=Sex Roles |date=2005 |volume=52 |issue=5 |pages=625–636 |doi=10.1007/s11199-005-3730-x |s2cid=144198198 }}</ref> sports have evolved into a significant representation of expressions of masculinity<ref>{{cite book |last1=Connell |first1= Raewyn W. |title=Masculinities |date=2005}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2025}} and hence, are commonly perceived as a predominantly male domain.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Messner |first1=Michael |title=Gender ideologies, youth sports, and the production of soft essentialism. |journal=Sociology of Sport Journal |date=2011 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=151–170 |doi=10.1123/ssj.28.2.151 }}</ref> However, this does not completely neglect the position and role of women in sports. This is evident from the increase in the number of females participating in sports in recent years.
As the belief in gender stereotypes is continuously upheld in society,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Koivula |first1=Nathalie |title=Perceived characteristics of sports categorized as gender-neutral, feminine and masculine. |journal=Journal of Sport Behavior |date=2001 |volume=24 |issue=4 |pages=377–393}}</ref> sporting events have been divided according to how the sport is characterised, which leads to the conceptualisation of male and female sports.<ref name="Mateo-Orcajada">{{cite journal |last1=Mateo-Orcajada |first1=Adrián |last2=Abenza-Cano |first2=Lucía |last3=Vaquero-Cristóbal |first3=Raquel |last4=Martínez-Castro |first4=Sonia M. |last5=Leiva-Arcas |first5=Alejandro |last6=Gallardo-Guerrero |first6=Ana M. |last7=Sánchez-Pato |first7=Antonio |title=Influence of Gender Stereotypes, Type of Sport Watched and Close Environment on Adolescent Sport Practice According to Gender. |journal=Sustainability |date=2021 |volume=13 |issue=21 |article-number=11863 |doi=10.3390/su132111863 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021Sust...1311863M |hdl=10952/7917 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Certain traits and sporting events in the sport domain have conventionally been attributed to males and the rest to females. Female sports that express concepts of femininity are often characterised by flexibility and balance, such as gymnastics and aesthetic sports like dance. Conversely, male sports embody the idea of masculinity, portrayed through strength, speed, aggression, and power, as in football and basketball.<ref name="Mateo-Orcajada"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chalabaev |first1=Aïna |last2=Sarrazin |first2=Philippe |last3=Fontayne |first3=Paul |last4=Boiché |first4=Julie |last5=Clément-Guillotin |first5=Corentin |title=The influence of sex stereotypes and gender roles on participation and performance in sport and exercise: review and future directions. |journal=Psychology of Sport and Exercise |date=2013 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=136–144 |doi=10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.10.005 |url=https://hal.science/hal-00947437 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Colley |first1=Ann |last2=Berman |first2=Eryn |last3=Millingen |first3=Liz V. |title=Age and gender differences in young people's perceptions of sport participants. |journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |date=2005 |volume=35 |issue=7 |pages=1440–1454 |doi=10.1111/j.1559-1816.2005.tb02178.x }}</ref>
The element of beauty in women's sport seems to play a crucial role in its perceived femininity. This could be due to it being a vital facet in the general concept of femininity itself.<ref name="Klomsten"/> The objectification of the female form persists, with women being conditioned to utilize their bodies for the satisfaction of others and to measure their looks against the prevailing feminine standard.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Duncan |first1=Margaret C. |title=The politics of women's body images and practices: Foucault, the panopticon, and Shape magazine. |journal=Journal of Sports and Social Issues |date=1994 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=48–65 |doi=10.1177/019372394018001004 |s2cid=145378359 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Metheny |first1=Eleanor |title=Symbolic forms of movement: The feminine image in sports. |journal=Connotations of Movement in Sport and Dance |date=1965 |pages=43–56}}</ref><ref name="Lippe">{{cite journal |last1=von der Lippe |first1=Gerd |title=Media image: Sport, gender, and national identities in five European countries. |journal=International Review for the Sociology of Sport |date=2002a |volume=37 |issue=3–4 |pages=371–395 |doi=10.1177/101269020203700306 |s2cid=220416715 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Young |first1=Iris M. |title=The exclusion of women from sport: Conceptual and existential dimensions. |journal=Philosophic Inquiry in Sport |date=1995 |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=262–266}}</ref> The devaluation of female athleticism due their bodies can be seen in the sport uniforms, where in some sports, such as beach volleyball, gymnastics and figure skating, males and females don different uniforms in competitions. In the aforementioned sports, female uniforms expose more of the body than male uniforms do, despite a lack of evidence that such uniforms would significantly improve their skills.<ref name="Klomsten"/>
While the distinction between male and female sports exists, female participation in male sports is more socially acceptable than the reverse, as questions would arise about the masculinity of males competing in female sports.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Schmalz |first1=Dorothy L. |last2=Kerstetter |first2=Deborah L. |title=Girlie girls and manly men: Children's stigma consciousness of gender in sports and physical activities. |journal=Journal of Leisure Research |date=2006 |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=536–557 |doi=10.1080/00222216.2006.11950091 |bibcode=2006JLeiR..38..536S |s2cid=142736031 }}</ref> In a study conducted by Klomsten et al. (2005), they discovered that a majority of the females believed that certain sports are better suited for girls than for boys. Hence, they inferred that females do not prefer the idea of males, known to be strong and masculine, participating in feminine sports.<ref name="Klomsten"/>
Sport media coverage of males and females differs significantly, and this could be attributed to the perpetuation of stereotypical gender roles as well as adversely influencing perceptions of women's abilities.<ref name="Fink">{{cite journal |last1=Fink |first1=Janet S. |title=Female athletes, women's sport, and the sport media commercial complex: have we really "come a long way, baby"? |journal=Sport Management Review |date=2013 |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=331–342 |doi=10.1016/j.smr.2014.05.001 }}</ref> Male athletes are often portrayed based on their strength and physical prowess, while female athletes are more frequently depicted in relation to their physical attractiveness and, at times, their sexualized attributes.<ref name="Messner">{{cite journal |last1=Messner |first1=Michael A. |last2=Duncan |first2=Margaret C. |last3=Jensen |first3=Kerry |title=Separating the men from the girls: The gendered language of televised sports. |journal=Gender & Society |date=1993 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=121–137 |doi=10.1177/089124393007001007 |s2cid=144825977 }}</ref>
Despite the increasing participation and remarkable achievements of female athletes, media coverage of women's sport has yet to catch up with this significant advancement.<ref name="Cooky">{{cite journal |last1=Cooky |first1=Cheryl |last2=Messner |first2=Michael A. |last3=Hextrum |first3=Robin H. |title=Women play sport, but not on TV: A longitudinal study of televised news media. |journal=Communication & Sport |date=2013 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=1–28 |doi=10.1177/2167479513476947 |s2cid=53321725 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lumpkin |first1=Angela |title=Female representation in feature articles published by Sports Illustrated in the 1990s. |journal=Women in Sport and Physical Activity Journal |date=2009 |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=38–51 |doi=10.1123/wspaj.18.2.38 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kian |first1=Edward M. |last2=Vincent |first2=John |last3=Mondello |first3=Michael |title=Masculine hegemonic hoops: An analysis of media coverage of March Madness. |journal=Sociology of Sport Journal |date=2008 |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=223–242 |doi=10.1123/ssj.25.2.223 |url=https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2000/10984 }}</ref> Female athletes and women's sport receive notably less media attention compared to their male counterparts across various forms of media, and this underrepresentation has worsened over the years, despite the rising levels of female participation and performance.<ref name="Cooky"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kane |first1=Mary J. |title=The better sportswomen get, the more the media ignore them. |journal=Communication and Sport |date=2013 |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=231–236 |doi=10.1177/2167479513484579 |s2cid=147567869 }}</ref>
