Is gender role just another myth?

Question

Yes, I understand that reproductive type of a person is an important part of life. However, gender roles in society appear totally man-made (and/or woman-made) and seems to be more about nurture and less about nature.

Little babies observe and learn to fit in. Without that skill, our species would not be where it is. Babies observe gender roles in the society around them and learn to fit in, just the same way as any baby would attempt to fit in with the culture, religion, language, etc of its surroundings. People in matriarchial cultures grow up adhering to the gender roles in that culture.

We live following so many myths in the society around us, religion, patriotism, corporate rat race, pursuit of wealth, etc. Traditional gender roles seem to be another such myth that is so ingrained in us that most of us fail to question it. Do you disagree? If so, what is your rationale to prove that traditional gender role is not a myth?

Answer 1

You are right in the fact that we first learn how to behave according to gender via imitationn, usually our parents.

Even excluding the facts of the exposure to the world and all that entails, women and men are biologically different. Not just the reproduction side of things, but our brains actually operate differently.

There are many instances of this, to give one example, womens memories are organized by emotional strength, including all the finer details that entails, whereas mens memory function is organized by the central event and chronological order.

There are many more examples like this, you just have to know where to look for them.

Answer 2

To some degree yes. But there are obvious physiological differences between men and women, the most obvious is the different hormones. Men have more Testosterone, women more Estrogen.

These hormones leads to different moods.

Answer 3

Gender roles fall in a number of category's, depending on the education and culture.  I was a young person when women's lib started in the United States.  It was a strange time to be alive for a woman.  I have found now, that for me, gender roles depend on your attitude, your education, your desire.    In the united states, many marriages, do not survive the initial 2 years due to fighting over what ends up being gender roles or in simple terms....who does what.  When I was young, women did not do..... you name it.  Women were supposed to stay home and rear children and cook and clean.  Now women have to do that plus work.  Unless your marriage is different as some are.  My son does it all often.  The gender roles are not strictly defined in some cultures while in others they are.  Often it is not nature vs nurture but who is either strongest or make more money vs who doesn't.  When that society is mostly men who make more money you have a society that is male dominated.  The opposite is true for a female dominated society.  

The ones who fail to question it are the ones who are the most dominated and are afraid to question it.  Or the ones who are satisfied with their lot in life.   I agree that gender roles are a myth.  To be truely un gender driven one should be able to do whatever one wants as far as work, and social life.   However, all societys desire ways to position others in category's to easily be able to understand life in general.  That is why people wear uniforms in certain jobs, or are judged by the "company" they keep.

Kwandrie

Answer 4

I don't think it is a myth even if it is "nurture" or cultural. Like, what difference does it make whether genetics or society caused it? It still exists despite the cause, and neither cause is more valid than the other.

I don't think they are all cultural though. Genetics force some of the traits. For example, only women get pregnant. After the child is born, someone has to raise it, well at least before babysitters and day-cares existed. So, it makes sense that a natural gender role would be for the woman to raise the child. You could say "well, the man could do it, why does it have to be the woman". My explanation for that is along time ago people hunted...and an 8 month pregnant woman probably did not feel like hunting, nor was she even capable. The same goes for a few weeks after a child is born. So, since the woman is  not out hunting and stuff while pregnant or immediately after birth, it makes sense to just keep staying at home. Also, since the man NEVER had to take a break from hunting, it allowed him to become better at it than a woman could since she would have natural time periods when she would not be able to hunt.

Ok, society steps in, because an infertile woman would also not be hunting, even though she had nothing stopping her. But since most women do have children and stuff, they just catered the society to the way the majority of women were.

Also, genetically MOST men are stronger than women....which is why they usually did the work that required more strength. However, a 6 foot tall woman athlete is probably stronger than a 5 foot tall wimpy man...however, there again, it's about the majority.

Gender roles change though based on new technology. Today, women do not have to stay at home with their kids, but can instead send them to daycare, have a nanny, etc. So, they are able to go out and do the same kind of work as a man. Also, now days some men are the ones that stay at home while the woman works. Tradition is why some people view it as odd....and the tradition goes way back in history where the original reasons were practical.

The bad side, is that men often have felt women were weak because they had to care for children, or that women were somehow dumb and inferior. This is all cultural...because in nature....a female tiger is just as deadly as a male one. Now, since all the men were saying this stuff and oppressing women, many women believed it. So cultural gender roles became stronger than genetic ones. For instance,  women are helpless and need to be taken care of by a man, or women are more fragile, etc. They have affected men adversely too, such as real men shouldn't cry, or show weakness, etc.

Anyway, I guess my point is, I think gender/genetic differences caused the early gender roles, but then society added to them and defined them more....and that they continue to change...and that no matter what causes them, they do still exist.... Also, animals have gender roles too (though maybe their animal society imposed them?)

Answer 5

i dun follow the role - so i don't know

Answer 6

i agree with you for the most part, but i don't think nurture is the sole determining factor of gender roles.

genetics definitely has a role. even things like patriotism and pursuit of wealth are a result of personality, which is partly dependent on genetics. risk taking, which is determined by hormones, is a trait primarily found in males.

so its not purely myth or truth, it lies somewhere between the two extremes.