Gender Roles in Different Cultures, Research Paper Example

Culture can be referred to as intellectual and artistic practices, such as literature, drama, music, and art, as well as referred to as a societal beliefs, traditions and practices. Human behavior has been studied in various aspects and across different cultures, as well as compared between cultures.  Through scientific studies, it has been shown that human behavior is directly linked to culture.  In fact, previous research has indicated that certain beliefs within a culture are based on historic cultural beliefs and that those historic beliefs are extreme factors in a culture’s decision making process. (Alesina et al., 2012) Multiple studies have also indicated that differences within cultures can be described either through historical origins or environmental factors or differences. One specific topic that is continually researched is the differences in gender roles between cultures. Since the United States of America contains multiple different cultures, this is an important topic to dissect in order to help establish female roles in our school system, as well as our society. 

Gender identification and relations are important factors in a culture as they are shaped by a culture. Gender roles are shaped through the daily rituals that are lived by families and communities, as well as the workplace. Gender can also be compared to ethnicity because gender roles function on the cultural aspects applied to being either a male or female. The clearest example can be described through the division of labor given to male and females. For instance, the phrase, “women’s job” and a “man’s job”, are clearly defined in most societies both in the household, as well as in a community.  (Schalkwyk, 2000) In survey conducted, referred to as the “World Values Survey”, the respondents were asked to agree or disagree to the following statement, “when jobs are scarce, men should have more right to a job than women”. Results from Egypt indicated a 94.9% as “agree” with the statement.  (Alesina et al., 2012) In the current American society, it is a general understanding that women are allowed to be equals to males, such as obtaining employment outside of the domestic home; however, this is clearly not the case for some cultures. The current paper, therefore, describes the difference in gender roles of women as a result of human behavior in Caucasian American society and Egyptian society.

In Egypt, the society is characterized by distinct roles in regard to gender. For instance, Egyptian males are referred to as the authoritarian leaders over women. The male gender is in charge of fertility matters and emotional attachment to the spouse and children. In addition, the women are raised to be submissive to their spouse. The result of the role of gender for women in Egyptian society can be described through adolescent development. Adolescent behavior in Egypt is characterized by little rebellion or social context away from the parents in comparison to Western societies.  Furthermore, it has been found that adolescent Egyptians stay closer to home instead of trying to become independent. Males and females also experience this time in their life differently because female adult roles and male adult roles in Egyptian society are completely opposite.  Adolescent males spend their adolescent years creating social networks and how to become an independent adult.  Whereas, adolescent girls begin to undergo a halt in their independence as they enjoyed during their childhood. Adolescent girls are forced to remove themselves from social events, friends, etc., and show a more unassertive behavior towards others.  (Mensch, 2003)  For instance, as Egyptian children begin to increase in age, a difference in activities is seen between boys and girls. Boys are found conducting activities outside of the home and within the community; whereas, the girls are found in the household and not allowed to conduct activities outside of the home.  Schooling is the only activity in which girls are allowed to attend; however, the school year in Egypt is shorter in length compared to other areas. When school is over, girls developing out of the adolescent years are retracted from free time.  (Mensch, 2003)

Education is said to be a predictor of subsequent behavior, as well as an indicator of gender bias in cultures. In Egypt, school enrollment for boys is almost mandatory within households; however, girls are a huge disadvantage. It has been found that only 84% of girls attend elementary school, compared to 95% of boys. In addition, although there is only a 11% decrease between gender school enrollment, by the time a girl exits adolescence, the traditional behaviors put upon women in the Egyptian culture still remain. Why do women even attend school in Egypt? The psychological reasoning in the culture comes from beliefs that the girls will obtain more social awareness and social practice, in addition to the increased probability of finding a good mate; whereas, the boys are believed to obtain the right education for the workforce. This clearly indicates a gender bias between girls and boys in Egypt, thereby illustrating the behavioral differences that are shaping the Egyptian culture. (Mensch, 2003)

In regard to work, working Egyptian women is extremely low. In fact, the National Labor-Force survey indicated the employment rates for Egyptian women at only 16% of women. (Assad et al., 2000) Women receive high discrimination even if educated and trying to find a job.  Any type of decrease in economy results in the loss of women jobs. In addition, women who obtain a job and get married are expected to quit in order starting having children. The laws and regulations regarding maternity leave and working hours are not meaningful to working mothers in Egypt and are at high cost to the employer.

Historic American culture had clear defined gender identities and roles between males and females.  The traditional roles were obtained through immigrants settling from European countries. The husband was provided with the breadwinner role and the wife as the caregiver.