The depiction of female athletes and women's sports in the media also tends to vary in tone and production quality, often minimising their efforts and performance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Angelini |first1=James R. |title=Television sports and athlete sex: Looking at the differences in watching male and female athletes. |journal=Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media |date=2008 |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=16–32 |doi=10.1177/2167479513484579 |s2cid=147567869 }}</ref> One prevalent practice in sport media coverage is the use of gender marking.<ref name="Messner"/> The presentation of male athletes and men's sport is regarded as the standard, while their female counterparts are often considered as the "other" or outside of this norm,<ref name="Messner"/> as seen in the naming of events, such as "Women's World Cup" while the men's event being simply named as the "World Cup". The use of first names and being referred to as "girls" or "young ladies" for female athletes is also seen as infantilizing, which reinforces the lower regard for female athletes and perpetuates pre-existing negative perceptions of women's sport.<ref name="Messner"/> The quality of production and filming of men's and women's sport, such as the use of on-screen graphics, shot variations, duration of video frames, and camera angles, is also significantly distinct. This influences the audience's perceptions by illustrating women's sport as less significant and engaging.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Billings |first1=Andrew C. |last2=Angelini |first2=James R. |title=Communication Quarterly: Packaging the games for viewer consumption: Gender, ethnicity, and nationality in NBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics. |journal=Women and Language |date=2007 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=95–111}}</ref> Thus, female athletes not only face a lack of media coverage, but the little amount of coverage tends to reinforce the hegemonic masculinity present in sport.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Angelini |first1=James R. |last2=MacArthur |first2=Paul J. |last3=Billings |first3=Andrew C. |title=What's the gendered story? Vancouver's prime time Olympic glory on NBC. |journal=Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media |date=2012 |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=261–279 |doi=10.1080/08838151.2012.678515 |s2cid=145149193 }}</ref>
While online sites that promote and cover female athletes exist, these coverages are primarily only found in "niche" sites, which continues to pose challenges in overcoming the prevailing ideology of hegemonic masculinity deeply rooted in sports.<ref name="Messner"/> Therefore, despite the growing participation and outstanding athletic achievements of girls and women, female athletes and women's sports still have a long way to go in achieving equal treatment and fair representation in sports media coverage.<ref name=Fink/>
==In media== In today's society, the media saturates nearly every aspect of one's life. It seems inevitable for society to be influenced by the media and what it is portraying.<ref name=":1" /> Roles are gendered, meaning that both males and females are viewed and treated differently according to biological sex, and because gendered roles are learned, the media has a direct impact on individuals. Thinking about the way in which couples act on romantic television shows or movies and the way women are portrayed as passive in magazine ads, reveals a lot about how gender roles are viewed in society and in heterosexual marriages.<ref name=":1"/> Traditional gendered roles view the man as a "pro-creator, a protector, and a provider," and the woman as "pretty and polite but not too aggressive, not too outspoken and not too smart."<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Marriage and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints |last=Benokraits |first=Nijole |publisher=Prentice Hall |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-13-034177-8 |location=New Jersey |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/marriagesfamilie0004beno}}</ref> Media aids in society conforming to these traditional gendered views. People learn through imitation and social interaction, both in the physical world and through the media; television, magazines, advertisements, newspapers, the Internet, etc.<ref name=":2" /> Michael Messner argues that "gendered interactions, structure, and cultural meanings are intertwined, in both mutually reinforcing and contradictory ways."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Messner |first=Michael A. |author-link=Michael Messner |title=Barbie girls vs. sea monsters: children constructing gender |journal=Gender & Society |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=765–784 |doi=10.1177/089124300014006004 |date=December 2000 |s2cid=52253024 |url=http://www.michaelmessner.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/barbiegirls.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.michaelmessner.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/barbiegirls.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Women are also largely underrepresented across multiple media types.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Collins |first=Rebecca L. |date=1 February 2011 |title=Content Analysis of Gender Roles in Media: Where Are We Now and Where Should We Go? |journal=Sex Roles |language=en |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=290–298 |doi=10.1007/s11199-010-9929-5 |issn=1573-2762}}</ref> A statistical disparity of the male to female ratio shown on television has existed for decades and is constantly changing and improving. Three decades ago findings highlight that males outnumbered females on a ratio of 2.5 to 1.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED185178 |title=Women and Minorities in Television Drama, 1969–1978 |last1=Gerbner |first1=George |last2=Signorielli |first2=Nancy |date=29 October 1979 |language=en |archive-date=2 December 2024 |access-date=2 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241202150400/https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED185178 |url-status=live }}</ref> A decade later this number was at 1.66 men for every woman, and in 2008 the ratio was 1.2 to 1 in the US.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in the Labor Force: A Databook (2009 Edition) |url=https://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2009.htm |access-date=2 July 2024 |website=Bureau of Labor Statistics |language=en-us |archive-date=18 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240718073234/https://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2009.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2010 it was found that the ratio of men to women in successful G-rate movies is 2.57 to 1.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wallis |first=Cara |date=2011-02-01 |title=Performing Gender: A Content Analysis of Gender Display in Music Videos |journal=Sex Roles |language=en |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=160–172 |doi=10.1007/s11199-010-9814-2 |issn=1573-2762}}</ref> Notable social theory such as Bandura's social cognitive theory highlights the importance of seeing people in media that are similar to oneself. In other words, it is valuable for girls to see similarities to those represented in the media.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bandura |first=Albert |date=April 2002 |title=Social Cognitive Theory in Cultural Context |url=https://iaap-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1464-0597.00092 |journal=Applied Psychology |language=en |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=269–290 |doi=10.1111/1464-0597.00092 |issn=0269-994X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Television's influence on society, specifically that of television advertisements, is shown in studies such as those by Jörg Matthes, Michael Prieler, and Karoline Adam. Their study of television advertising has shown that women are much more likely to be shown in a home setting than men. The study also shows that women are shown much less in work-like settings. This underrepresentation in television advertising is seen in many countries around the world, but is very present in developed countries.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Matthes |first1=Jörg |last2=Prieler |first2=Michael |last3=Adam |first3=Karoline |date=October 2016 |title=Gender-Role Portrayals in Television Advertising Across the Globe. |journal=Sex Roles |volume=75 |issue=7–8 |pages=314–327 |doi=10.1007/s11199-016-0617-y |pmid=27688526 |pmc=5023740}}</ref> In another study in the ''Journal of Social Psychology,'' many television advertisements in countries around the world are seen targeting women at different times of the day than men. Advertisements for products directed at female viewers are shown during weekdays, while those for men are shown on weekends. The same article reports that a study of adults and television media found that the more television adults watch, the more likely they are to believe in or support the gender roles illustrated. The support of the presented gender stereotypes can lead to a negative view of feminism or sexual aggression.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rubie-Davies |first1=Christine M. |last2=Liu |first2=Sabrina |last3=Lee |first3=Kai-Chi Katie |date=March 2013 |title=Watching Each Other: Portrayals of Gender and Ethnicity in Television Advertisements |journal=Journal of Social Psychology |volume=153 |issue=2 |pages=179–180 |doi=10.1080/00224545.2012.717974 |pmid=23484346 |s2cid=40904909}}</ref>
It has been reported in a journal article by Emerald Group Publishing Limited that adolescent girls have been affected by stereotypical portrayals of women in media. Girls feel pressured and stressed to achieve a particular appearance, and there have been negative consequences for young girls who fail to achieve this look. These consequences have ranged from anxiety to eating disorders. In an experiment described in this journal article, young girls described pictures of women in advertisements as unrealistic and fake; the women were dressed in revealing clothing, which sexualised them and exposed their thin figures, which were gazed upon by the public, creating an issue with stereotyping in the media.
