WOMEN IN COMTEMPORARY SOCIETY

SOCIOLOGY 2000

Gender Role development / Agents of gender

Just like almost all people my gender role development to have been immensely influenced by the same prevalent agents: Family, Peer group, school and media. Born and raised in Nigeria (West Africa), immersed and socialized through my teenage years in a different culture makes the fact that I turned out not very different in my thoughts, actions and expectations of gender and gender roles from that of an average American Male is quite interesting and testifies to the almost universal uniformity of gender roles.

Both my parents held jobs outside the home. Both of them worked for the leading banks in country and that created an early acceptance in me that both men and women could do just be as successful in a corporate setting and according to the cognitive development theory was It was the only natural inference to make as that understanding fit into that particular stage of my cognitive development (Lindsey, 1997).

Due to the fact that house chores, and school activities were commonly divided and shared along gender sex lines I have developed (mainly subconsciously) a feel for what kind of roles men and women should play. I seldom helped out in the kitchen or learnt to cook. The messages I received were that women were more "skilled" at cooking and should be the ones in charge of the domestic front and nurturing issues. Men on the other hand should handle more "dirty " jobs like working on a car, moving heavy furniture etc.

Media as I have come to know it creates, reflects and reinforces gender roles. There is always an underlying message that reinforces long held attitudes. Right from cartoons from my childhood days to movies it was clear that roles were defined. In cartoons, superheroes were mostly men. Movies always depicted Masculinity to be synonymous with brawn, violence and heroism with Male dominance, and female passivity major factors. Women are shown to exist mainly for looks and in a lesser status to men. I assimilated many of this media portrayed stereotypes and for large chunks of my life I idolized men like Arnold Szchartnegger. Although as I grew the desire for buff bodies waned, the desire to seem and tough, independent and unemotional blossomed.

There were certain chores that were considered male and were done by my brother and I. Most of our duties were most weekly or seasonal and ones we might consider more fun, such as washing my dad's car. It was evident my sisters were being groomed by my mom (just a her own mom did) as future nurturers. They helped out in kitchen and were responsible for most of the quotidian chores and strangely they were expected to be more responsible. My brother and I were given a freer range to play around. From home I learned early on from my parents that it somewhat "okay" for boys to be uncouth, rough and tough. We also heard such cliches like "be a man" and "boys don't cry". My sisters were raised more strictly, "not to play like boys" my mom was more particular about their hygiene and their comportment and just as stated in the social learning theory, I understood from the reprimands and reinforcements based on our conformity or breach what was appropriate gender behavior. (Lindsey 57).

I have always set high aspirations for myself and have never felt limited in anyway. It has always been a somewhat strong ambition to get education to the highest level possible. Education has always been a matter of interest to me and not just a means to a financial e

Some common words found in the essay are:
Peer Peer, American Male, Aspirations Achievement, MEDIA Media, Love Marriage, Relationship/Roles Due, Lindsey Unfortunately, Gender Role, West Africa, Arnold Szchartnegger, gender roles, social learning, learning theory, gender role, cognitive development, social learning theory, gender role development, helped kitchen, domestic front, lindsey 57, gender socialization, taught value,
Approximate Word count = 1695
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)