Shack 1

Desiree Shack

Professor Beadle

English 114A

24 February 2017

Society & Gender Roles

Two major articles that talk about gender were Lorbers, Night to His Day: The Social

Construction of Gender and Devors article Becoming Members of Society: The Social

Meanings of Gender. We live in a binary society where people only see he/she and anything

other than those are outside the norms. The main idea in the readings were to point out how

and why society constructs gender roles.

Lorber in the article, Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender, explains

what the gender roles are. On page 27, she states, Women recruits in the US Marine Corps are

required to wear makeup -- at minimum, lipstick and eyeshadow. A lot of people have feelings

that going into the army is as being a tomboy and this is why women are required to wear

makeup. But it almost makes it as if its not ok to be a tomboy. Again, something society has

shaped around. Women are also viewed as dainty and hormonal. Which is why women dont

receive the same equality in the workplace. Women and men are segregated on the job and each

does work considered appropriate. (Lorber 30). As if we dont have the strength to do the same

work. Lorber's main point was to point out all the ways society views women and places these

gender roles and that was thoroughly executed.

Devor in the article, Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender,

argues that society shapes the term gender roles as well. One example given was how children
 Shack 2

know what the gender roles are at an early age. Generally, they are learning these roles through

television. Male actors always a patriarchal role where they have to take charge in the household,

etc. Speech plays a role in how society views you. If you're a man whose nonaggressive and

subordinate (Devor 41) while giving a speech you are considered more feminine. That goes for

if youre a speaker who use more polite expressions and ask more questions in a conversation

you seem more feminine.(Devor 41) Society places any rules and if you go anywhere outside

of the norms its a problem.

As a child, I remember being taught gender roles too. My parents bought me toys based

on my gender. I had barbie dolls, kitchen sets, musical instruments, stuffed animals, etc.

Meanwhile, my boy cousins would have nerf guns, military weapons, bikes, building sets &

blocks, and race cars. This does affect how you see the world as you get older, as I wanted to be

a cook and my cousins wanted to be firefighters. One is viewed in society to be more masculine

than the other. I was dressed in more feminine clothes than my cousins to really unriddle my

gender. Even with given features of a girl, I was still dressed in clothing with flowers, princesses,

and/or pastel colors. These things related back to what Devor and Lorber try explaining in their

articles.

When asked if they knew what the gender roles are, many people nodded no but when

told what the gender roles were people quickly agreed. If you're a man and you dont give a

speech with an aggressive tone, youre more feminine. If you're a woman who wants to join the

Marine and you dont wear makeup you're considered a tomboy, and thats a problem. If you're a

woman youre likely to not receive the same job as a man and as a child you will be dressed

opposed to your gender. Although, we are becoming a society that is slowly accepting more and
 Shack 3

more everyday so perhaps one day in the future we will no longer have these things called

gender roles.

Works Cited

Lorber, Judith. Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender,

edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford St. Martins, 2014, pp. 19-33.

Devor, Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Composing

Gender, edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford St. Martins, 2014, pp. 35-43.