Gender and the Role We Play

A detailed Summary of Gender and the Role We Play


Gender role reversal through out the years has changed, but have we changed with it? Since the dawn of time man was taught to be and act like a man and women were taught to be and act lady like. Each of the sexes had expected roles to play out. Cave men drug their women by their hair to get them to where they were supposed to be. The cave man was seen as masculine. Masculinity may be defined as how men are taught from birth, that if they act a certain way or do certain things, this will define their masculinity. These "certain things" range from not crying when they get hurt to acting and playing violently. This is what is expected from a "man." Women were still women and expected to act feminine. Femininity is defined as "1. The quality or state of being feminine. 2. A female trait or characteristic. 3. Women as a group. 4. Womanishness: effeminacy." (Webster's II 471). That's the way things were for a long time and then things began to change.

The expectations of a woman's role in society in the 1800's started to change. Some played the role of ladies and others, like Martha Jane Burke also known as Calamity Jane (1852? -1903), had their own ideas of what they wanted out of life. Calamity Jane was


The 1900's came along and we still attempted to play out the roles that society had expected. Then, World War I broke out and America needed all the help she could muster. For the first time in history women were allowed to join the armed forces. True, they could only join the reserves and do menial type jobs, but they were stepping into uncharted waters. This brings a question to mind, if the women were away in the reserves who was at home taking care of the family and house hold? Could it have been the men? With the start of World War II women were once again called upon to fill a mans role and the Woman's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was established in 1942. In 1943 it became a component of the U.S. Army and was renamed Women's Army Corps (WAC). No longer were women expected to stay at home, but were being recognized as somewhat of equals in the work force.



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Approximate Word count = 980
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People

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