It has also been presented that children are affected by gender roles in the media. Children's preferences in television characters are most likely to be for characters of the same gender. Because children favor characters of the same gender, the characteristics of the character are also looked to by children.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aubrey |first1=Jennifer Stevens |last2=Harrison |first2=Kristen |title=The Gender-Role Content of Children's Favorite Television Programs and Its Links to Their Gender-Related Perceptions. |journal=Media Psychology |date=May 2004 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=141–142 |doi=10.1207/s1532785xmep0602_1 |s2cid=144754474}}</ref> Another journal article by Emerald Group Publishing Limited examined the underrepresentation of women in children's television shows between 1930 and 1960. While studies between 1960 and 1990 showed an increase in the representation of women in television, studies conducted between 1990 and 2005, a time when some considered women equal to men, show no change in the representation of women in children's television shows. Women, being underrepresented in children's television shows, are also often portrayed as married or in a relationship, while men are more likely to be single. This recurring theme in relationship status can be reflected in the ideals of children who only see this type of representation.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steyer |first1=Isabella |date=2014 |title=Gender representations in children's media and their influence |journal=Campus-Wide Information Systems |volume=31 |issue=2/3 |pages=171–180 |doi=10.1108/CWIS-11-2013-0065}}</ref>
=== Gender Roles in Social Media === {{More citations needed section|date=March 2024}} {{essay-like|section|date=March 2024}} Social media has become an integral part of daily life for nearly everyone, serving as a dominant source of information and communication. Women's presentation on social media is directly influenced, with platforms utilizing metrics like numbers and publicity to endorse certain ideals in posts. Perceptions propagated through social media significantly shape real-life thinking and opinions regarding gender. According to professor Brook Duffy at Cornell University,<ref>{{Cite web |last=EAVI |date=22 September 2021 |title=Social Media and Gender: A Tricky Combination |url=https://eavi.eu/social-media-and-gender-a-tricky-combination/ |access-date=5 March 2024 |website=EAVI |language=en-US |archive-date=4 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240304191355/https://eavi.eu/social-media-and-gender-a-tricky-combination/ |url-status=live }}</ref> social media operates as a meritocracy, yet women's voices are often underrepresented and carry less weight in the public sphere.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Duffy |first1=Brooke Erin |last2=Hund |first2=Emily |date=2019-09-22 |title=Gendered Visibility on Social Media: Navigating Instagram's Authenticity Bind |url=https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/11729 |journal=International Journal of Communication |language=en |volume=13 |pages=20 |issn=1932-8036}}</ref>
The creation of an online identity on social media can also lead to the perpetuation of false narratives about gender, setting unrealistic standards for both women and men. Body image plays a significant role in this, particularly affecting the mental health of young women and men who internalize beauty standards portrayed online, leading to dissatisfaction and harassment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Santoniccolo |first1=Fabrizio |last2=Trombetta |first2=Tommaso |last3=Paradiso |first3=Maria Noemi |last4=Rollè |first4=Luca |date=2023-05-09 |title=Gender and Media Representations: A Review of the Literature on Gender Stereotypes, Objectification and Sexualization |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=20 |issue=10 |page=5770 |doi=10.3390/ijerph20105770 |doi-access=free |issn=1661-7827 |pmid=37239498 |pmc=10218532}}</ref> A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that women are more likely to have multiple social media accounts, making them more likely to internalize their body image and be influenced by the cultural stereotypes of female beauty. The emphasis on body image on social media platforms fosters daily comparisons and exposes individuals to sexualized media, increasing self-image insecurity. Furthermore, social media has also contributed to the spread of sexist beliefs and sexualized images of men.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Daniels |first=Elizabeth A. |date=June 2020 |title=Does Objectification on Social Media Cost Young Men? |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2167696818804051 |journal=Emerging Adulthood |language=en |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=226–236 |doi=10.1177/2167696818804051 |s2cid=149814259 |issn=2167-6968|url-access=subscription }}</ref> However, hashtags like #loveyourself and #allbodiesarebeautiful have sparked movements to challenge these standards.
A 2025 study dives into the rape myth in media and how gender roles affect it. The authors write that how the media portrays sexual violence is a factor in people's attitudes towards rape. This study looked into how social media posts about rape myths affect rape myth acceptance. There were 662 participants, of whom 141 were excluded from the results. The participants answered survey questions about their gender, race/ethnicity, and age. They then answered questions about the Illinois Rape Myth Scale. They found significant differences between gender or political affiliation and the randomization.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lopez |first1=Alejandra |last2=Nomamiukor |first2=Faith O. |last3=Heinlein |first3=Emily S. |last4=Wisco |first4=Blair E. |date=June 2025 |title=Social media's impact on rape myth acceptance and negative affect: Moderating roles of political affiliation and gender? |url=https://doi.apa.org/doi/10.1037/tra0001861 |journal=Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy |language=en |volume=17 |issue=Suppl 1 |pages=S115–S123 |doi=10.1037/tra0001861 |pmid=39869703 |issn=1942-969X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Despite these challenges, social media has also created new opportunities for women in the workplace, particularly as influencers. However, gender disparities persist, with male influencers generally outperforming their female counterparts. Additionally, media content across various platforms perpetuates gender stereotypes, with women often portrayed in cosmetic and fashion advertisements, while men are associated with gaming and knowledge. On an economic aspect, social media is driven by gendered advertisements and commercials, often reinforcing stereotypical representations of gender. Algorithms on social media platforms can further exacerbate discriminatory recommendations, reflecting programmers' biases. Overall, social media's influence on gender norms is profound, shaping perceptions, behaviors, and opportunities in both virtual and real-life settings.
==Online== An example of gender stereotypes assumes those of the male gender are more 'tech savvy' and happier working online, however, a study done by Hargittai & Shafer,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Differences in Actual and Perceived Online Skills: The Role of Gender* |journal=Social Science Quarterly |date=1 June 2006 |issn=1540-6237 |pages=432–448 |volume=87 |issue=2 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2006.00389.x |first1=Eszter |last1=Hargittai |first2=Steven |last2=Shafer}}</ref> shows that many women also typically have lower self-perceived abilities when it comes to use of the World Wide Web and online navigation skills. Because this stereotype is so well known, many women assume they lack such technical skills when, in reality, the gap in technological skill level between men and women is significantly less than many women assume.
