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A bagpiper in Scottish military clan-uniform. In many parts of the West, wearing a skirt may be unacceptable as part of a male gender role, but in Scotland men have traditionally worn kilts, which are similar to skirts.

A gender role is defined as a set of perceived behavioural norms associated particularly with males or females, in a given social group or system. It can be a form of division of labour by gender. It is a focus of analysis in the social sciences and humanities. Gender is one component of the gender/sex system, which refers to "The set of arrangements by which a society transforms biological sexuality into products of human activity, and in which these transformed needs are satisfied" (Reiter 1975: 159). All societies, to a certain effect, have a gender/sex system, although the components and workings of this system vary markedly from society to society. Download high resolution version (400x964, 87 KB)Bagpipe performer in Amsterdam. ... Download high resolution version (400x964, 87 KB)Bagpipe performer in Amsterdam. ... A piper playing the Great Highland Bagpipe. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Uniform (disambiguation). ... Occident redirects here. ... A skirt is a traditionally feminine tube- or cone-shaped garment which is worn from the waist and covers the legs. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... This article is about the country. ... A kilt in the Black Watch tartan A kilt is a traditional garment of modern Scottish and Celtic culture typically worn by men. ... It has been suggested that Convention (norm) be merged into this article or section. ... This article is about the Male sex. ... For other uses, see Female (disambiguation). ... Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles, intended to increase efficiency of output. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... The social sciences are a group of academic disciplines that study human aspects of the world. ... For other uses, see Humanities (disambiguation). ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Young people interacting within an ethnically diverse society. ...

Gender refers to an individual's "psychological type", it is acquired through experience. An individual can be viewed as either masculine or feminine.

Gender role refers to the attitudes and behaviours that class a person's stereotypical identity, e.g. women cook and clean, men fix cars.

To associate oneself as either masculine or feminine is identifying with gender.

Researchers recognize that the concrete behavior of individuals is a consequence of both socially enforced rules and values, and individual disposition, whether genetic, unconscious, or conscious. Some researchers emphasize the objective social system and others emphasize subjective orientations and dispositions.^{[citation needed]}

Creativity may cause the rules and values to change over time. Cultures and societies are dynamic and ever changing, but there has been extensive debate as to how, and how fast, they may change. Such debates are especially contentious when they involve the gender/sex system, as people have widely differing views about how much gender depends on biological sex.

Talcott Parson's view of gender roles

Working in the United States, Talcott Parsons^[1] developed a model of the nuclear family in 1955. (At that place and time, the nuclear family was the prevalent family structure.) It compared a strictly traditional view of gender roles (from an industrial-age American perspective) to a more liberal view. Talcott Parsons Talcott Edgar Frederick Parsons (December 13, 1902–May 8, 1979) was for many years the best-known sociologist in the United States, and indeed one of the best-known in the world. ... The term nuclear family developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents (usually a father and mother) and their children, from what is known as an extended family. ...

The Parsons model was used to contrast and illustrate extreme positions on gender roles. Model A describes total separation of male and female roles, while Model B describes the complete dissolution of barriers between gender roles.^[2] (The examples are based on the context of the culture and infrastructure of the United States.)

However, these extreme positions are rarely found in reality; actual behavior of individuals is usually somewhere between these poles. The most common 'model' followed in real life in the United States and Britain is the 'model of double burden' (See Gender roles and feminism below).^{[citation needed]} A profession is an occupation, vocation or career where specialized knowledge of a subject, field, or science is applied. ... Decision making is the cognitive process of selecting a course of action from among multiple alternatives. ... This article is about the English rock band. ...

According to the interactionist approach, roles (including gender roles) are not fixed, but are constantly negotiated between individuals. In North America and southern South America, this is the most common approach among families whose business is agriculture.

Gender roles can influence all kinds of behavior, such as choice of clothing, choice of work and personal relationships; E.g., parental status (See also Sociology of fatherhood). The sociology of fatherhood is a subbranch of sociology which studies gender role in society, with particular reference to the parental role of the father. ...

Gender roles and socialization

The process through which the individual learns and accepts roles is called socialization. Socialization works by encouraging wanted and discouraging unwanted behavior. These sanctions by agencies of socialization such as the family, schools, and the media make it clear to the child what is expected of the child by society. Mostly, accepted behavior is not produced by outright reforming coercion from an accepted social system. In some other cases, various forms of coercion have been used to acquire a desired response or function. Illustration of a physical process: a geyser in action. Process (lat. ... As commonly used, individual refers to a person or to any specific object in a collection. ... A function is part of an answer to a question about why some object or process occurred in a system that evolved or was designed with some goal. ... A family posing for a group photo socializes together. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Family (disambiguation). ... Students in Rome, Italy. ... For other uses, see Child (disambiguation). ... Reforming may refer to: Catalytic reforming, a process that converts the hydrocarbons in various oil refinery naphthas into higher octane hydrocarbons for use as components of gasoline or feedstock to processes for the extraction of BTX (benzene, toluene and xylenes). ... Social structure (also referred to as a social system) is a system in which people forming the society are organized by a patterns of prelationships. ...

In the majority of traditional and developmental social systems, an individual has a choice as to what they should or should not conform to as a representative of the socialization process. Through this process an individual willingly accepts the consequences whether they be beneficial or negative, minor or severe depending on the way an individual copes, and the extent to which they must modify their natural behavior to conform to society's accepted behavioral standards. Typical encouragements and expectations of gender role behavior are not as a powerful difference and reforming social trait to a century ago. Such developments and traditional refineries are still a socialization process to and within family values, peer pressures, at the employment centers and in every social system communication medium. This article is about the psychological concept of conformity. ... This article is about family values as a political concept. ... Peer pressure comprises a set of group dynamics whereby a group in which one feels comfortable may override personal habits, individual moral inhibitions or idiosyncratic desires to impose a group norm of attitudes and/or behaviors. ... This article is about work. ...

