Argumentative Reflection

The assignment in which I presented an argument was in my research paper called, “How
Have Gender Roles Changed Over Time.” This assignment was completed in 11th grade for my
AP English Language class. I began this gender research paper over my winter vacation in 2017.
In this assignment I was asked to create a gender research paper with an unlimited amount of
pages to write. My main focus was to give in depth details of how gender roles have evolved
over time and in what way it has impacted our society. I was also asked to provide evidence from
the resources I utilized in order to back up my point of view. This assignment is an
argumentative piece because I argued the fact that although gender roles have been modified and
have impacted parenting, education, and jobs the genders are not equal yet. In my research paper
I referenced the article , “Gender Roles and Gender Role Conflicts,” by Pearlstein, which stated
that, “women across the developed world earn approximately 16% less than men employed and
similar full-time jobs and with similar skills and experiences levels,”(para.4 ,Pearlstein). This
evidence was utilized to prove that although women perform the same jobs that men do, they are
still not receiving equal pay. This shows that although gender roles have changed, women are
still getting paid unequally. Another piece of evidence I utilized was from, “Biography.com,”
which stated that, Hillary Clinton was the first American lady to ever win a public office seat.
She also became the 67th U.S secretary of state in 2009 serving until 2013.This quote is referring
to Hillary Clinton, Clinton was the first female to win a public seat. For many years she has been
trying obtain the position to become the President of the United States. However, this country
has not given the opportunity for a women to lead this country. One possible reason why this
hasn’t occurred is because many men still have the mentality that a woman is not capable of
doing so, and are very stereotypical. This shows that gender roles have evolved and have made
great advancements towards equality, but not to a full extent. This meets the argumentative
category because I stated my claim and was capable of backing it with multiple pieces of
evidence.

During this assignment I demonstrated the student learning outcomes (SLOs)of being a
critical thinker and an effective communicator. I was a critical thinker by comparing gender roles
from the 19th century to now. Before, a woman's role was to be fully dedicated to doing house
work and taking care of the family, while men provided income by working. Now, many women
work outside the home and are still responsible for taking care of their family. I also connected
my culture’s gender roles to what I learned in my AP World History class. I was also a critical
thinker by understanding and making connections with my research and the stereotypes I
witnessed growing up. “Stereotypes take a big part in jobs too. If you would say I have someone
in my family that's an engineer. What would come to mind to some people is that an engineer
would be a man.” In this quote, I provided a common example and made the connection to why
stereotypes can affect the decisions about which jobs each of the genders apply to. Lastly, I was
a critical thinker by analyzing detailed research from the article , “Male Nurses Becoming More
Commonplace, Census Bureau Reports,” which stated that, “The nursing profession remains
overwhelmingly female, but the representation of men has increased as the demand for nurses
has grown over the last several decades…” I used this quote when I analyzed the fact that men’s
views about a “female” profession have changed. I argued the fact that men have decided to try
other careers that were not traditionally male but still aren’t equally represented in the field. I
was an effective communicator by providing key points and summarizing at the end of my
research paper my overall opinion as well as my reflection so that my audience can easily
comprehend the main points. I was an effective communicator by summarizing the main key
points. I did this in order to ensure that the reader understood my perspective and the whole
purpose of writing the gender research paper. Utilizing persuasive language was another skill I
used in order for the reader to be convinced about the argument I was stating. Lastly, I utilized
language as well as vocabulary that was appropriate for educated adults.
Through this assignment I improved my skills of being able to find appropriate data as
well as evidence and being able to connect it to my claim. What I still need to improve on in
being able to effectively communicate in a clear and concise manner. Critical thinking, being an
effective communicator and effectively arguing are skills that can be utilized in my future career,
if I become a teacher. Being able to argue for my students’ rights, communicate with their
parents and thinking critically about how I can develop creative lessons for kindergarteners, are
just some examples of how these skills will be applied in my future job.
 Sanchez 1

Briana Sanchez

AP English

Ms. Vanhill

Block 1

15 January 2018

How Have Gender Roles Changed Overtime?

Gender Roles have been modified overtime, which have affected stereotypes and the way

people acknowledge roles. Females have become powerful leaders in this world and in the eyes

of many people they are no longer “weak.” Every culture, society and ethnic groups have certain

expectations for gender roles. Before the 19th century, women’s roles were very restricted, this

consisted of being dedicated in doing housework and taking care of their family. Getting an

education or a job did not correspond for a female. On the contrary, men were eligible to receive

an education, get a job as well as taking care of any finances. Men and women have impacted

many changes specifically in parenting, jobs and education, but they are not equal yet.