In the journal article written by Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, video games have been guilty of using sexualised female characters, who wear revealing clothing with an 'ideal' figure. It has been shown that female gamers can experience lower self-efficacy when playing a game with a sexualized female character. Women have been stereotyped in online games and are often portrayed as quite sexist in their appearances. It has been shown that these kinds of character appearances have influenced people's beliefs about gender capabilities by assigning certain qualities to the male and female characters in different games.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Effects of the Sexualization of Female Video Game Characters on Gender Stereotyping and Female Self-Concept |first1=Elizabeth |last1=Behm-Morawitz |first2=Dana |last2=Mastro |date=1 December 2009 |journal=Sex Roles |volume=61 |issue=11–12 |pages=808–823 |doi=10.1007/s11199-009-9683-8 |s2cid=146385940}}</ref>
The concept of gender inequality is often perceived as something non-existent within the online community, because of the anonymity possible online. Remote or home-working greatly reduces the volume of information one individual gives another compared to face-to-face encounters,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Postmes |first1=Tom |last2=Spears |first2=Russell |title=Behavior Online: Does Anonymous Computer Communication Reduce Gender Inequality? |journal=Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin |date=2002 |volume=28 |issue=8 |pages=1073–1083 |doi=10.1177/01461672022811006 |s2cid=145697214}}</ref> providing fewer opportunities for unequal treatment but it seems real-world notions of power and privilege are being duplicated: people who choose to take up different identities (avatars) in the online world are (still) routinely discriminated against, evident in online gaming where users can create their own characters. This freedom allows the user to create characters and identities with appearances different from their own in reality, effectively enabling them to adopt a new identity, confirming that, regardless of actual gender, those perceived as female are treated differently.
In contrast to the stereotype that gamers are mostly male, a 2014 study of U.K. residents found that 52% of the gaming audience was women. The study counted players of mobile games as part of the gaming audience, but still found that 56% of female gamers had played on a console.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stuart |first1=Keith |title=UK gamers: more women play games than men, report finds |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/17/women-video-games-iab |access-date=20 June 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2014}}</ref> However, only 12% of game designers in Britain and 3% of all programmers were women.<ref name="Jayanth1">{{Cite news |last1=Jayanth |first1=Meg |title=52% of gamers are women – but the industry doesn't know it |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/52-percent-people-playing-games-women-industry-doesnt-know |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=10 December 2015 |date=18 September 2014 |archive-date=26 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226070737/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/18/52-percent-people-playing-games-women-industry-doesnt-know |url-status=live }}</ref>
Despite the growing number of women who partake in online communities and the anonymous space provided by the Internet, issues such as gender inequality have been transplanted into the online world.
==In criminal justice== {{Main|Gender and crime}}
Several studies conducted since the mid-90s have found a direct correlation between a female criminal's ability to conform to gender role stereotypes and the severity of her sentencing, particularly among female murderers.<ref>Chan, W. (2001). Women, Murder and Justice. Hampshire: Palgrave.</ref><ref>Hart, L. (1994). Fatal Women: Lesbian Sexuality and the Mark of Aggression. Princeton: Princeton University Press.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Ballinger |first=A. |date=1996 |chapter=The Guilt of the Innocent and the Innocence of the Guilty: The Cases of Marie Fahmy and Ruth Ellis |editor1-last=Wight |editor1-first=S. |editor2-last=Myers |editor2-first=A. |title=No Angels: Women Who Commit Violence |location=London |publisher=Pandora}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Filetti |first1=J. S. |year=2001 |title=From Lizzie Borden to Lorena Bobbitt: Violent Women and Gendered Justice |journal=Journal of American Culture |volume=35 |issue=3 |pages=471–484 |doi=10.1017/s0021875801006673 |s2cid=146288256}}</ref> "In terms of the social realities of justice in America, the experiences of diverse groups of people in society have contributed to the shaping of the types of criminals and victims that we have had. Like Andersen and Hill Collins (1998: 4) in their discussion of what they refer to as a 'matrix of domination,' we too conceive that class, race, and gender represent "multiple, interlocking levels of domination that stem from the societal configurations of these structural relationships. These patterned actions, in turn, affecting individual consciousness, group interaction, and individual and group access to institutional power and privileges.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Barak|first=Gregg|title=Class, Race, and Gender in Criminology and Criminal Justice: Ways of Seeing Difference|url=http://critcrim.org/critpapers/barak.htm|publisher=American Society of Criminology|access-date=22 November 2013|date=2009-03-15|archive-date=25 December 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011225023134/http://www.critcrim.org/critpapers/barak.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> "Patterns of offending by men and by women are notable both for their similarities and for their differences. Both men and women are more heavily involved in minor property and substance abuse offenses than in serious crimes like robbery or murder. However, men offend at much higher rates than women for all crime categories except prostitution. This gender gap in crime is greatest for serious crime and least for mild forms of lawbreaking such as minor property crimes."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steffensmeier |first1=Darrell |first2=Emilie |last2=Allan |title=Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered Theory of Female Offending |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |year=1996 |volume=22 |pages=459–487 |doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.459 |issue=1}}<!--|access-date=22 November 2013--></ref>
===Gender roles in family violence=== The 'Family Violence Framework' applies gender dynamics to family violence.<ref name="Hattery2012">{{cite book |last1=Hattery |first1=Angela |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RX0fAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 |title=The Social Dynamics of Family Violence |last2=Smith |first2=Earl |date=2012 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-4463-8 |page=7 |access-date=1 June 2017}}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>Straus, M & Gelles, R (1995) Physical violence in American families. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.</ref> "Families are constructed around relationships that involve obligations and responsibilities, but also status and power".<ref name="Hattery2012"/> According to Hattery and Smith, when "masculinity and femininity are constructed...to generate these rigid and narrow gender roles, it contributes to a culture of violence against women"<ref name="Hattery2016">{{cite book |last1=Hattery |first1=Angela |last2=Smith |first2=Earl |title=The Social Dynamics of Family Violence |date=2016 |publisher=Westview Press |location=Boulder |isbn=978-0-8133-4999-2 |edition=Second}}</ref> "People with more resources are more likely to be abusive towards those without resources", meaning that the stronger member of the relationship abuses the weaker partner or family member.<ref name="Hattery2012"/> However, the fight for power and equality remains – "Intimate partner violence in same-sex couples reveals that the rates are similar to those in the heterosexual community".{{sfn|Hattery|Smith|2012|p=291}}
==In economy and society== [[File:Katerfrühstück der Ellerbek-Wellingdorfer Seglervereinigung e.V. (Kiel 38.830).jpg|thumb|A meal prepared by women and eaten by men in West Germany, 1966]] Traditional gender roles assume women will serve as the primary caregivers for children and older adults, regardless of whether they also work outside of the home. Sociology scholar Arlie Hochschild delves into this phenomenon in her book, ''The Second Shift''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kuttner |first=Robert |date=1989-06-25 |title=She Minds the Child, He Minds the Dog |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/books/she-minds-the-child-he-minds-the-dog.html |access-date=2022-10-26 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221026180618/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/25/books/she-minds-the-child-he-minds-the-dog.html |url-status=live }}</ref> This "second shift" refers to the unpaid work women take on in the private sphere—housework, cooking, cleaning, and caring for the family unit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Greenstein |first=Theodore N. |date=1996 |title=Husbands' Participation in Domestic Labor: Interactive Effects of Wives' and Husbands' Gender Ideologies |journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=585–595 |doi=10.2307/353719 |jstor=353719 |issn=0022-2445 }}</ref> Economically, this restricts a women's ability to advance in her career due to her added (unpaid) responsibilities at home. Gender roles have reinforced the idea that women are well-suited to more feminine roles, such as housekeeping and domestic duties.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cranford |first=Cynthia J. |date=March 2012 |title=Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2011.00585.x |journal=Gender, Work & Organization |language=en |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=142–164 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0432.2011.00585.x |issn=0968-6673|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The OECD found "Around the world, women spend two to ten times more time on unpaid care work than men."<ref>{{cite report |last1=Ferrant |first1=Gaelle |last2=Pesando |first2=Luca Maria |last3=Nowacka |first3=Keiko |date=December 2014 |url=https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/Unpaid_care_work.pdf |title=Unpaid Care work: The missing link in the analysis of gender gaps in labour outcomes |publisher=OECD |archive-date=31 October 2022 |access-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221031115006/https://www.oecd.org/dev/development-gender/Unpaid_care_work.