Gender Roles in America Essay

The distinction between the roles of workforce and wo men in America is a modern societal dichotomy. What were once the black and white duties of the 1950s had paled into conglomerate shades of grey by the 21st century. The Ozzie and Harriet roles of the 1950s and early 1960s were challenged, redefined and sometimes ignored through with(predicate) the decennarys that followed. Women were demanding and being granted the opportunity to advance professional careers, explore alternative lifestyles, or forego the virtuous marri climb on family and be a single parent.In other cases the parenting roles were completely reversed as pointed off by Glenn Sacks in his essay Stay-at-Home Dads (277). During the 1950s, traditional American society pass judgment women to marry young, take aim children and support their husbands career. There was a sort of stigma associated with the 30 year archaic spinster addressed with the title Miss. This position was reinforced with the social media of the time. Books like Dr. Spocks, Babies and Child Care argued that women working(a) outside the home actually risked their childrens mental and emotional healthThe primary social media of the time, boob tube and movies, also promoted the division of roles with actresses like Doris Day, Harriet Nelson and Barbara Billingsley playing the supportive wife and caring mother piece of music the likes of Ozzie Nelson, Hugh Beaumont and Cary hand were the successful dominating male with the last word in all subjects. Men were expected to be a successful all knowing and authoritative figure, working the classic nine to five job.Those who did not fit this mold were considered by society as unmanly, lazy, failures, or just plain no-good. The only pleasurable exception to this model of the male persona was the dashing consummate bachelor portrayed by actors much(prenominal) as John Wayne, William Shatner, and Sean Connery. Women had no such exception. The unmarried womanly of the time was usually portrayed as Gidget (Sandra Dee), Jeannie (Barbara Eden), Sister Bertrille (Sally Fields) or That Girls Anne Marie (Marlo Thomas).Over the course of the next few decades women made spectacular strides towards social equality. Bras were burned, the pill brought on sexual freedom and the no-fault clause in divorce helped free women from the repressive shackles placed on them by the male dominated societal norm. Slowly and somewhat grudgingly, society responded to the female pressures by accepting more and more crossover roles by both women and men. The social differences between he roles of men and women began to blur as less value was placed on the traditional and both sexes began to emerge in the workplace in what had previously been opposite gender roles. Areas like engineering, construction and manufacturing saw a permanent influx of women jobs held temporarily by females during the war years of 1941 to 1945. Concurrently, men began to gravitate towards roles as nurses, teachers, and homemakers.In spite of all the work towards equality and sameism (a word I coined to describe the merging of the gender roles) men are put away primarily locked into the role of provider and modern women are painted into a receding expected to do all the female things and most of the male things while still being athletic, sexy, willing, engaging and smart. According to author Steven Hinshaw, Our teenage girls are baffled, distressed, and overwhelmed (by) a set of impossible, contradictory expectations (301), a situation he terms as a triple bind.Conversely young men are now expected to be seen as strong, brave, successful, sensitive, insightful, supportive and totally accepting of the womans new role while still knowing when to open doors and pay for the movie tickets. As we now enter the second decade of the 21st Century, there is no shortage of women doing mens jobs or vice-versa. The blending of traditional male-female roles has croak the norm and the old-style well defined roles of breadwinner and housewife are all but extinct.There is however, a festering trend of the liberated woman moving back into the traditional role of homemaker as they age and decide that they have missed something and now wish to express their maternal feelings. Thus, although modern society fosters the sufferance of more gender neutral roles through education, training and non-discrimination laws it also emphasizes the traditional roles as the desired outcome. So we find ourselves faced with the blurry gray dichotomy of how to meet the politically correct demands of society and still meet the individual needs of the members of that society.