Parenting has changed to the point where in the 21st century a father can assist mom's daily

duties. We now see certain cases where the dad stays at home watching the children and cooking

for them, while the mom works. Females can now provide any finances that are needed.

According to the article of, “ The States With The Most Stay At Home Fathers,” they state that, “
Last year, by contrast, an estimated 1.9 million fathers remained home with the kids —

accounting for 16 percent of the stay-at-home parent population…” This shows, that males are

taking a huge step in being more involved in parenting roles instead of moms having full

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responsibility. Dads felt that there only duty was to be a true “man,” and work to provide any

needs for the family. Men and women help each other out in this century, by collaborating

together in order to ensure that their child is being raised properly. Although Parenting Gender

Roles have changed, they are still not equal, due to the fact that many still follow the stigma that,

“women should do the housework.” We have seen great advancements of the acceptance that

men and women should participate equally in parenting or take turns but there is still a lot of

people that don't believe in this equality.

Gender Roles in Parenting has been promoted through multiple ways throughout many

years. Such as T.V commercials specifically Pampers. According to the article, “ Getting Dad to

do Diaper Duty,” by “The New York Times,” they stated, “In a recent survey, by Pampers 69%

of men responded that they change diapers as often as their wives,” said Newman. In this quote,

we can see that based on the percentage of dad's that change diapers, we have made a huge

improvement in dad's taking part of mom’s duties with their baby. Changing a baby's diaper was

definitely not a man's duty back then. Men would think, “a man shouldn't have to change a

baby's diaper that's why they have a wife to be in charge of that.” Eventually, things have

completely changed in the 21 century! Males, now are capable of participating in babies duties.

“A Families and Work Institute report found that the baby’s duties. “The average amount of time

fathers spent with children younger than 13 during a workday in 2008 was three hours, up from

two hours in 1977,” stated NewMan. This quote is showing us, that not only fathers are taking
dad's duties but also spend time with their children something that fathers back then didn't mind

doing. Anyhow, this survey shows how gender roles have been modified in parenting. Yet, these

roles are still not equal, we can infer from the percentages that the other 31% are still not

participating in full Parenting Roles; which includes changing a baby's diaper.

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Another way that they have promoted parenting roles, is in the movie, “Instructions Not

Included,” by Eugenio Derbez. This movie shows how Valentin, one of the main characters, is

left as a single dad with his daughter Maggie. Maggie's mom left to Los Angeles leaving

Valentin with the responsibility of taking care of his daughter. Eventually, Valentin really

struggled at the beginning because he didn't know how to take care of baby at all, he couldn't

even change a diaper! Overtime, his role of being a dad and a mom to Maggie began to develop

well. This movie shows that Valentin was capable of assuming the responsibility and educating

Maggie properly. We are used to seeing movies where the mom sometimes struggles, but today's

reality is that, dads also take the role of being a mom to their children as well. Back then men

wouldn't do that they felt they weren't capable of doing such thing. “And the second one taught

me to face life without being ready,” said Valentin. This quote, expresses how Valentin Gender

roles have changed in parenting by showing the world that sometimes men need to have that

confidence in being an actual parent to their children. Having a male and a female getting

involved as parents in a family has made a good impact in order for their children to know that

they can count on either one of them. Males gaining confidence in being more involved in

parenting roles has made a great impact but still men haven't fully adapted and accepted the

change in this stereotype of moms being in charge of their children.

 Many years ago, women didn't have any privilege to work at all. They were women, which

sadly to the eyes of many men they were weak. Little by little women began to develop enough

strength to ask for their rights. They felt that they shouldn't be discriminated because of their

gender. Gender shouldn't be the reason why women were not granted with certain rights

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specifically with the right to work. When men and women began to work there was a period of

time where men wouldn't do females jobs nor females would do male jobs. Eventually, studies

show that a big percentage of men and women are moving in opposite sex roles. Stereotypes take

a big part in jobs too. If you would say I have someone in my family that's an engineer. What

would come to mind to some people is that an engineer would be a man. Eventually, today we

have a plethora female engineers and a lot of male engineers, which has proven this stereotype

wrong. As the years go by there would be equality in the working fields but for now they are not

100% equal.