These roles were the basics of life and it was initially unheard of women entering the workforce, voting, going to college, and obtaining a job; however, the United States has proven to provide individuals with equal rights with the rise in Feminism during the 19^th century. During World War II, specifically, women’s roles changed and shaped women’s equality and rights for the future years.  With the men at war women took on the jobs to support the economy and during this time, women’s labor helped the country and consequently helped change female gender roles in the American culture. (Hawke, 2003)

Although the United States has made substantial progress in regard to women’s rights and equality, there are still some lingering issues that the United States is faced with as well. The United States has proven to have an increase in the education department with women entering college and using their education to obtain employment; however,

There are still issues for women who do enter the workforce, such as limited maternity leave benefits and childcare. The same issues in which face working Egyptian women. (World Economic Forum, 2005)

Previous studies have shown that there remains a gender gap in multiple countries worldwide, not just in Egypt. According to the World Economic Forum, there are five areas that have helped countries reach equality between men and women. These areas are as follows: economic participation, economic opportunity, educational attainment, health and well-being, and political empowerment. Over 50 countries were analyzed with multiple countries decreasing the gap between genders, particularly in the Nordic countries, such as Sweden. Some countries, such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom have out-competed the United States in decreasing the gender gap.  (World Economic Forum, 2005)  It can therefore be expressed that more and more countries have been aware of the benefits of the equality for women through the increase in economic and political status.  With such positive outcomes and increase in participation in women rights and equality in other countries, it is hard to believe that traditions and behavior with inequality towards women exists in countries such as Egypt.

Gender equality is part of human social behavior and development. It can be suggested that Egypt has yet accept the notion that allowing women the same rights and responsibilities as men, may increase their economic and political status. Instead, gender roles are solely based on whether someone is born male and female, with their role in society clearly written or established from birth on.

There are groups that help support the need for countries such as Egypt in changing their behavior and traditional gender roles. One program is known as the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).  The purpose of this group was to help countries mainstream genders and create equal opportunities for women and men. For instance, the goal of the program is to help develop policies, research, and society norms for women. Although these groups help change society norms, it is often difficult to change behavior in a household. (World Economic Forum, 2005) In regard to Egyptian culture, the traditions and norms for these families are to have the women stay in the home and not work. Part of the resistance of this culture for change could be religious aspects as well.  Religion could take and huge part in their traditions and fear of abandoning their faith could take a major role in the lack of willingness to change society views of gender roles.

Equality in gender roles seems to be a slow process. The United States began with equality movements in the 19^th century and equality issues still exist. The main focus should be helping other cultures see the benefits that women could provide to their society with changes to their traditions and beliefs. Expanding knowledge to each individual in a society can help educate the other cultures and obtain new ideas that could not only decrease the gap in gender roles, but keep an open mind and an understanding between cultures.

References

Alesina, A., Giuliano, P. Nunn, N.  2011.  On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough. Forschungsinstitut  zur Zukunft der Arbeit Institute for the Study of Labor IZA Discussion Paper No. 5735. http://ftp.iza.org/dp5735.pdf

Alesina, A., Giuliano, P. Nunn, N.  2012.  On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough. Forschungsinstitut  zur Zukunft der Arbeit Institute for the Study of Labor IZA.  http://www.econ.northwestern.edu/seminars/Nemmers11/Giuliano.pdf

Assaad, Ragui, Fatma El-Hamidi, and Akhter U. Ahmed. 2000. The Determinants of Employment Status in Egypt. Food Consumption and Nutrition Division Discussion Paper No. 88. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute.

Bhate, R. (2012). A woman’s place? A Cross-National Exploration of Gender Role Perspectives Findings from: The Generations of Talent Study. Sloan Center of Aging and Work at Boston College. Quick Insights I.

Hawke, Lucy A. (2007) “Gender Roles within American Marriage: Are They Really Changing?,”ESSAI: Vol. 5, Article 23. Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol5/iss1/23

Mensch, B.S., Ibrahim, B.L., Lee, S.M., El-Gibaly, O. (2003). Gender-role Attitudes among Egyptian Adolescents.  Studies in Family Planning. 34(1): 8-18.

Schalkwyk, J. 2000. Culture: a)Culture, Gender Equality and Development Cooperation.

Canadian International Development Agency. June. 6pp. http://www.oecd.org/social/gender-development/1896320.pdf

World Economic Forum.  (2005).  Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap. Retrieved from: http://www.weforum.org/pdf/Global_Competitiveness_Reports/Reports/gender_gap.pdf