Sex Roles

Sex Roles

                        Hamilton McCubbin & Barbara

1.      Are the female fairly the second sex?

2.      Does our society put equal value on both the sexes?

3.      Are the sex roles determined biologically or culturally? By nature or Nature?

4.    Sex roles and gender identity

5.               

6.                Any actor and actress act in a play according to the script written by the writer, and similarly every human being is a social actor who acts according to the script written by the society. There are some social norms in every society and an individual act determined by the same social norms. Traditionally, it is believed that the men should be brave, strong, independent, rigid, ambitious, aggressive self-controlled etc. Whereas the women should be passive, coward, soft, dependent, emotional etc. When any man shows the features of the women, he is criticized. Whereas a female is laughed at when she shows the features of the men.

7.                The writers of this essay try to prove that the behavioral differences between the sexes is not only determined by cultural norms and values as well. If it was biological, why the sex role differs from place to place and if it is only cultural why do the people share some unique features. Thus, it is self-evident that the sex role is determined by the both.

8.     

9.    The cause of sex roles: Biology or culture ?

10.              It is interesting to know that most of the nurses are women and must of the truck drives are the men. In general, the men are more intelligent than the women but the question is, why is it so obviously there are two factors biology and culture or nature and ----

11.   

12.  Sex Roles :

13.   Genetics : The Biological Evidence

Male                                                                Female

-                      Androgen                                                       - Estrogen

-                      Visual skills                                                  - Verbal skills

-                      XY – Chromosomes                                      - XX- Chromosomes

No one contradict the fact that there are biological differences between male and female. However, there is a question put to the researchers whether the biological differences determined the behaviors of male and female or not.

            By structure male and female are made up of different chromosomes: XY chromosomes make the male where as XX chromosomes make the female. Due to the difference in chromosomes, the average male is taller, heavier and more muscular than the average female. Similarly, it is found out that the behavioural differences are due to the male and female hormones. Both male and female hormones produce the hormones named androgen and estrogen. The male hormone is androgen and estrogen is the female hormone. It helps for the depending of the voice. Similarly, estrogen prepares the female being the mother by developing her body parts.

            Undoubtedly, the physical structure of the male and female is determined by the hormone but the question is what it has to do with the emotional aspects. The answer is obvious that the males hormone empower them with usual skills and the female hormone enrich them with verbal skills. Consequently they act differently however, it should be noted that the sex roles are influenced more by the culture than by the biology. Even if a girl has boyish features she cannot act like a boy until her society permits her to do so.

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2.    Culture: The Anthropological Evidence

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4.    The study of three tribes

5.    a)      Arapesh : both the sexes acted the role of a female: cooperative, nurturing, etc

6.    b)      Mundugumer : masculine roles were played by both the sexes: aggressive and competitive.

7.    c)      Techambull: just the reverse roles. Women played the masculine roles and the man played the feminine roles.

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9.    According to anthropologists the sex roles are determined by the culture, from the early civilization. The males achieved power and prestige because of their strength and courage because they went for hunting whereas the female stayed at home nurturing their children. Obviously, both of them symbolized the sources of food, male earned more power because they disturbed the food and made the female dependent on them consequently, the sex roles were determined the males were more powerful and confident than the females. In a sense, they were like rulers and the ruled.

10.  According to the study of the anthropologist, the sex roles differ from one society to the other. In some of the societies, both the sexes play the feminine roles and in some others, they play the masculine roles. It is also surprising that some societies make the female more powerful than the males. Basically, the female are powerful only when they make themselves independent.

11.  Therefore, it is self-evident that the sex roles are the product of income resources allowed by the society to both the gender.

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13.  Sex Roles:

14.  Society: Learning Evidence

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16.  It is stated that sex roles are determined by biological as well as the cultural factor. If culture determines the sex roles, how does it begin? Obviously, the culture starts from the process of socialization. Most differences between male and female are learned through family interactions, school teaching and the mass media. The grown ups describe the boys as ‘bouncing’ and ‘study’ whereas the girls are describe as ‘sweet’ and soft. As a result, the feminine features are developed in the girls and the masculine features are developed in boys. Moreover, if any boy likes playing with dolls, the parents do not allow him to do so. They try to teach him that he is a boy and most play the rough games. As a result, the socialization process begins.

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18.  Feminist Critique: Sex Roles and Social Control

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20.  After the minute study of the sex roles, the feminist critiques have reached the conclusion that there is a strong social control over the sex roles. It is because of the social control the males have achieved prestige and power. Whereas the female are still lacking behind the males. If equal opportunities are provided to the females, they would never be different from the males even though there are fundamental differences in their biological structure.

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22.  Conclusion:

23.  In this chapter, entitled “Sex Roles” the writers have justified that sex roles have biological as well as cultural roots. In the process of development of culture, society plays a key role and the child learns the destination of the sex roles from his elders. However, the feminists are with the hope that if the opportunities are provided to the female equally, the gap between the sex roles will be bridged.