Still, once someone has accepted certain gender roles and gender differences as expected socialized behavioral norm, their behavior traits become part of their perceived responsibilities. Influential roles in gender relationships on a personal and social level to the individual's own socializing role or self-concept. Sanctions to unwanted behavior and role conflict can be stressful. This article is about gender differences in humans. ... In moral philosophy, the word responsibility has at least two related meanings: The obligation to answer for actions. ... A persons self image is the mental picture, generally of a kind that is quite resistant to change, that depicts not only details that are potentially available to objective investigation by others (height, weight, hair color, nature of external genitalia, I.Q. score, is this person double-jointed, etc. ...

Gender roles with homogenization vs. ethnoconvergence difference

Changing norms of socialization: Louis XV in 1712, wearing the customary clothes of unbreeched boys, would be considered "cross-dressed" in the 21st century.

It is claimed that even in monolingual, industrial societies like urban North America, some individuals do cling to a "modernized" primordial identity, apart from others and with this a more diverse gender role is recognitized or developed. Some intellectuals, such as Michael Ignatieff, argue that convergence of a general culture does not directly entail a similar convergence in ethnic, social and self identities. This can become evident in social situations, where people divide into separate groups by gender roles and cultural alignments, despite being of an identical "super-ethnicity", such as nationality. File links The following pages link to this file: Gender role Louis XV of France Categories: Public domain images ... File links The following pages link to this file: Gender role Louis XV of France Categories: Public domain images ... Louis XV (February 15, 1710 – May 10, 1774), called the Well-Beloved (French: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1715 to 1774. ... // Events Treaty of Aargau signed between Catholic and Protestants. ... Flemish boy of 1625 in a dress with sewn in tucks to both layers of the skirt to allow for growth. ... This articles is about cross-dressing in general, that is the act of wearing the clothing of another gender for any reason. ... Michael Grant Ignatieff, M.P., Ph. ... An ethnic group is a group of people who identify with one another, or are so identified by others, on the basis of a boundary that distinguishes them from other groups. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ...

Within each smaller ethnicity, individuals may tend to see it perfectly justified to assimilate with other cultures including sexuality and some others view assimilation as wrong and incorrect for their culture or institution. This common theme, representing dualist opinions of ethnoconvergence itself, within a single ethnic or common values groups is often manifested in issues of sexual partners and matrimony, employment preferences, etc. These varied opinions of ethnoconvergence represent themselves in a spectrum; assimilation, homogenization, acculturation, gender identities and cultural compromise are commonly used terms for ethnoconvegence which flavor the issues to a bias. Value redirects here. ... Marriage is a governmentally, socially, or religiously recognized interpersonal relationship, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract. ... Not to be confused with Intermarriage. ... Homogenization (or homogenisation) is a term used in many fields such as Chemistry, agricultural science, food technology, sociology and cell biology. ... Look up acculturation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Compromise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Often it's in a secular, multi-ethnic environment that cultural concerns are both minimalized and exacerbated; Ethnic prides are boasted, hierarchy is created ("center" culture versus "periphery") but on the other hand, they will still share a common "culture", and common language and behaviors. Often the elderly, more conservative-in-association of a clan, tend to reject cross-cultural associations, and participate in ethnically similar community-oriented activities. Xenophobes tend to think of cross-cultural contact as a component of gender and assimilation and see this as terrible.^[who?] Look up xenophobia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Not to be confused with Intermarriage. ...

Biology

The idea that differences in gender roles originate in differences in biology has found support in parts of the scientific community. 19th-century anthropology sometimes used descriptions of the imagined life of paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies for evolutionary explanations for gender differences. For example, those accounts maintain that the need to take care of offspring may have limited the females' freedom to hunt and assume positions of power. This article is about the social science. ... // The Paleolithic is a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of stone tools. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ...

More recently, sociobiology and evolutionary psychology have explained those differences in social roles by treating them as adaptations.^[who?]This approach, too, is considered controversial. This article or section includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... Evolutionary psychology (abbreviated EP) is a theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, that is, as the functional products of natural selection or sexual selection. ... For other uses, see Adaptation (disambiguation). ...

Due to the influence of (among others) Simone de Beauvoir's feminist works and Michel Foucault's reflections on sexuality, the idea that gender was unrelated to sex gained ground during the 1980's, especially in sociology and cultural anthropology. This view claims that a person could therefore be born with male genitals but still be of feminine gender. In 1987, R.W. Connell did extensive research on whether there are any connections between biology and gender role^[3] and concluded that there were none. Most scientists reject Connell's research because concrete evidence exists proving the effect of hormones on behavior^{[citation needed]}. However, hormone levels vary, and disorders can cause an intersex status. The debate continues to rage on. Simon Baron-Cohen, a Cambridge Univ. professor of psychology and psychiatry, has said that "the female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy, while the male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems." Some researchers, such as Bruce Lipton, believe that neural synapses in early childhood are formed due to the environment of the child, so if parents were to treat the child as to his or her assigned gender, then the brain would develop for that gender role and thus would be "hard-wired". La Beauvoir redirects here; also see: Beauvoir (disambiguation). ... Michel Foucault (pronounced ) (October 15, 1926 – June 25, 1984) was a French philosopher, historian and sociologist. ... Gender in common usage refers to the sexual distinction between male and female. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, also called The Eighties. The decade saw social, economic and general upheaval as wealth, production and western culture migrated to new industrializing economies. ... Raewyn Connell (formerly Robert William Connell or Bob Connell) is an Australian sociologist who deals critically with culture, media (ruling class - ruling culture) and political hegemony and became widely known for her research in the field of Gender Studies, especially masculinity (Mens studies). ... Simon Baron-Cohen is a British professor of developmental psychopathology in the departments of psychiatry and experimental psychology at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and director of the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. ... // Traditionally, the term neural network had been used to refer to a network or circuitry of biological neurons. ...

