by Jarred James Breaux

Created on: August 16, 2009   Last Updated: August 17, 2009

Gender-role stereotypes are models that have been created by society regarding how someone of a particular gender should act, think, and feel. It is our beliefs and impressions regarding the gender norms of men and women. Like all stereotyping, gender-role stereotypes are often negative. Even though we can point out differences between males and females biologically, there are many more similarities than not between the two. Our society has defined traditional roles for men and women. Anyone who deviates from that norm is criticized.

In American society, gender-role stereotypes are highly prevalent. I do not believe that gender stereotypes are becoming more prevalent, but rather the stereotypes are changing to adapt to modern society. These changes may confuse people and lead them to believe that it is becoming more prevalent when it is just changing forms. Also, gender stereotypes are highly reliant upon subculture and cultural region. For example, many young males now shave their legs, something that was not practiced 20 years ago. Also, these metrosexual men may be stereotyped as more feminine, but depending on their social surrounding, they may actually be considered more masculine than their macho counterparts. The same could be said of emo boys and others who act and dress differently than previous generations.

Stereotypical behavior is highly dependent upon the subculture to which the boy or girl belongs. For example, in South Louisiana it is normal for a woman to go hunting and fishing. To others, particularly from the East Coast, this behavior may seem too masculine for women. Likewise, more may women run businesses in the Northwest as opposed to the South because of gender stereotypes.

Traditional roles of masculinity and femininity came into question in our modern society. Society generally favored masculine qualities, such as independence, aggressiveness, and power, over feminine qualities. Society also placed constraints on individuals, such as disapproval of loud, vulgar, or aggressive behaviors in women. The continuum of masculinity and femininity was broken with the introduction of androgyny. Instead of having more of one and less of the other, androgyny introduced the idea that individuals can contain both masculine and feminine qualities. Androgyny allows an individual to adapt to situations and be more flexible. For example, an androgynous individual can be both assertive (masculine) and sensitive (feminine). Likewise, another androgynous

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