Gender Roles and Inequalities: Find two printed, current (within the last 5 or so years) advertisements that
depict stereotypical male and female gender roles (e.g., one of each).
Gender Roles and Inequalities
Writing Assignment 3: Chapter 12
– Gender Roles and Inequalities: Find two printed, current (within the last 5 or so years) advertisements that
depict stereotypical male and female gender roles (e.g., one of each).
Discuss how these two advertisements depict the expected norm of male and female gender roles. Discuss the negative impact that these expected gender roles have on both men and women.
Make sure you also incorporate information from the chapter to support or contradict your findings. Moreover, turn in the pictures that you used for your analysis with your paper. (Note: When you submit on Canvas, you must have only one file uploaded; do not send your advertisements as separate files.)
Gender Roles Can Create Lifelong Cycle of Inequality
All children deserve to grow up and achieve their dreams – regardless of their gender. Tragically, inequitable gender norms rob millions of girls and boys of their childhoods – and risk their futures. Often, these damaging expectations directly contribute to the violation of children’s human rights.
Gender norms describe how people of a particular gender and age are expected to behave in a given social context. Harmful gender norms result in many types of inequalities between girls and boys. However, while gender norms can affect all children, they are proven to disproportionately affect girls. More than 575 million girls live in countries where inequitable gender norms contribute to violations of their rights, like health, education, marriage and gender-based violence[i].
What is gender?
Gender refers to a complex system of roles, expressions, identities, performances, and qualities that are given gendered meaning by a society. Usually, they are assigned to people based on the appearance of their sex characteristics at birth. Gender characteristics can change over time and vary between cultures.
What are gender norms?
Gender norms are social principles that govern the behavior of girls, boys, women, and men in society and restrict their gender identity into what is considered to be appropriate. Gender norms are neither static nor universal and change over time. Some norms are positive, for example, the norm that children shouldn’t smoke. Other norms lead to inequality.
Household chores, for example, are much more likely to be performed by girls than boys. Girls account for two-thirds of all children who perform household chores for at least 21 hours per week, which is the amount of time that can negatively impact a child’s schooling. Similarly, women spend two to 10 times more time on unpaid caregiving and domestic work than men.
By contrast, men and boys are more often targeted for active combat roles by armed groups because of the association of masculinity with defending homes and communities.
What are gender roles?
Gender roles are behaviors, attitudes and actions that society feels are appropriate or inappropriate for a man or woman, boy or girl, according to cultural norms and traditions.
Harmful gender norms deny millions of girls their rights to education, health and independence
Sadly, girls around the world are kept from attending school in favor of gender norms related to their role in household chores and the position of girls in society. Their voices are undervalued if heard at all. Their childhoods are stolen, and the countries where they live are robbed of their talent and potential.
This reduced access to education has long-term consequences for the future of girls. Inequality cuts girls’ futures short – when girls are excluded from receiving an education, their ability to earn a living and become independent is drastically limited. Without equal opportunities to learn, income inequality and dependence on men to provide keeps girls in a cycle of poverty and confinement to their homes to perform unpaid domestic labor. Lack of outside opportunities limits the ability of girls to reach their ambitions.
In extreme scenarios, such as in sub-Saharan Africa and Western Asia, girls of every age are more likely to be excluded from education than boys. For every 100 boys out of school in these regions, 115 and 123 girls, respectively, are denied the right to education due to deeply ingrained gender norms.
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