Dr. Sandra Lipsitz Bem is a psychologist who developed the gender schema theory to explain how individuals come to use gender as an organizing category in all aspects of their life. It is based on the combination of aspects of the social learning theory and the cognitive-development theory of sex role acquisition. In 1971, she created the Bem Sex Role Inventory to measure how well you fit into your traditional gender role by characterizing your personality as masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated. She believed that through gender-schematic processing, a person spontaneously sorts attributes and behaviors into masculine and feminine categories. Therefore, an individual processes information and regulate their behavior based on whatever definitions of femininity and masculinity their culture provides.^[4] Sandra Ruth Lipsitz Bem, born on 22 June, 1944, is a Pennsylvanian psychologist known for many of her works in androgyny and gender studies, including the Bem Sex Role Inventory. ... In educational psychology, social cognitivism is a learning theory based on the assumption that people learn by watching what others do. ... // Although there is no general theory of cognitive development, one of the most historically influential theories was developed by Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist (1896–1980). ...

The current trend in Western societies toward men and women sharing similar occupations, responsibilities and jobs suggests that the sex one is born with does not directly determine one's abilities.^[who?]While there are differences in average capabilities of various kinds (E.g., physical strength) between the sexes, the capabilities of some members of one sex will fall within the range of capabilities needed for tasks conventionally assigned to the other sex.

In addition, research at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center has also shown that gender roles may be biological. Yerkes researchers studied the interactions of 11 male and 23 female Rhesus monkeys with human toys, both wheeled and plush. The males played mostly with the wheeled toys while the females played with both types equally.^[5] Psychologist Kim Wallen has, however, warned against overinterpeting the results as the color and size of the toys may also be factors in the monkey's behavior.^[6] Binomial name Macaca mulatta Zimmermann, 1780 The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca mulatta), often called the Rhesus monkey, is one of the best known species of Old World monkeys. ...

Changing roles

A person's gender role is composed of several elements and can be expressed through clothing, behaviour, choice of work, personal relationships and other factors. These elements are not concrete and have evolved through time (for example women's trousers).

Traditionally only feminine and masculine gender roles existed, however, over time many different acceptable male or female gender roles have emerged. An individual can either identify themselves with a subculture or social group which results in them having diverse gender roles. Historically, for example, eunuchs had a different gender role because their biology was changed.

A woman publicly witnessing at a Quaker meeting seemed an extraordinary feature of the Religious Society of Friends, worth recording for a wider public. Engraving by Bernard Picart, ca 1723.

Androgyny, a term denoting the display of both male and female behaviour, also exists. Many terms have been developed to portray sets of behaviors arising in this context. The masculine gender role in the West has become more malleable since the 1950s. One example is the "sensitive new age guy", which could be described as a traditional male gender role with a more typically "female" empathy and associated emotional responses. Another is the metrosexual, a male who adopts or claims to be born with similarly "female" grooming habits. Some have argued that such new roles are merely rebelling against tradition more so than forming a distinct role. However, traditions regarding male and female appearance have never been concrete, and men in other eras have been equally interested with their appearance. The popular conceptualization of homosexual men, which has become more accepted in recent decades, has traditionally been more androgynous or effeminate, though in actuality homosexual men can also be masculine and even exhibit machismo characteristics. One could argue that since many homosexual men and women fall into one gender role or another or are androgynous, that gender roles are not strictly determined by a person's physical sex. Whether or not this phenomenon is due to social or biological reasons is debated. Many homosexual people find the traditional gender roles to be very restrictive, especially during childhood. Also, the phenomenon of intersex people, which has become more publicly accepted, has caused much debate on the subject of gender roles. Many intersexual people identify with the opposite sex, while others are more androgynous. Some see this as a threat to traditional gender roles, while others see it as a sign that these roles are a social construct, and that a change in gender roles will be liberating. Image File history File links AssemblyOfQuakers. ... Image File history File links AssemblyOfQuakers. ... For other uses, see Androgyny (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Metrosexual (disambiguation). ... An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ...

According to sociology research, traditional feminine gender roles have become less relevant and hollower in Western societies since industrialization started. For example, the cliché that women do not follow a career is obsolete in many Western societies. On the other hand, in the media there are attempts to portray women who adopt an extremely classical role as a subculture.^[who?]Women take on many roles that were traditionally reserved for men, as well as behaviors and fashions, which may cause pressure on many men to be more masculine and thus confined within an even smaller gender role, while other men react against this pressure. For example, men's fashions have become more restrictive than in other eras, while women's fashions have become more broad. One consequence of social unrest during the Vietnam War era was that men began to let their hair grow to a length that had previously (within recent history) been considered appropriate only for women. Somewhat earlier, women had begun to cut their hair to lengths previously considered appropriate only to men.