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020 alone, women provided over $689 billion in unpaid labor to the U.S. economy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 2021 |title=Women Carried the Burden of Unpaid Caregiving in 2020 |url=https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/women-carried-the-burden-of-unpaid-caregiving-in-2020.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210514190029/https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/economic-justice/women-carried-the-burden-of-unpaid-caregiving-in-2020.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-14 |url-status=live |website=National Partnership for Women & Families}}</ref> Lee and Fang found, "Compared with Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asian Americans took more extensive caregiving responsibilities."<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lee |first1=Yeonjung |last2=Tang |first2=Fengyan |date=June 2015 |title=More Caregiving, Less Working: Caregiving Roles and Gender Difference |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0733464813508649 |journal=Journal of Applied Gerontology |language=en |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=465–483 |doi=10.1177/0733464813508649 |pmid=24652908 |s2cid=20984380 |issn=0733-4648 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=14 October 2022 |access-date=26 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014155332/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0733464813508649 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Across all demographics, women are more likely to live in poverty compared to men.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The Basic Facts About Women in Poverty |url=https://www.americanprogress.org/article/basic-facts-women-poverty/ |access-date=26 October 2022 |website=Center for American Progress |date=3 August 2020 |language=en |archive-date=7 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250207164251/https://www.americanprogress.org/article/basic-facts-women-poverty/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last1=Shaw |first1=Elyse |last2=Mariano |first2=Halie |date=May 2021 |title=Narrow the Gender Pay Gap, Reduce Poverty for Families: The Economic Impact of Equal Pay by State |url=https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Economic-Impact-of-Equal-Pay-by-State_FINAL.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511174506/https://iwpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Economic-Impact-of-Equal-Pay-by-State_FINAL.pdf |archive-date=2021-05-11 |url-status=live |publisher=Institute for Women's Policy Research}}</ref> This is largely due to the gender wage gap between men and women. Correcting these wage gaps would raise women's average annual earnings from $41,402 to $48,326, increasing the income of the U.S. economy.<ref name=":8" /> The gender wage gap is largely racial—in the U.S., American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) women, Black women, and Latina women disproportionately experience poverty and larger wage gaps compared with White and Asian women.<ref name=":3" /> Women are also more likely to live in poverty if they are single mothers and solely responsible for providing for their children. Poverty among single working mothers would fall 40% or more if women earned equal wages to men.<ref name=":3" />
Specifically, in the immigrant demographic, migrant women are subject to lesser benefits and wage gaps compared to what migrant men receive. From 1984 to 1994–2004, Mexican migrant women earned $6.00 to $7.40 per hour while managing unpaid domestic responsibilities.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Donato |first1=Katharine M. |last2=Wakabayashi |first2=Chizuko |last3=Hakimzadeh |first3=Shirin |last4=Armenta |first4=Amada |date=November 2008 |title=Shifts in the Employment Conditions of Mexican Migrant Men and Women: The Effect of U.S. Immigration Policy |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0730888408322859 |journal=Work and Occupations |language=en |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=462–495 |doi=10.1177/0730888408322859 |issn=0730-8884 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=26 March 2024 |access-date=15 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240326173940/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0730888408322859 |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarly, gender roles apply for immigrant women in the workplace as their skill level does not guarantee equitable participation in the economy.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iredale |first=Robyn |date=March 2005 |title=Gender, immigration policies and accreditation: valuing the skills of professional women migrants |journal=Geoforum |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=155–166 |doi=10.1016/j.geoforum.2004.04.002 |issn=0016-7185}}</ref> The 1986 immigration policy, impacted the employment of migrant men and women, specifically women with lower wages and higher demands. This trend continued in the United States, as immigration policy has persistently been grouped by political affiliation alongside various other social, economic, and geographical factors.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Dzordzormenyoh |first1=Michael K. |last2=Boateng |first2=Francis D. |date=2023-09-01 |title=Immigration Politics and Policymaking in the USA (2017–2021): Examining the Effect of Geopolitics on Public Attitude Towards Immigration Policies |journal=Journal of International Migration and Integration |language=en |volume=24 |issue=3 |pages=1281–1303 |doi=10.1007/s12134-022-01004-6 |issn=1874-6365 |pmc=9763793 |pmid=36569186}}</ref>
The saving rate can differ by gender, with a 2010 study finding lower saving, lower financial literacy and higher risk aversion for women in the United States.<ref name="p709">{{cite journal | last=Fisher | first=Patti | title=Gender Differences in Personal Saving Behaviors | journal=Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning | date=2010 | ssrn=2803965 | url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2803965 | access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>
== In politics ==
===Political ideologies=== Modern social conservatives tend to support traditional gender roles. Right wing political parties often oppose women's rights and transgender rights.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Lynn |last1=Cooper |title=The Attack on Women's Rights |journal=Crime and Social Justice |date=1981 |issn=0094-7571 |pages=39–41 |issue=15 |jstor=29766113 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Paisley |last1=Currah |first2=Richard M. |last2=Juang |first3=Shannon |last3=Minter |title=Transgender Rights |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUwOKayHVwcC |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |date=2006 |isbn=978-0-8166-4312-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref> These familialist views are often shaped by the religious fundamentalism, traditional family values, and cultural values of their voter base.<ref>{{cite book |first=Robert B. |last=Smith |title=Social Conservatism, Distractors, and Authoritarianism: Axiological versus instrumental rationality |editor-first=Harry F. |editor-last=Dahms |series=Mediations of Social Life in the 21st Century |date=2014 |publisher=Emerald Group Publishing |isbn=978-1-78441-222-7 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5V1BQAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |language=en}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=source is about a single 2008 survey of just the United States|date=July 2022}}
Modern social liberals tend to oppose traditional gender roles, especially for women. Left wing political parties tend to support women's rights and transgender rights. In contrast to social conservatives, their views are more influenced by secularism, feminism, and progressivism.<ref name="wars">{{Cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/legal-and-political-magazines/culture-wars |title=Culture Wars |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=10 July 2022 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111010307/https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/legal-and-political-magazines/culture-wars |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== In political office === Even though the number of women running for elected office in the United States has increased over the last few decades, they still only make up 20% of U.S. senators, 19.4% of U.S. congressional representatives, and 24% of statewide executives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Current Numbers |quote=This page contains current numbers of women officeholders serving in 2017 with links on the right to basic fact sheets for each level of office. |url=http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/current-numbers |website=www.cawp.rutgers.edu/current-numbers |publisher=Center for American Women and Politics |access-date=6 February 2017 |date=12 June 2015 |archive-date=30 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130061525/http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/current-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> Additionally, many of these political campaigns appear to focus on the aggressiveness of the female candidate, which is often still perceived as a masculine trait.<ref>{{cite journal |author1-link=Leonie Huddy |last1=Huddy |first1=Leonie |last2=Terkildsen |first2=Nayda |title=Gender Stereotypes and the Perception of Male and Female Candidates |journal=American Journal of Political Science |date=February 1993 |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=119–147 |doi=10.2307/2111526 |jstor=2111526}}</ref> Therefore, female candidates are running based on gender-opposing stereotypes because that predicts higher likelihood of success than appearing to be a stereotypical woman.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}
The increasing number of women elected to office provides many scholars with grounds to claim that voters are not biased against a candidate's gender. However, it has been shown that female politicians are perceived as only being superior when it comes to handling women's rights and poverty, whereas male politicians are perceived to be better at dealing with crime and foreign affairs.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sanbonmatsu |first1=Kira |title=Stereotypes and Vote Choice |journal=American Journal of Political Science |date=January 2002 |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=20–34 |doi=10.2307/3088412 |jstor=3088412}}</ref> That view lines up with the most common gender stereotypes.