According to the article, “Gender Roles and Gender Role Conflicts,” by Pearlstein, they

stated that, “women across the developed world earn approximately 16% less than men

employed and similar full-time jobs and with similar skills and experiences levels,”(para.4

,Pearlstein). We can infer from this quote that women are still getting paid less than men. Which

in this modern world is not fair if men and women are doing the same tasks and duties. Women

have received an increase in their wage, but still don’t meet the wage that men are receiving.

This means that gender roles is affecting the wages and woman today are claiming that they

receive what they deserve. Yet, what this quote proves is that women are taking part in manly

jobs or vise versa, which is really important in order for society to accept the opposite sex

equally.
 According to the article “Gender In the Workplace,” they state that, “men and women are as

equally strong in the environment of mechanics (Henderson para 2).” Equality and jobs have

become worldwide this gives an opportunity for both sexes to be able to collaborate and work

together in the same working environment. Women have made a great advancement in the

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working field, today we have really inspirational woman that Inspire other woman to follow their

dream and reach any goals that they have. One of the most inspirational woman today is Hillary

Clinton. We always have had a man lead the country of the United States. Hillary Clinton has

been so close to being the first woman to lead a country, she might not have won the recent

election but, she was really close to winning and sooner or later we are going to have a female

leading the U.S. Clinton has been working very hard her entire life, she has accomplished many

things. “ She became the first American first lady to ever win a public office seat. She later

became the 67th U.S secretary of state in 2009 serving until 2013” (Biography.com). This quote

shows that Hillary Clinton is a role model for many women, she achieved what men thought,

women would never achieve. Change in Gender roles is very present in this occasion, from men

being the only ones to speak up in the Senate to a powerful woman that was close to leading this

country.

Education is the key to success, getting an education is a way to reach all your goals you have

set. Gender has made a big impact on education. As mentioned before women could not receive

an education until the 18 century. Men thought that women weren’t capable of educating

themselves because they were too weak. Males were the only ones who had that privilege.

Doctors were only males, but today females do receive an education and are able to major in the

career they want to pursue. Today in the 21 century, we do have equality in education in many
countries. In the article of, “ Gender Roles and Gender Conflicts,” they stated that, “in countries

with the highest level of gender equality both boys and girls perform better on standardized

mathematics test.” This quote shows that boys and girls are equally capable of performing well

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in assessments. If women would have never been granted with the opportunity to receive an

education we would not have made advancements in this world. Men and women make this

world up, and are equally strong and equally weak at the same time.

Stanford University published an article called, “Women Exceed Men In College

Graduation.” this article is based on credible data that proves all stereotypes that involves women

being weak, wrong. Stanford stated, “In another five years by 1987, women earned the majority

of master’s degrees for the first time.” This quote shows that women have succeeded in earning

degrees from associates to masters. Which shows that gender roles have changed in education

due to the fact that men started warning degrees first. They were doctors, engineers, architects

et., but today we have women that are pursuing a career in this field but still the gender in jobs is

not equal.

Stereotypes do circulate in education specifically in certain careers. Many will think that

when they say, “ I have a nurse in my family,” the first thing that comes to mind is that it's a

female. This is a huge stereotype because today in society we have male nurses and female

nurses. Nurses back then were females and doctors were males. As centuries passed, men began

to pursue an education, majoring in nursing. In the article of , “Male Nurses Becoming More

Commonplace, Census Bureau Reports,” they stated that, “The nursing profession remains

overwhelmingly female, but the representation of men has increased as the demand for nurses

has grown over the last several decades...” This quote shows that male nurses have made a great
impact in changing gender roles. In my opinion, I feel that this has been something positive

because they are bringing knowledge from both females and males in the nursing field.

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Overall, change in gender roles has become a great advancement in our society today.

Restrictions in the past of genders created a huge diversity of which gender was stronger and

smarter. Eventually, gender roles have changed for a better. Parenting has been quite modified,

which helps out moms with having to deal with the whole responsibility of taking care of their

children. Having the dad help out mom with her baby duties has been a great impact. Jobs have

also changed according to gender roles. Women have received the privilege of working in what

best fits them. Men also have been given the opportunity to work in opposite sex roles. They

have broken stereotypes and tried out the opposite sex role. Education has also been changed by

gender roles. From women not receiving and education at first and just staying home, taking care

of the house and children, to being able today to pursue a career. “A gender-equal society would

be one where the word 'gender' does not exist: where everyone can be themselves,”(Steinem). I

agree with this quote because at the end of the day there shouldn't be a diversity in males and

females. Although we have made great improvements there is still not equality in gender roles.

We are all humans and have the right to identify ourselves in what we think best fits us.