Some famous people known for their androgynous appearances in the 20th century include Brett Anderson, Gladys Bentley, David Bowie, Pete Burns, Boy George, Norman Iceberg, k.d. lang, Annie Lennox, Jaye Davidson, Marilyn Manson (musician), Freddie Mercury, Marlene Dietrich, Mylène Farmer, Gackt, Mana (musician), Michael Jackson, Grace Jones, Marc Bolan, Brian Molko, Julia Sweeney (as Pat (fictional character)), Genesis P-Orridge, Prince and Kristen McMenamy. This article is about the frontman of Suede and The Tears. ... Gladys Bentley (12 August 1907-18 January 1960) was a famous butch lesbian African-American blues singer during the Harlem Renaissance. ... David Bowie (pronounced ) (born David Robert Jones on 8 January 1947) is an English musician, actor, producer, arranger, and audio engineer. ... Peter Pete Burns (b. ... George Alan ODowd, better known as Boy George (born June 14, 1961 in Eltham, London) is a rock singer-songwriter and club DJ. He grew up in a large, working-class Irish family in Thurles, County Tipperary, Ireland. ... Norman Iceberg (born Norman Joseph Bédard on July 30, 1962) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. ... K.D. Lang, OC (or k. ... Annie Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish musician, vocalist, and Academy Award-winning songwriter. ... Jaye Davidson (born Alfred Amey on March 21, 1968) is a Oscar-nominated former actor. ... Marilyn Manson (born Brian Hugh Warner on January 5, 1969) is the lead singer of the alternative metal band Marilyn Manson. ... Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Queen (inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001). ... Marlene Dietrich IPA: ; (December 27, 1901 – May 6, 1992) was a German-born American actress, singer and entertainer. ... Mylène Farmer (French IPA: ) (September 12, 1961), born Mylène Jeanne Gautier,[1] is a Canadian-born French singer and songwriter. ... Gackt Camui ) is a Japanese musician, songwriter and actor. ... Mana is a Japanese musician and fashion designer, famed for his role as a leader and guitarist of the influential visual kei band Malice Mizer. ... For other persons named Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation). ... Grace Jones (born May 19, 1948)[1] is a Jamaican–American model, singer and actress. ... Marc Bolan (born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 - 16 September 1977), was an English singer, songwriter and guitarist whose hit singles, fashion sensibilities and stage presence with T Rex in the early 1970s helped cultivate the glam rock era and made him one of the most recognisable stars in British... Brian Molko (born December 10, 1972, in Belgium) is a songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Placebo. ... Julia Sweeney (born October 10, 1959 in Spokane, Washington) is an American actress and comedian who lives in Hollywood, California. ... Pat was an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. ... Neil Megson redirects here. ... The term prince, from the Latin root princeps, is used for a member of the highest ranks of the aristocracy or the nobility. ... Kristen McMenamy (born December 13, 1966 in Easton, Pennsylvania) is a supermodel. ...

Culture and gender roles

During World War II, women filled job positions some of which would otherwise be male dominated.

Ideas of appropriate behavior according to gender vary among cultures and era, although some aspects receive more widespread attention than others. An interesting case is described by R.W. Connell in Men, Masculinities and Feminism: Download high resolution version (957x742, 131 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: World War II Rosie the Riveter Categories: U.S. history images ... Download high resolution version (957x742, 131 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: World War II Rosie the Riveter Categories: U.S. history images ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Raewyn Connell (formerly Robert William Connell or Bob Connell) is an Australian sociologist who deals critically with culture, media (ruling class - ruling culture) and political hegemony and became widely known for her research in the field of Gender Studies, especially masculinity (Mens studies). ...

"There are cultures where it has been normal, not exceptional, for men to have homosexual relations. There have been periods in 'Western' history when the modern convention that men suppress displays of emotion did not apply at all, when men were demonstrative about their feeling for their friends. Mateship in the Australian outback last century is a case in point."

Other aspects, however, may differ markedly with time and place. In pre-industrial Europe, for example, the practice of medicine (Other than midwifery) was generally seen as a male prerogative. However, in Russia, health care was more often seen as a feminine role. The results of these views can still be seen in modern society, where European medicine is most often practiced by men, while the majority of Russian doctors are women. For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... See drugs, medication, and pharmacology for substances that are used to treat patients. ... This article is about the sociology term. ...

In many other cases, the elements of convention or tradition seem to play a dominant role in deciding which occupations fit in with which gender roles. In the United States, physicians have traditionally been men, and the few people who defied that expectation received a special job description: "woman doctor". Similarly, there are special terms like "male nurse", "woman lawyer", "lady barber", "male secretary," etc. But in the former Soviet Union countries, medical doctors are predominantly women, and in Germany and Taiwan it is very common for all of the barbers in a barber shop to be women. Also, throughout history, some jobs that have been typically male or female have switched genders. For example, clerical jobs. Clerical jobs used to be considered a man's job, but when several women began filling men's job positions due to World War II, clerical jobs quickly became dominated by women. It became more feminized, and women workers became known as "typewriters" or "secretaries". There are many other jobs that have switched gender roles. Many jobs are continually evolving as far as being dominated by women or men.

In Western society, people whose gender appears masculine and whose inferred and/or verified external genitalia are male are often criticized and ridiculed for exhibiting what the society regards as a woman's gender role^{[citation needed]}. For instance, someone with a masculine voice, a five o'clock shadow (or a fuller beard), an Adam's apple, etc., wearing a woman's dress and high heels, carrying a purse, etc., would most likely draw ridicule or other unfriendly attention in ordinary social contexts (the stage and screen excepted^[7]). It is seen by some in that society that such a gender role for a man is not acceptable.^[8] This, and other societies, impose expectations on the behaviour of the members of society, and specifically on the gender roles of individuals, resulting in prescriptions regarding gender roles. For other uses, see Beard (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Adams apple (disambiguation). ... In most if not all societies there are prescriptions regarding gender roles. ...