It has also been predicted that gender highly matters only for female candidates who have not been politically established. These predictions also apply to established candidates, stating that gender would not be a defining factor in their campaigns or the focal point of media coverage. This has been refuted by multiple scholars, often based on Hillary Clinton's multiple campaigns for the office of President of the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carroll |first=Susan J. |author-link=Susan J. Carroll |year=2009 |title=Reflections on Gender and Hillary Clinton's Presidential Campaign: The Good, the Bad, and the Misogynistic |journal=Politics & Gender |volume=5 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1017/s1743923x09000014 |s2cid=143560740 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carlin |first1=Diana B. |last2=Winfrey |first2=Kelly L. |title=Have You Come A Long Way, Baby? Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Sexism in 2008 Campaign Coverage |journal=Communication Studies |date=2009 |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=326–343 |doi=10.1080/10510970903109904 |s2cid=145107322}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McGinley |first1=Ann C. |title=Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Michelle Obama: Performing Gender, Race, and Class on the Campaign Trail |journal=Denver University Law Review |date=2009 |volume=86}}</ref>
Additionally, when voters have little information about a female candidate, they are likely to view her as being a stereotypical woman which they often take as a basis for not electing her because they consider typical male qualities as being crucial for someone holding a political office.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Huddy |first1=Leonie |last2=Terkildsen |first2=Nadya |title=The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office |journal=Political Research Quarterly |date=1993 |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=503–525 |doi=10.1177/106591299304600304 |s2cid=144560550}}</ref>
===Feminism and women's rights=== {{Main|Feminism}}
{{see also|Women's rights}} thumb|Cmdr. Adrienne Simmons speaking at the 2008 ceremony for the only women's mosque in Khost City, a symbol of progress for growing women's rights in the Pashtun belt.
Throughout the 20th century, women in the United States saw a dramatic shift in social and professional aspirations and norms. Following the Women's Suffrage Movement of the late-nineteenth century, which resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment allowing women to vote, and in combination with conflicts in Europe, WWI and WWII, women found themselves shifted into the industrial workforce. During this time, women were expected to take up industrial jobs and support the troops abroad through domestic industry. Moving from "homemakers" and "caregivers", women were now factory workers and "breadwinners" for the family.
However, after the war, men returned home to the United States, and women, again, saw a shift in social and professional dynamics. With the reuniting of the nuclear family, the ideals of American Suburbia boomed. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, middle-class families moved in droves from urban living into newly developed single-family homes on former farmland just outside major cities. Thus, established what many modern critics describe as the "private sphere".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rotman |first1=Deborah L. |year=2006 |title=Separate Spheres? Beyond the Dichotomies of Domesticity |journal=Current Anthropology |volume=47 |issue=4 |pages=666–674 |doi=10.1086/506286 |s2cid=145576707}}</ref> Though frequently sold and idealized as "perfect living",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Dan W. |year=1958 |title=Suburbanism and Education |journal=Journal of Educational Sociology |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=2–7 |doi=10.2307/2264228 |jstor=2264228}}</ref> many women had difficulty adjusting to the new "private sphere". Writer Betty Friedan described this discontent as "the feminine mystique". The "mystique" was derived from women equipped with the knowledge, skills, and aspirations of the workforce, the "public sphere", who felt compelled, whether socially or morally, to devote themselves to the home and family.<ref>Friedan, Betty. "The Feminine Mystique". New York: W.W. Norton, 1963.</ref>
One major concern of feminism is that women occupy lower-ranking job positions than men and do most of the housework.<ref name="Gender differences in perceptions of household labor">{{cite journal|author1=Kiger, Kiger|author2=Riley, Pamela J.|date=1 July 1996|title=Gender differences in perceptions of household labor|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-18658547.html|journal=The Journal of Psychology|volume=130|issue=4|pages=357–70|doi=10.1080/00223980.1996.9915024|pmid=8756271 |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100118012046/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-18658547.html |archive-date= Jan 18, 2010 }}</ref> A recent (October 2009) report from the Center for American Progress, "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything" tells us that women now make up 48% of the US workforce and "mothers are breadwinners or co-breadwinners in a majority of families" (63.3%, see figure 2, page 19 of the Executive Summary of The Shriver Report).<ref name="The Shriver Report">{{cite web|title=The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything|url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/womans_nation.html/#executive_summary|author=Maria Shriver |date=19 October 2009|publisher=Center for American Progress|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091020003755/http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2009/10/womans_nation.html/|archive-date=20 October 2009|access-date=23 October 2009}}</ref>
[[File:Louise Weiss.jpg|thumb|right|Louise Weiss along with other Parisian suffragettes in 1935. The newspaper headline reads "The Frenchwoman Must Vote".]] Another recent article in ''The New York Times'' indicates that young women today are closing the pay gap. Luisita Lopez Torregrosa has noted, "Women are ahead of men in education (last year, 55 percent of U.S. college graduates were female). And a study shows that in most U.S. cities, single, childless women under 30 are making an average of 8 percent more money than their male counterparts, with Atlanta and Miami in the lead at 20 percent."<ref>{{cite news|last=Torregrosa|first=Luisita|title=They Call It the Reverse Gender Gap|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/14iht-letter14.html|url-access=subscription|newspaper=New York Times|access-date=30 November 2012|date=13 December 2011|archive-date=23 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130423205301/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/14/us/14iht-letter14.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
Feminist theory generally defines gender as a social construct that includes ideologies governing feminine/masculine (female/male) appearances, actions, and behaviors.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Case|first=Mary Anne C.|date=October 1995|title=Disaggregating Gender from Sex and Sexual Orientation: The Effeminate Man in the Law and Feminist Jurisprudence|journal=The Yale Law Journal|volume=105|issue=1|pages=1–105|doi=10.2307/797140|jstor=797140|doi-access=free}}</ref> An example of these gender roles would be that males were supposed to be the educated breadwinners of the family, and occupiers of the public sphere whereas, the female's duty was to be a homemaker, take care of her husband and children, and occupy the private sphere. According to contemporary gender role ideology, gender roles are continuously changing. This can be seen in Londa Schiebinger's ''Has Feminism Changed Science'', in which she states, "Gendered characteristics – typically masculine or feminine behaviors, interests, or values-are not innate, nor are they arbitrary. They are formed by historical circumstances. They can also change with historical circumstances."<ref>''Has Feminism Changed Science?'', Cambridge: Harvard University Press 2001, {{ISBN|978-0-674-00544-0}}</ref>
One example of the contemporary definition of gender was depicted in Sally Shuttleworth's ''Female Circulation'' in which the, "abasement of the woman, reducing her from an active participant in the labor market to the passive bodily existence to be controlled by male expertise is indicative of the ways in which the ideological deployment of gender roles operated to facilitate and sustain the changing structure of familial and market relations in Victorian England."<ref>Shuttleworth, Sally. "Female Circulation: Medical Discourse and Popular Advertising in the Mid-Victorian Era." Body/Politics: Women and the Discourses of Science. Eds. Mary Jacobus, Evelyn Fox Keller and Sally Shuttleworth. New York: Routledge, 1990. 47–70</ref> In other words, this shows what it meant to grow up into the roles (gender roles) of a female in Victorian England, which transitioned from being a homemaker to being a working woman and then back to being passive and inferior to males. In conclusion, gender roles in the contemporary sex gender model are socially constructed, always changing, and do not really exist since they are ideologies that society constructs for various benefits at various times in history.
