Gender roles are behavioral patterns

Gender roles are behavioral patterns

Gender roles are behavioral patterns and the expectations related to a particular sex. Gender differences are often connected with social roles in which society expects females to act or not act in a particular manner, and the same case applies to males. Even though there are many exemptions, males and females do differ in ways that analogous conventional gender stereotypes and that determine how both genders generally behave. Sociologists generally attribute various behavioral differences between genders to socialization, which in this case, is the process of shifting beliefs, norms, and behaviors to various group members. The childhood phase is the time when socialization is intense as adults instruct the young on how to behave for them to comply with the social norms and gender is included in the process. People are instructed on how to behave according to their gender socially. Nowadays, it is extensively believed that differences in socialization attribute most gender differences and not genetic and biological factors. Society has set it that males are supposed to behave in a particular way while females also have a particular way that they are supposed to behave, as seen in the two texts, one by Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl,” and O’Brien’s “The Things they Carried.” The two texts criticize against specific stereotypical assumptions in both males and females, especially the taboos associated with female sexuality and the expression of physical and emotional weakness between the two genders; however, they differ in the pertinent social contexts that affect the social issues and the narrative strategies used to advance the agendas.

It is true that there are differences between males and females in various life domains. However, one may ask, to what extent do these differences reveal the manner in which males and females are. Recognizing the nature of gender stereotypes explains the fact that these genders not only describe distinctive differences between males and females but also explain how men and women are supposed to behave in different life domains. One result of gender socialization is gender stereotypes, where men and women are expected to behave in certain ways, which are socialized from birth. For instance, boys are messy and loud, and different societies have accepted this, while girls are expected to be clean and quiet. Jamaica Kincaid’s text, “Girl,” explains the various dos and don’ts of a girl. Kincaid highlights the different ways a girl is supposed to behave and how she is supposed to carry herself. “…always eat your food in such a way that it won’t turn someone else’s stomach; on Sundays try to walk like a lady and not like the slut you are so bent on becoming; don’t sing benna in Sunday school; you mustn’t speak to wharf-rat boys, not even to give directions; don’t eat fruits on the street—flies will follow you…” (Kincaid 1).

On the other hand, O’Brien’s text somehow explains the qualities that a man should have. The text is based in a military context, where the true qualities of a man are tested. O’Brien, using the main character of the text, Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, tries to bring to light the way a man should behave, and the way he is supposed to carry himself. The text shows more of a man’s masculinity as he is put to various tests and must show strength and manhood and must not show any vulnerability. “He tried not to cry. With his entrenching tool, which weighed 5 pounds, he began digging a hole in the earth. He felt shame. He hated himself. He had loved Martha more than his men, and as a consequence, Lavender was now dead, and this was something he would have to carry like a stone in his stomach for the rest of the war” (O’Brien 9).

Stereotypes reflect the overall expectations of people from a particular social group. However, even with an overall variance between these groups, not all people in the groups will vary from each other. For example, men are generally taller than women, but there are those men and women with whom this does not necessarily apply to them as there are shorter men and taller women. Yet, stereotypical perceptions that specific feature characterizes members of a particular group leads people to overstress dissimilarities between groups and undervalue variations within groups.

The propensity to view persons as representatives of various social groups has been acknowledged for various groups in different contexts. Various research also reveals that “the impact of these social categorization based on the traits and features to particular group members can be very fluid depending on the situation and contrast with relevant comparison groups that seem more salient” (Oakes et al. 1).

In a social context, boys mostly gravitate to large groups. In different locations, whether in the playgrounds, street, or even clubs, boys’ social groups often take up a lot of space and often involve substantial amounts of roughhousing and organized competitive games and sports. On the other hand, girls are more inclined to seek and maintain just a few friends, usually two close friends with whom they share their intimate information and feelings. Girls, in general, are expected to be more disciplined and have more manners in the way they talk, walk, dress, clean, interact with other men, and so on. Such differences, depending on the extent to which they occur, can make girls less noticeable compared to boys. All these are influenced by various gender stereotypes.

Individuals who do not conform to the stereotypical expectation tend to be devalued, both men and women. Automatically, such individuals are cast out from their gender group rather than revisiting stereotypical expectations. This occurs for instance, for the females working in a place where the males are mostly the dominant gender and are considered to be fully feminine, and for women who are viewed as a member of a particular subtype of females that is high in competence but low in affection –similar to men. Similarly, “flamboyant gay men are viewed to have low competence and high in affection –similar to women” (Clausel & Susan 170). Social norms and social contexts, therefore, not only capture the way society expects men and women to act and behave but also show how individuals think they should behave. Undeniably, women who conform to the stereotype are appraised more positively than those women who seem to challenge stereotypical gender expectations. Actually, men and women are in accord that gender-stereotypical views point out that males are more competent compared to females, and they must be more proficient. Likewise, this conveys that women should be more communal and affectionate than men.

Men and women express their emotions differently. Emotions articulated by men and women exemplify and reinforce the stereotypical expectations in each gender. Research shows that both males and females have the same emotional experiences, but the way they communicate about their emotions differs. Men express negative emotions such as anger –an emotion that is more linked to action an agency, while women are more likely to show sadness –which is connected to the lack of control over a situation. Likewise, social norms and gender stereotypes guide the way people recognize and label emotions expressed by others. In many societies, men are expected to hide their emotions as a way of showing masculinity. They are not supposed to cry as this goes against the gender stereotype as women are the ones who are more likely to cry, and it is viewed that they are more emotional beings compared to men. In O’Brien’s text, the soldiers are ashamed of showing any fear and are expected to exemplified courage and masculinity in all their endeavors. In the text, the soldiers are afraid of dying, but at the same time, they are afraid of showing it. “They were afraid of dying, but they were even more afraid to show it. They carried the soldier’s greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing” (O’Brien 11). The soldiers are expected to be brave and not show any signs of weakness. They are not even expected to have fear of dying. “Men killed, and died because they were embarrassed not to” (O’Brien 12).

In conclusion, in their texts, Jamaica Kincaid and O’Brien employ various narrative strategies to develop different agendas in the two texts. Kincaid texts is written in second person