Transgendered and intersexed people

As long as a person's perceived physiological sex is consistent with that person's gender identity, the gender role of a person is so much a matter of course in a stable society that people rarely even think of it. Only in cases where, for whatever reason, an individual has a gender role that is inconsistent with his or her sex will the matter draw attention.

Not entertaining, but usually highly problematic, however, are cases wherein the external genitalia of a person, that person's perceived gender identity, and/or that person's gender role are not consistent. People naturally, but too easily, assume that if a person has a penis, scrotum, etc., then that person is chromosomally male (I.e., that person has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome), and that the person, in introspection, feels like a male. A sex organ, or primary sexual characteristic, narrowly defined, is any of those parts of the body (which are not always bodily organs according to the strict definition) which are involved in sexual reproduction and constitute the reproductive system in an complex organism; namely: Male: penis (notably the glans penis... The penis (plural penises, penes) is an external male sexual organ. ... In some male mammals the scrotum is a protuberance of skin and muscle containing the testicles. ... For information about chromosomes in genetic algorithms, see chromosome (genetic algorithm). ... ‹ The template below (Expand) is being considered for deletion. ... The human Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes, it contains the genes that cause testis development, thus determining maleness. ...

In one example, a person may have a penis and scrotum, but may be a female (With XX chromosomal sexual identity and with normal female sexual organs internally). When that person reaches puberty, "his" breasts may enlarge to ordinary female proportions, and "he" may begin to menstruate, passing menstrual blood through "his" penis.^[9] In addition, this person may have always accepted a gender identity that is consistent with "his" external genitalia or with "her" internal genitalia. When the true sex of the individual becomes revealed at puberty, the individual and/or the community will be forced to reconsider what gender role is to be considered appropriate. Biological conditions that cause a person's physiological sex to be not easily determined are collectively known as intersex.

Another example to consider is transgender people, who mix gender roles to form a personally comfortable androgynous combination or transcend the scheme of gender roles completely, regardless of their physiological sex . Transgender people can also be physically androgynous or identify as androgynous. Transsexualism also exists, where a person who is born as one sex and is brought up in that sex, but has gender identity of the opposite sex and wishes to live as that sex (but does not necessarily wish to adopt that particular gender role, depending upon whether the person in question believes that gender roles are innate). A transwoman with XY written on her hand, at a protest in Paris, October 1, 2005. ... A transsexual (sometimes transexual) person establishes a permanent identity with the opposite gender to their assigned (usually at birth) sex. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

When we consider these more unusual products of nature's inventiveness, the simple picture that we saw originally, in which there was a high degree of consistency among external genitalia, gender identity, and gender role, then dissolves into a kind of jigsaw puzzle that is difficult to put together correctly. The extra parts of this jigsaw puzzle fall into two closely related categories, atypical gender identities and atypical gender roles. This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... If a person has an atypical gender role it will ordinarily be a consequence of an atypical gender identity. ...

In Western society, there is a growing acceptance of intersexed and transgendered people. However, there are some who do not accept these people and may react violently and persecute them: this kind of negative value judgment is sometimes known as transphobia. An intersexual is a person (or individual of any unisexual species) who is born with genitalia and/or secondary sexual characteristics of indeterminate sex, or which combine features of both sexes. ... A transwoman with XY written on her hand, at a protest in Paris, October 1, 2005. ... Manifestations Slavery · Racial profiling · Lynching Hate speech · Hate crime · Hate groups Genocide · Holocaust · Pogrom Ethnocide · Ethnic cleansing · Race war Religious persecution · Gay bashing Pedophobia · Ephebiphobia Movements Discriminatory Aryanism · Neo-Nazism · Supremacism Kahanism Anti-discriminatory Abolitionism · Civil rights LGBT rights Womens/Universal suffrage · Feminism Mens/Fathers rights · Masculinism Children...

Nevertheless, such cases of mismatch between a person's physiology, identity and role are rare. A large majority of people have matching genitalia and gender identities. For many people their gender role is commensurate with their genitalia.

Gender roles and feminism

Main article: Feminism

For approximately the last 100 years women have been fighting for the same rights as men (especially around the turn from 19th to 20th century with the struggle for women's suffrage and in the 1960s with second-wave feminism and radical feminism) and were able to make changes to the traditionally accepted feminine gender role. However, most feminists today say there is still work to be done. Feminists redirects here. ... Second-wave feminism refers to a period of feminist activity which began during the early 1960s and lasted through the late 1980s. ... Radical feminism is a branch of feminism that views womens oppression (which radical feminists refer to as patriarchy) as a basic system of power upon which human relationships in society are arranged. ...

Numerous studies and statistics show that even though the situation for women has improved during the last century, discrimination is still widespread: Women earn a smaller percentage of aggregate income than men, occupy lower-ranking job positions than men and do most of the housekeeping work^{[citation needed]}. However, there may be some reason for this, as some studies have indicated that many jobs which were traditionally perceived to be male-dominated usually have longer hours, necessitate long periods of exposure to the elements, are higher risk and require a fair amount of physical strength. Manifestations Slavery Racial profiling Lynching Hate speech Hate crime Genocide (examples) Ethnocide Ethnic cleansing Pogrom Race war Religious persecution Blood libel Paternalism Police brutality Movements Policies Discriminatory Race / Religion / Sex segregation Apartheid Redlining Internment Ethnocracy Anti-discriminatory Affirmative action in the United States Emancipation Civil rights Desegregation Integration Equal opportunity...