===Men's rights=== {{Main|Men's rights movement}}
{{see also|Fathers' rights movement}} [[File:Save Indian Families protest (New Delhi, 26 August 2007).jpg|thumb|250px|Protest in New Delhi for men's rights organized by the Save Indian Family Foundation]]
The men's rights movement (MRM) is a part of the larger men's movement. It branched off from the men's liberation movement in the early 1970s. The men's rights movement comprises a variety of groups and individuals concerned with what they consider issues of male disadvantage, discrimination, and oppression.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/fatherhoodpoliti00gava |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/fatherhoodpoliti00gava/page/11 11] |last=Gavanas |first=Anna |title=Fatherhood Politics in the United States: Masculinity, Sexuality, Race, and Marriage |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location= Urbana |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-252-02884-7 |quote=All these cases of perceived discrimination make up the men's rights view that men are considered, by government and society, to be more expendable than women.}}</ref><ref name="BoydLongwood1996">{{cite book |title=Redeeming men: religion and masculinities|editor1-first=Stephen Blake |editor1-last=Boyd |editor2-first=W. Merle |editor2-last=Longwood |editor3-first=Mark William |editor3-last=Muesse |publisher=Westminster John Knox Press |year=1996 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSrhNzWb6sIC&pg=PR17 |isbn=978-0-664-25544-2 |page=17 |quote=In contradistinction to pro-feminism, however, the men's rights perspective addresses specific legal and cultural factors that put men at a disadvantage. The movement is made up of a variety of formal and informal groups that differ in their approaches and issues; Men's rights advocates, for example, target sex-specific military conscription and judicial practices that discriminate against men in child custody cases.}}</ref> The movement focuses on issues in numerous areas of society (including family law, parenting, reproduction, domestic violence) and government services (including education, compulsory military service, social safety nets, and health policies) that they believe discriminate against men.
Scholars consider the men's rights movement, or parts of it, to be a backlash against feminism.<ref name=backlash>See, for example: * {{cite journal |last=Maddison |first=Sarah |year=1999 |title=Private Men, Public Anger: The Men's Rights Movement in Australia |journal=Journal of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=39–52 |url=http://newcastle.edu.au/Resources/Schools/Humanities%20and%20Social%20Science/JIGS/JIGSV4N2_039.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020163216/https://newcastle.edu.au/Resources/Schools/Humanities%20and%20Social%20Science/JIGS/JIGSV4N2_039.pdf |archive-date=20 October 2013 }} * {{cite book |last1=Doyle |first1=Ciara |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Herrman |title=Citizenship Revisited: Threats or Opportunities of Shifting Boundaries |year=2004 |publisher=Nova Publishers |location=New York |isbn=978-1-59033-900-8 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HdLVGgJQ0mUC&pg=PA61 61–62] |chapter=The Fathers' Rights Movement: Extending Patriarchal Control Beyond the Marital Family}} * {{cite book |last1=Flood |first1=Michael |author-link1=Michael Flood |editor1-first=Michael S. |editor1-last=Kimmel |editor1-link=Michael Kimmel |editor2-last=Hearn |editor2-first=Jeff |editor3-last=Connell |editor3-first=Raewyn |title=Handbook of Studies on Men and Masculinities |year=2005 |publisher=SAGE Publications |location=Thousand Oaks |isbn=978-0-7619-2369-5 |page=459 |chapter=Men's Collective Struggles for Gender Justice: The Case of Antiviolence Activism |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvAZD45BMDoC&pg=PA459 }} * {{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/2011/03/29/scott_adams_mens_rights_movement/ |title=Is the men's rights movement growing? |last1=Finocchiaro |first1=Peter |date=29 March 2011 |work=Salon |access-date=10 March 2013 |archive-date=22 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522213417/https://www.salon.com/2011/03/29/scott_adams_mens_rights_movement/ |url-status=live }} * {{cite book |last=Messner |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Messner |year=2000 |title=Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nG8MGcopgWQC&pg=PA41 |location=Lanham |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |page=41 |isbn=978-0-8039-5577-6 }} * {{cite book |last1=Solinger |first1=Rickie |title=Reproductive Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gfem7O38h6MC&pg=PP130 |year=2013 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-981141-0 |page=130 }} * {{cite book |last1=Menzies |first1=Robert |editor1-first=Susan B |editor1-last=Boyd |title=Reaction and Resistance: Feminism, Law, and Social Change |year=2007 |publisher=University of British Columbia Press |location=Vancouver |isbn=978-0-7748-1411-9 |chapter=Virtual Backlash: Representation of Men's "Rights" and Feminist "Wrongs" in Cyberspace |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ASc568aunFoC&pg=PA65 |pages=65–97 }} * {{cite book |last1=Dunphy |first1=Richard |title=Sexual Politics: An Introduction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVPQkt0bVpAC&pg=PA88 |year=2000 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=978-0-7486-1247-5 |page=88 }} * {{Cite journal |last=Mills |first=Martin |title= Shaping the boys' agenda: the backlash blockbusters |year=2003 |journal=International Journal of Inclusive Education |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=57–73 |doi=10.1080/13603110210143644 |s2cid=144875158}}</ref> The men's rights movement denies that men are privileged relative to women.<ref name="clatter">{{cite book |last=Clatterbaugh |first=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfG8qCLMP9EC |title=Contemporary perspectives on masculinity: Men, women, and politics in modern society |date=1996 |publisher=Westview Press |isbn=978-0-8133-2701-3 |edition=Reissued 2nd. |location=Boulder, Colorado |page=11 |quote=Indeed the premise of all men's rights literature is that men are ''not'' privileged relative to women... Having denied that men are privileged relative to women, this movement divides into those who believe that men and women are equally harmed by sexism and those who believe that society has become a bastion of female privilege and male degradation.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317231546/https://books.google.com/books?id=JfG8qCLMP9EC|archive-date=17 March 2015}}</ref> <!-- Prevent scripted Harv warnings about 'There is no link pointing to this citation' in the citations above --> {{cite whitelink |CITEREFDoyle2004 |CITEREFDunphy2000 |CITEREFFinocchiaro2011 |CITEREFFlood2005 |CITEREFMaddison1999 |CITEREFMenzies2007 |CITEREFMessner2000 |CITEREFMills2003 |CITEREFSolinger2013}} The movement is divided into two camps: those who consider men and women to be harmed equally by sexism, and those who view society as endorsing the degradation of men and upholding female privilege.<ref name=clatter/>
Men's rights groups have called for male-focused governmental structures to address issues specific to men and boys, including education, health, work, and marriage.<ref name="toi">{{cite news |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/What-about-tax-and-fathers-custody-rights/articleshow/5244920.cms |title=What about tax, and father's custody rights? |work=The Times of India |date=17 May 2011 |access-date=22 December 2011 |archive-date=16 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216080528/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/What-about-tax-and-fathers-custody-rights/articleshow/5244920.cms |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Northbourne"/><ref name=wt>{{cite news |url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/17/guys-got-it-made-think-again-say-advocates/ |title=Guys got it made? Think again, say advocates |first=Wetzstein |last=Cheryl |work=The Washington Times |access-date=22 December 2011 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620124812/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/17/guys-got-it-made-think-again-say-advocates/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Men's rights groups in India have called for the creation of a Men's Welfare Ministry and a National Commission for Men, as well as the abolition of the National Commission for Women.<ref name=toi/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-india-husbands-idUKTRE5AJ0TZ20091120 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125033234/https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-india-husbands-idUKTRE5AJ0TZ20091120 |archive-date=25 November 2018 |title=Indian husbands want protection from nagging wives |work=Reuters |date=20 November 2009 |access-date=22 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/relationships/man-woman/Boys-fight-for-freedom/articleshow/4859757.