The effect of gender minority status on womens experience of Essay

The effect of gender minority status on womens experience of male-dominated work and mens experience of female-dominated work - Essay Example They were established at a time when those roles made sense for the survival of the human race as is realized with the dedicated role of women in child care. But with advancing technology, some of the roles that have been attributed to various gender is becoming obsolete. However, people still make assumptions about roles of men and women through these stereotypical notions that claim to apply to all men and women in the world. Some of the roles associated with women include preparing and serving food but most important, taking care of children. Even with the games that are played at this age, it is evident that women are supposed to stay at home, cook, clean and take care of the children while males are supposed to go to work. From a young age, boys are taught more roles that are considered 'manly' like mowing the lawn and taking out the trash instead of the more 'womanly' roles of cleaning the house (Chodorow, 2004). The stereotypes however do not apply to all men and women in society. Each individual in society is often free to act as they please, a factor that has realized an increase in the number of women who have taken up manly roles and vice versa (Schein, 2005). It is considered normal for a woman to pursue roles that are manlier like construction and men to pursue roles that are more feminine like cooking and cleaning.Gender should not be the basis by which a person's identity is created; it should merely be a part of someone's personality. It is on the basis of this understanding that conflicting roles have come up for both men and women in society. Gender minority status results when a person decides to engage in a profession that is considered less suitable for their gender. (Lupton, 2000). They are thus considered the minority members of the particular profession because they are either less in number or they are simply taking up roles that make them be considered either lesser males or females. This is considered in light of the belittling roles that women have been subjected to over the years because of their gender orientation. In the past, there were certain jobs that were reserved for male gender owing to their intensive nature. It was thus considered as work that women could not engage in and if they did, there would be repercussions. Society would regard them as misfits and socialization with them would be naturally forbidden or undertaken under different scenarios (Chodorow, 2004). Gender minority status results from observed differences in behavior and personality between the genders that result from a person's innate personality. Personality is affected by culture and social interaction with other members of society and is largely not att ributable to physiological and biological differences. There are those who perceive that children learn to orient themselves towards their gender roles as a result of their learned observations and interactions with their environment (Chodorow, 2004). Boys are often provided with tools that are used to manipulate their environment like vehicles, trucks and engines while females are often dressed up with pink frilly dresses and provided with dolls that have pretty hair and makeup. In so doing, girls learn that they are objects to be viewed and as such