Furthermore, there in modern western society women generally only have the choice between being a "stay at home-mother" or a "career woman"^{[citation needed]}. Women have the hardship of having to balance a job and take care of the children. Whereas the majority of men with university educations have a career as well as a family, only 50 percent of academic women have children. The double burden problem was introduced to scientific theory in 1956 by Myrdal and Klein in their work "Women's two roles: Home and work," which was published in London.

When feminism became a conspicuous protest movement in the 60's, critics often argued that women who wanted to follow a traditional role would be discriminated against in the future and forced to join the workforce. This has not proven true as such: although some women, especially single parents are denied this choice due to economic necessity, there is little or no discrimination against women who remain in traditional roles.^{[citation needed]} In theory, feminism is the belief that a woman should have the right to make her own decision. However, in contemporary society those who choose to adhere to traditional female gender roles (sometimes termed being femme or a "girly girl")^{[citation needed]} were discriminated against and were considered not living up to the female role. Furthermore, Women who choose to pursue careers and higher education are also similarly stigmatized. It has been suggested that Baby mama be merged into this article or section. ... Exhibiting and/or behaving and/or identifying with feminine traits. ... Kellie Martin in a caricature of a girly girl in Joe Dantes Matinee. ...

Terminology

Note that many people consider some or all of the following terms to have negative connotations. Connotation is a subjective cultural and/or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase in a language, i. ...

• A male adopting (or who is perceived as adopting) a female gender role might be described as effeminate, foppish, or sissy. Even more pejorative terms include mollycoddle, milquetoast, milksop, sop, mamma's boy, and namby-pamby.
• A female adopting (or who is perceived as adopting) a male role might be described as butch, as a tomboy, or as a mannish woman. More pejorative terms include amazon (See amazon feminism).

Effeminacy is character trait of a male showing femininity, unmanliness, womanliness, weakness, softness and/or a delicacy, which contradicts traditional masculine, male gender roles. ... FOP (Formatting Objects Processor) is an XSL-FO processor written in Java, which provides the feature to convert XSL-FO files to PDF or direct-printable-files. ... For other uses, see Sissy (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with pejoration. ... Caspar Milquetoast was a comic strip character created by Harold Webster in 1924 for his comic strip The Timid Soul, published in the New York World. ... Femme redirects here. ... For other uses, see Tomboy (disambiguation). ... Amazon feminism is dedicated to the image of the female hero in fiction and in fact, as it is expressed in art and literature in the physiques and feats of female athletes, martial artists, and other powerfully built women, and in gender-related and sexual orientations. ...

Sexual orientation and gender roles

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Traditional gender roles include male attraction to females, and vice versa. Gay, lesbian and bisexual people, among others, usually don't conform to these expectations. An active conflict over the cultural acceptability of non-heterosexuality rages worldwide. (See Societal attitudes towards homosexuality.) The belief or assumption that heterosexual relationships and acts are "normal" is described — largely by the opponents of this viewpoint — as heterosexism or in queer theory, heteronormativity. Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... Wikinews is a free-content news source and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. ... GAY can mean: Gay, a term referring to homosexual men or women The IATA code for Gaya Airport Category: ... This article is about same-sex desire and sexuality among women. ... Bisexual redirects here. ... One version of a Heterosexuality symbol Heterosexuality is sexual or romantic attraction between opposite sexes, and is the most common sexual orientation among humans. ... Societal attitudes towards homosexuality vary greatly in different cultures and different historical periods, as do attitudes toward sexual desire, activity and relationships in general. ... One version of a Heterosexuality symbol Heterosexuality is sexual or romantic attraction between opposite sexes, and is the most common sexual orientation among humans. ... Heterosexism is the presumption that everyone is straight or heterosexual (i. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... Heteronormativity is the reinforcement of certain viewpoints by many social institutions and social policies. ...

Perhaps it is an attempt to reconcile this conflict that leads to a common assumption that one same-sex partner assumes a pseudo-male gender role and the other assumes a pseudo-female role. For a gay male relationship, this might lead to the assumption that the "wife" handled domestic chores, was the receptive sexual partner in anal sex, adopted effeminate mannerisms, and perhaps even dressed in women's clothing. This assumption is flawed, as many homosexual couples tend to have more equal roles, and the effeminate behavior of some gay men is usually not adopted consciously, and is often more subtle. Feminine or masculine behaviors in some homosexual people might be a product of the socialization process, adopted unconsciously due to stronger identification with the opposite sex during development. The role of both this process and the role of biology is debated. The existence of these separate identities (dominant masculine vs more passive feminine), where present, can establish the dynamics of the relationship, according to the heterosexual patterns; this is not always the case, especially in relationships with less clearly defined sexual/identity roles. A related assumption is that all androphilic people, including gay men, should or do adopt feminine mannerisms and other gender-role elements, and that all gynophilic people, including lesbians, should or do adopt masculine mannerisms and other gender-role elements; it is unclear how bisexuality fits into this framework, but it can be assumed they have a dragging towards both gender roles as they do in sexuality, towards both sexes. However, this idea is based on generalizations of homosexual people, which tend to be biased, as feminine gays and masculine lesbians are more widely visible than masculine gays or feminine lesbians. In the context of male homosexuality, androphilia is the mutual attraction of adult men. ... 1. ... Bisexual redirects here. ...

