Gender Roles in America Essay

The distinction between the roles of men and women in America is a modern societal dichotomy. What were once the black and etiolated duties of the 1950s had paled into various shades of grey by the twenty-first century. The Ozzie and Harriet roles of the 1950s and early 1960s were challenged, redefined and sometimes ignored through the decades that followed. Women were demanding and being disposed(p) the opportunity to advance professional c atomic number 18ers, explore alternative lifestyles, or chuck up the sponge the classic marriage family and be a single parent.In different cases the parenting roles were completely reversed as pointed out by Glenn Sacks in his adjudicate Stay-at-Home Dads (277). During the 1950s, traditional American baseball club judge women to marry young, moderate children and support their husbands career. There was a sort of smirch associated with the 30 year old spinster addressed with the title Miss. This lieu was reinforced with the social medi a of the time. Books exchangeable Dr. Spocks, Babies and Child Care argued that women running(a) orthogonal the home actually risked their childrens mental and emotional healthThe chief(a) social media of the time, television and movies, also promoted the division of roles with actresses like Doris Day, Harriet Nelson and Barbara Billingsley playing the encouraging wife and caring mother while the likes of Ozzie Nelson, Hugh Beaumont and Cary Grant were the successful ascendant male with the last word in all subjects. Men were pass judgment 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 unobjectionable exception to this model of the male persona was the dashing consummate bach portrayed by actors such(prenominal) as John Wayne, William Shatner, and Sean Connery. Women had no such exception. The unmarried female of the time was usually portrayed as Gidget (Sandra Dee), Jeannie (Barbara Eden), infant Bertrille (Sally Fields) or That Girls Anne Marie (Marlo Thomas).Over the course of the next hardly a(prenominal) decades women made dramatic strides towards social equality. Bras were burned, the pill brought on sexual license 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 come along 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 t o gravitate towards roles as nurses, teachers, and homemakers.In bitterness of all the work towards equality and sameism (a word I coined to describe the integrate of the gender roles) men are still primarily locked into the role of supplier and modern women are painted into a corner expected to do all the female things and most of the male things while still being athletic, sexy, willing, attractive and smart. According to author Steven Hinshaw, Our teenage girls are baffled, distressed, and overwhelmed (by) a adapt 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 repair 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 unify of traditional male-fema le roles has become the norm and the old-style well defined roles of breadwinner and housewife are all but extinct.There is however, a growing 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 have a bun in the oven their maternal feelings. Thus, although modern society fosters the acceptance of more gender impersonal 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.