It is interesting to think that growing up we are just
socialized to like certain things without even realizing it. Such as, girls
loving the color pink and playing with Barbie’s and dolls, and boys more into
the color blue and playing with play toys and Legos. When a child is born based
on their gender we immediately buy them things of certain colors and toys that
are gender affiliated. As the child gets older it keeps getting gifts that are
more prone to their gender which shows how much people around us really affect
us growing up and socialize it.
When I
started thinking about this I realized how much it has impacted my life too.
Growing up my mother would always dress my sisters and I into dresses and we
would always look perfect with my brothers they would just be wearing
basketball shorts not dressed as perfectly as we are. I realized my culture
plays a huge rule in how gender roles occur. Such as women are always supposed
to be prim and proper while men portray a manlier role. Culture wise I realized
a huge difference between gender roles within females and males. Growing up I
was never allowed to have any guys over my house or even allowed to hang out
with guys. I wasn’t even allowed to text guys. Now that I think about it I believe
that plays a huge role in why I am still single. I am 21 and my younger
brothers are ages 14 and 11, they bring their friends over all the time girls
and guys. I don’t really care that they
are allowed to but it is so interesting to see how different they are being
treated. If I had ever brought a guy to my house there would be a crime scene.
I think it is interesting to realize that because it shows the difference in
the roles that are being taken and how some things aren’t as serious for
different genders.
Another
gender role that is very common in my culture is the common misconception that
women are supposed to be the home makers and men should be the bread winners.
This I see within my own family because my mother is a stay at home mom all she
does is really take care of my siblings and I and my father is the one person
that works and feeds us. I grew up kind of wanting to play the same role as my mom
that was all I knew. All my aunts are stay at home mom and uncles also play the
role as the breadwinners. I grew up learning this was the right thing until I came
to college. I had to really think about my lifestyle and if I really wanted to
stay and follow my mom’s footsteps or step out and do something different. The
great thing is I chose to explore what I would like to do and whether I would
be comfortable being on my own and being a breadwinner for myself. I am happy
with my choice, I believe that growing up with huge gender roles it helped me
choose what I like and what I didn’t like. The greatest thing is that my family
accepts these social changes and we all grow through time.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wander-woman/201012/what-does-it-mean-be-feminine
http://www.fsdinternational.org/country/india/weissues