Same-sex domestic partners also challenge traditional gender roles because it is impossible to divide up household responsibilities if both partners attempt to fill the same gender role. Like all live-in couples, same-sex partners usually do come to some arrangement with regard to household responsibilities. Sometimes these arrangements do assign traditional female responsibilities to one partner and traditional male responsibilities to the other, but non-traditional divisions of labor are also quite common. For instance, cleaning and cooking, traditionally both female responsibilities, might be assigned to different people. Some people do adopt the sexual role of bottom or top, due to their own sexual identity or for convenience; but this is not universal, and does not necessarily correspond to assignment of household responsibilities. International recognition Civil unions and Domestic partnerships Recognized in some regions Unregistered co-habitation Recognition debated See also Same-sex marriage Civil union Registered partnership Domestic partnership Timeline of same-sex marriage Listings by country This box:      A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between individuals who live... In the context of human sexual behavior, especially anal sex among gay men, a bottom is a receptive partner (i. ... In the context of human sexual behavior, especially anal sex among gay men, a top is an insertive partner, or a person who prefers the insertive role. ...

Cross-dressing is also quite common in gay and lesbian culture, but it is usually restricted to festive occasions, though there are people of all sexual orientations who routinely engage in various types of cross-dressing, either as a fashion statement or for entertainment. Distinctive styles of dress, however, are commonly seen in gay and lesbian circles. These fashions sometimes emulate the traditional styles of the opposite gender (For example, lesbians who wear t-shirts and boots instead of skirts and dresses, or gay men who wear clothing with traditionally feminine elements, including displays of jewelry or coloration), but others do not. Fashion choices also do not necessarily align with other elements of gender identity. Some fashion and behavioral elements in gay and lesbian culture are novel, and do not really correspond to any traditional gender roles. For example, the popularity of rainbow jewelry, or the gay techno/dance music subculture. In addition to the stereotypically effeminate one, another significant gay male subculture is homomasculinity, emphasizing certain traditionally masculine or hypermasculine traits. (See Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures.) These may be natural traits for an individual, or they may be adopted to conform to mainstream culture or to distance oneself from the more effeminate gays, as masculinity is often seen as a positive trait among gay men.^[who?] . A quick look through gay personals websites, such as Gaydar, will reveal that many gay men's personals are discouraging effeminate men from replying to their ad. (Fat, effeminate or bald, please do not disturb). This articles is about cross-dressing in general, that is the act of wearing the clothing of another gender for any reason. ... Homomasculinity is a term used to describe a subculture of gay men who self-identify with the imagery, culture, and gender role of what is normally seen as traditional, straight male masculinity. Homomasculine men may demonstrate traits that include, but are not limited to, an interest or participation in sports... Christopher Street Parade Sexuality and gender identity-based cultures concern the culture, knowledge, and references shared by members of sexual minorities or transgendered people by virtue of their membership in those minorities or their state of being transgendered. ...

The term dyke, commonly used to mean lesbian, sometimes carries associations of a butch or masculine identity, and the variant bulldyke certainly does. Other gender-role-charged lesbian terms include lipstick lesbian, chapstick lesbian, and Stone Femme. "Butch," "femme," and novel elements are also seen in various lesbian subcultures. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... A soft butch — also known as a chapstick lesbian — is a woman who exhibits some stereotypical butch lesbian traits without fitting the masculine stereotype associated with butch lesbians. ... Stone Femme has been used to describe several different kinds of femme (feminine) identities, usually within a broader Dyke identity or culture. ...

External social pressures may lead some people to adopt a persona which is perceived as more appropriate for a heterosexual (For instance, in an intolerant work environment) or homosexual (for instance, in a same-sex dating environment), while maintaining a somewhat different identity in other, more private circumstances. The acceptance of new gender roles in Western societies, however, is rising.^[10] However, during childhood and adolescence, gender identities which differ from the norm are often the cause of ridicule and ostracism, which often results in psychological problems. Some are able to disguise their differences, but others are not. Even though much of society has become more tolerant, gender roles are still very prevalent in the emotionally charged world of children and teenagers, which makes life very difficult for those who differ from the established norms. Occident redirects here. ...

See also: Straight acting. Straight acting, a term that comes from gay slang, is used to describe a person who does not exhibit stereotypically gay mannerisms, style of dress, or behaviour. ...

The role of ideology in the enculturation of gender roles

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)

High levels of agreement on the characteristics different cultures to males and females reflects consensus in gender role ideology. The Netherlands, Germany and Finland are among the most egalitarian modern societies concerning gender roles, whereas the most traditional roles found in Nigeria, Pakistan, and India. Men and women cross-culturally rate the ideal self as more masculine than their self. The American difference on spatial reasoning between males and females does not apply in all cultures. One example of where it does not is the Inuit culture in Canada. Male superiority is found in tight, sedentary, agriculturally based, while females are superior in cultures that are loose, nomadic, and hunter-gathering based. US females are more conforming to others than are males. Males are more aggressive in all cultures for which data exists. This is related to, but not solely determined by, age and hormones though some researchers would suggest that women are not necessarily less aggressive then men but tend to show their aggression in more subtle and less overt ways(Bjorkqvist et al. 1994, Hines and Saudino 2003).. Male aggression may be a "gender marking" issue breaking away from the instruction of the mother during adolescence. Asian-American females adhere to traditional gender roles. Males are aloof, unemotional and authoritative. In the family, women have high control of decisions. Hispanic Americans males exhibit machismo. Acculturation is creeping into these families, however. Native American gender roles depend on the cultural history of the tribe.^[11]

Gender roles in prison

The factual accuracy of this section is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)

