Gender Role, Essay Example

Gender role can be defined as the public presentation of gender identity (Dictionary). In other words, everyone is expected to take roles or portray traits usually associated with one’s gender. Not surprisingly, gender role has historically led to systematic discrimination against women because they were perceived to be different as well as biologically and intellectually inferior to men and in addition, their place was deemed to be at home as homemakers. Even though women may be different from men biologically and also psychologically in certain ways, being different doesn’t equate to being less capable. Historically, women do not have lower levels of achievements as compared to men because they are less capable but because discrimination due to gender role has resulted in fewer opportunities for women to truly demonstrate their true potential.

Gender roles should be opposed because they lead to both conscious and subconscious discrimination against women. Former U.S. Secretary of State once wrote to NASA how she could become an astronaut and NASA replied there would be no female astronauts (Harper). The reply reflected the mentality of NASA’s administrators at the time that women should not be astronauts or probably not capable of being one due to the physical and mental demands of the job and time has only proven otherwise. Similarly, gender roles also lead to biased assessment of women at workplaces. A study found that women leaders seen as less capable and less qualified than male counterparts because leadership is still culturally perceived to be a masculine position (Mail Online).

Statistics also prove that women are at least not less capable than men yet they continue to be underrepresented in most professions which is another sign of the huge costs gender role impose on the society. Fortunately, there has been some positive progress in society’s attitudes towards women and we are already seeing the results. The number of women seeking undergraduate degrees has exceeded men every year since 1988. While the cumulative increase in men who are full time graduate students was 38 percent between 2000 and 2010, the corresponding rate for women was 62 percent (National Center for Education Statistics) which is more than 50 percent that of men. It shows that more women are now getting college degrees than men as the society is gradually acknowledging that women do not just belong at homes. These women now make valuable contributions to the U.S. economy though wage gaps and glass ceilings still continue to exist and much work is left to be done.

Even though more women are graduating from colleges, stereotypes due to gender roles create inequitable working conditions for women. Only 13.5 percent of the Fortune 500 Executives were women in 2009 though the rate had improved to 14.3 percent by 2012. Similarly, 9.6 percent of the board seats were held by women in 1995 but the rate had improved to 16.6 percent by 2012. This low representation occurred despite the fact that women accounted for 46.9 percent of the labor force as well as 51.5 percent of management, professional and related positions in the U.S (Catalyst).

The society should work towards eliminating the stereotypes that continue to exist due to gender roles because they result in inequitable opportunities for women and impose huge and social costs to the society. Women may be biologically and psychologically different in certain aspects but differences do not indicate differences in capabilities and potential. Even though things have changed, there is still much work to do. The fact that women representation in corporate boards has almost double from 1995 to 2012 can only be attributed to positive changes in social attitudes because it is quite unlikely that an average woman suddenly became much more capable in about seventeen years.

References

Catalyst. Statistical Overview of Women in the Workplace. December 2011. 25 March 2013 <http://www.catalyst.org/publication/219/statistical-overview-of-women-in-the-workplace>.

Dictionary. Gender Role. 25 March 2013 <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gender+role>.

Harper, Robyn. Equality and Gender Roles Don’t Coexist When a Woman Loves a Woman. 28 January 2013. 25 March 2013 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robyn-harper/equality-and-gender-roles-dont-coexist-when-a-woman-loves-a-woman_b_2516117.html>.

Mail Online. Women in the workplace seen as ‘less qualified and capable leaders than men’. 18 July 2011. 25 March 2013 <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2016003/Women-workplace-seen-qualified-capable-leaders-men.html>.

National Center for Education Statistics. Fast Facts. 25 March 2013 <http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=98>.