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020060318/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-09/man-woman/28177085_1_indian-law-law-minister-siff |url-status=live |archive-date=20 October 2012 |title=Boys fight for freedom! |last=Manigandan |first=K. R. |work=The Times of India|date=9 August 2009 |access-date=22 December 2011}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the creation of a Minister for Men analogous to the existing Minister for Women, have been proposed by David Amess, MP and Lord Northbourne, but were rejected by the government of Tony Blair.<ref name="Northbourne">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3522631.stm |work=BBC News |title=FHM: For Him Minister? |date=3 March 2004 |access-date=22 December 2011 |archive-date=3 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903082252/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/3522631.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1343276/Yesterday-in-Parliament.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1343276/Yesterday-in-Parliament.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |title=Yesterday in Parliament |first=Michael |last=Kallenbach |date=16 June 2000 |access-date=5 May 2010}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2004/mar/08/minister-for-men#S6CV0418P2_20040308_CWA_745 |title=Minister for Men |publisher=Hansard, UK Parliament |access-date=24 November 2011 |archive-date=20 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620124859/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/written-answers/2004/mar/08/minister-for-men#S6CV0418P2_20040308_CWA_745 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the United States, Warren Farrell heads a commission focused on the creation of a "White House Council on Boys and Men" as a counterpart to the "White House Council on Women and Girls" which was formed in March 2009.<ref name=wt/>
Related to this is the Father's Rights Movement, whose members seek social and political reforms that affect fathers and their children.<ref>{{cite book |last=Crowley |first=Jocelyn E. |date=2008 |title=Defiant Dads: Fathers' Rights Activists in America |publisher=Cornell University Press |isbn=978-0-8014-4690-0}}</ref> These individuals contest that societal institutions such as family courts, and laws relating to child custody and child support payments, are gender biased in favor of mothers as the default caregiver. They are therefore systemically discriminatory against males regardless of their actual caregiving ability, because males are typically seen as the bread-winner, and females as the caregiver.<ref>Baskerville, S (2007). Taken into Custody: The War Against Fatherhood, Marriage, and the Family. Cumberland House Publishing. {{ISBN|1-58182-594-3}}.</ref>
===Gender neutrality=== {{Main|Gender neutrality}}
Gender neutrality is the movement to end discrimination of gender altogether in society through means of gender neutral language, the end of sex segregation, and other means.
=== Transgender and cross-dressing === {{Main|Transgender|Legal status of transgender people}}
[[File:Camille Cabral pour les Trans.JPG|thumb|upright|Camille Cabral, a transgender activist at a demonstration for transgender people in Paris, 1 October 2005]]
Transgender is the state of one's gender identity or gender expression not matching one's assigned sex.<ref name="glaad.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender |title=GLAAD Media Reference Guide – Transgender glossary of terms |website=GLAAD |date=May 2010 |access-date=24 February 2011 |archive-date=30 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120530061657/http://www.glaad.org/reference/transgender |url-status=live }}</ref> Transgender is independent of sexual orientation; transgender people may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, etc.; some may consider conventional sexual orientation labels inadequate or inapplicable to them. The definition of ''transgender'' includes: * "Denoting or relating to a person whose sense of personal identity and gender does not correspond with their birth sex."<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of transgender in English by Oxford Dictionaries |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/transgender |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160925144023/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/transgender |archive-date=25 September 2016 |website=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=18 June 2018}}</ref> * "People who were assigned a sex, usually at birth and based on their genitals, but who feel that this is a false or incomplete description of themselves."<ref name="usi">"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080608075230/http://www.usilgbt.org/index.php?categoryid=35 USI LGBT Campaign – Transgender Campaign]". Retrieved 11 January 2012.</ref> * "Non-identification with, or non-presentation as, the sex (and assumed gender) one was assigned at birth."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stroud.gov.uk/info/gender_equality_scheme.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227114158/http://www.stroud.gov.uk/info/gender_equality_scheme.pdf |title=Stroud District Council "Gender Equality SCHEME AND ACTION PLAN 2007" |archive-date=27 February 2008}}</ref>
While people self-identify as transgender, the transgender identity umbrella includes sometimes-overlapping categories. These include transsexual; cross-dresser; genderqueer; androgyne; and bigender.<ref name="ryan">{{Cite journal |title=Lesbian and Gay Youth: Care and Counseling |first1=Caitlin C. |last1=Ryan |first2=Donna |last2=Futterman |journal=Adolescent Medicine |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=207–374 |year=1998 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-11191-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/lesbiangayyouthc0000ryan/page/49 |pmid=10360017}}</ref> Usually not included are transvestic fetishists (because it is considered to be a paraphilia rather than gender identification), and drag kings and drag queens, who are performers who cross-dress for the purpose of entertaining. In an interview, celebrity drag queen RuPaul talked about society's ambivalence to the differences in the people who embody these terms. "A friend of mine recently did the ''Oprah'' show about transgender youth", said RuPaul. "It was obvious that we, as a culture, have a hard time trying to understand the difference between a drag queen, transsexual, and a transgender, yet we find it very easy to know the difference between the American baseball league and the National baseball league, when they are both so similar."<ref name=DS>Interview with RuPaul, David Shankbone, ''Wikinews'', 6 October 2007.</ref>
==By country== * Gender roles and fluidity in indigenous Nigerian cultures * Gender roles among the Indigenous peoples of North America * Gender roles in childhood * Gender roles in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe * Gender roles in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica * Gender roles in Sri Lanka * Women in Afghanistan
==See also== {{Portal|Feminism|Human sexuality|Psychology}} {{Div col|colwidth=20em}} * Anti-gender movement * Childhood gender nonconformity * Dominatrix * Gender bender * Gender polarization * Gender policing * Gendered associations of pink and blue * Locus of control#Gender-based differences * Male expendability * Misandry * Misogyny * Sex and gender distinction * Sexual inversion (sexology) * Women and children first * Women-are-wonderful effect {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} {{Commons category|Gender roles}} * [https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/gender-stereotyping OHCHR | Gender stereotyping]. A summary of international treaties concerning gender stereotyping. * [https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/gender-lgbt/gender-roles/ Surveys on gender roles] by the Pew Research Center * [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzuJW0cPzJ4 Gender Communication Barriers and Techniques], Strategic Communications, ''Stanford Graduate School of Business''. Serves to help develop communication skills.
{{Gender studies}} {{Sexual identities}} {{Feminism}} {{Evolutionary psychology}} {{Discrimination}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gender Role}} Category:1950s neologisms Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Feminist terminology Category:Gender roles Category:Role theory Category:Role status Role Category:Social conservatism