Gender roles in male prisons go further than the "Don't drop the soap"-joke. The truth is that some prisoners, either by choice or by force, take on strict 'female roles' according to prison set guidelines. For instance, a 'female' in prison is seen as timid, submissive, passive, and a means of sexual pleasure. When entering the prison environment some inmates "turn out" on their own free will, meaning they actively pursue the 'female role' in prison to gain some form of social power and/or prestige. Other, unlucky inmates, are forced to partake in 'female role' activities through coercion; the most common means being physical abuse. The inmates that are forced to "turn out" are commonly referred to as "punks". Other terms used to describe 'female' inmates are "girls", "kids", and "gumps". Some of the labels may be used as a means of describing one's ascribed status. For example, a "kid" is one that is usually dominated by their owner, or "daddy". The "daddy" is usually one with a high social status and prestige within the prison (E.g. gang leader). The "female" gender role is constructed through the mirror image of what the inmates perceive as a male. For instance, inmates view men as having strength, power, prestige, and an unyielding personality. However, the inmates don't refer to the female guards, who have power and prestige over the inmates, as males. The female guards are commonly referred to as "dykes", "ditch lickers", and lesbians. These roles are also assumed in female prisons.^[12] Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff. ...

Women who enter prison society often voluntarily enter into lesbianism, as a means of protection from gangs or stronger females. In doing so, they will take on the submissive role to a dominant female in exchange for that dominating female keeping them safe. Those who do not enter voluntarily into lesbianism might at one time or another be group raped, to introduce them into that circle, and sometimes they will be referred to as sheep, meaning anyone can have them. It is to avoid that status that most female inmates choose a mate, or allow themselves to be chosen as a mate, which can make them available to only a minimal number of partners during their incarceration, as opposed to a large number. So, in a sense, an inmate undergoes a "female role" in the prison system either by choice or by yielding to excessive coercion, and it is that yielding that terms the once male inmates as "females", and which identifies the stronger females in a female prison system as "males".^[12] Submissiveness is the trait of being willing to yield to the will of another person or a superior force. ... The word dominant has several possible meanings: In music theory, the dominant or dominant note (second most important) of a key is that which is a perfect fifth above the tonic; in just intonation the note whose pitch is 1. ...

References

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 312th day of the year (313th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

Alimony, maintenance or spousal support is an obligation established by law in many countries that is based on the premise that both spouses have an absolute obligation to support each other during the marriage (or civil union) unless they are legally separated. ... Anima, in Jungian psychology: 1. ... If a person has an atypical gender role it will ordinarily be a consequence of an atypical gender identity. ... Balanced parenting may refer to: an effort towards a balanced approach in the family, regarding a balance between different aspects such as pedagogical means and aims in raising children, such as protection and control, discipline and tolerance the needs and interests of all family members, also in view of a... The phrase is commonly lengthened to Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen... Barefoot and pregnant is a phrase most commonly associated with the controversial idea that women should not work outside the home and should have many children during their reproductive years. ... Flemish boy of 1625 in a dress with sewn in tucks to both layers of the skirt to allow for growth. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ... The Christian view of marriage, until recently, according to a nearly universal consensus, has regarded marriage as ordained by God for the lifelong union of a man and a woman. ... Christian views of women vary considerably today and have varied even more throughout the last two millennia, evolving along with or counter to the societies in which Christians have lived. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Suitor redirects here. ... Going Dutch is a slang term that means that each person eating at a restaurant or paying admission for entertainment pays for himself or herself, rather than one person paying for everyone. ... Scan of the original article supposedly published in Housekeeping Monthly The Good Wifes Guide was an article published on May 13, 1955 issue of Housekeeping Monthly, describing information on how a good wife should act. ... Fascism is a term used to describe authoritarian nationalist political ideologies or mass movements that are concerned with notions of cultural decline or decadence. ... Feminists redirects here. ... In some cultures, makeup is associated with femininity. ... Gender and sexuality studies is a collective term for the interdisciplinary study of human gender and sexuality. ... Gender studies is a theoretical work in the social sciences or humanities that focuses on issues of sex and gender in language and society, and often addresses related issues including racial and ethnic oppression, postcolonial societies, and globalization. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... The term Gender-Identity/Role has been coined by the Dr. John Money, Emeritus Professor of Medical Psychology and behavioral sciences and of Pediatrics at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine. ... Transgender is a very complex topic, where consensual and precise definitions have not yet been reached. ... The marriage gap describes observed disparities between those who are married and those who are single. ... Masculism (also referred to as masculinism) consists of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies primarily based on the experiences of men. ... Manliness redirects here. ... Matriarchy is a term, which is applied to gynocentric form of society, in which the leading role is by the female and especially by the mothers of a community. ... The mens movement is a social movement that includes a number of philosophies and organizations that seek to support men, change the male gender role and improve mens rights in regard to marriage and child access and victims of domestic violence. ... Look up Misandry in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... English family c. ... The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. ... For other uses, see Queer (disambiguation). ... This article is about the sociology term. ... The sex/gender distinction is a concept in feminist theory, political feminism, and sociology which distinguishes sex, a natural or biological feature, from gender, the cultural or learned significance of sex. ... Sexual orientation refers to an enduring emotional, romantic, sexual, or affectional attraction toward others,[1] usually conceived of as classifiable according to the sex or gender of the persons whom the individual finds sexually attractive. ... Sociology of gender is a prominent subfield of sociology. ... Symbolic interactionism is a major sociological perspective that is influential in many areas of the discipline. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...

External links

• International Foundation (For) Gender Education,
• Gender PAC.