Changing Gender Roles

Throughout the past century the role of women has been continually changing. Today, in American society people are less likely to see stay-at-home mothers and more likely to see women who work and raise a family. The gender stereotype of women has continually been changing as society changes. American’s have seen this steady change through the decades with women vastly becoming more and more equal with their male counter parts. The gender roles are not just changing for women they are changing for men as well. Even though gender roles are changing, there is still a lot of room for more equality and additional change.

Starting in 1920, after a long and drawn out struggle, the US Constitution was amended and women were granted the right to vote. No longer did women not have a say in politics, now they had a right to change politics as it was needed. Into the 1940’s with many American men off fighting during WWII, women were finally given the opportunity to become fiercely independent. They were able to break a large stereotype that women don’t work hard labor jobs. The opportunity was given to women to work in jobs that males were only allowed to work in the past. Modern science advanced tremendously in the 1950’s and the birth control pill was developed and offered to women. Now women were liberated that they could choose when they wanted to have a child. In the late 1960’s with the Vietnam War in full force there were people protesting the war and at the same time there were women protesting the stereotypes and gender roles of women. Women could be seen burning their bras representing liberation from what society presses upon them. It’s at this time women’s fashion began to change as well and women began to wear more pants as opposed to skirts and dresses that was the stereotype of what women should wear.

In the 1970s, the lessons on making it in a man's world were essentially primers on how to behave like men. As University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political scientist Kathleen Dolan says, "They had to figure out a way to go undercover. They could only be taken seriously if they filled the male model with XX chromosomes” (Goodman, E. 2008). From the 1970’s to present day more and more women have developed successful and powerful careers and women have slowly but surely become more equal to men in society.

Not only has the role of women been changing drastically the gender role of men has changed as well. In a year 2001 Madonna came out with a song where she captures the changed label of women, and how people still have a negative typecast of females, while also showing the changing stereotype of men.

Girls can wear jeans
And cut their hair short
Wear shirts and boots
'Cause it's OK to be a boy
But for a boy to look like a girl is degrading
'Cause you think that being a girl is degrading
But secretly you'd love to know what it's like
Wouldn't you
What it feels like for a girl (Madonna, 2000).

The role of a man in the past is the sole provider of his house. A man was meant to be strong and to never show his emotions. He was supposed to play manly sports and be very masculine. Today a lot of that stereotype has changed but there is still a lot that hasn’t changed. It is still rare but there are some stay-at-home fathers, where the wife is the sole provider of the family and the husband takes care of the children. What people are more likely to see in America is a family where both men and women work to provide for their children, they both do house chores, both spouses take care of the children and they both make decisions. On television we now see men displaying their emotions and crying, however many men particularly still consider it inappropriate for a male to cry in public. In America we now see male cheerleaders, dancers, figure skaters, gymnasts and volleyball players. All these sports were once considered female sports and now are very co-ed.

There are many powerful women in society from CEO’s of major companies such as Anne Mulcahy, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Xerox Corporation and Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay Technologies to political leaders such as Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Hilary Clinton who could potentially be the first President of the United States of America. Even though there are a lot of powerful women in society they are few in number compared to their male counterpart. Women still struggle for their place in society. Ilene Lang heads Catalyst, which surveyed more than 1,200 senior executives in the United States and Europe. This research calculated the tenacity of double binds and double standards. It showed how hard it still is for a woman to be seen as both competent and likable. And it led her to the conclusion that "What defines leadership to most people is one thing. It's male” (Goodman, E. 2008).

The role of women has changed rapidly in this past century. There is still a lot of change that is needed and we will see what the future brings for both men and women. New stereotypes of male and female will arise and be challenged. As long as people have the free will to make their own decisions and change their life, people will be changing society and how people look at things. We have an exciting future ahead of us and all the change that it brings.