Societal Perspective on Gender Roles

Society has embossed an image into the minds of people of how the role of each gender should be played out. There are two apperceived types of gender, a man and a woman, however there are many types of gender roles a man or a woman may surmise or be placed into by society. The conceptions of how one should act and deport are often times attributed by their gender by society, but these ascribed statuses and roles are sometimes un-welcomed, and people will surmise who they opt to be as individuals by contravening the stereotypes set forth by society.
This paper will examine these roles in terms of how society visually perceives men and women stereotypically, and how men and women view themselves and each other in terms of stereotypes that are normally ascribed, as well as their own opinions with a survey administered to 40 individuals. What I hope to find out is that if gender roles are predetermined from birth or it is shaped by our society and culture. Through utilization of this survey I intend to provide an insight to the social perception on gender roles.
Gender roles are separate patterns of personality traits, mannerism, interests, attitudes and behavior that are regarded as either “male” or female” by one’s culture. It is largely a product of the way in which one was raised and may not be in conformance with one’s gender identity.  
In 1972, Money and Ehrhardt’s book, Man and Woman, Boy and Girl, advanced a provocative theory about gender identity and gender differentiation that continues to spark debate. Based on research with intersex patients, this book advanced the idea that social factors were more important than biological factors in gender identity and gender roles and brought nature-nurture issues to the forefront. The authors also promoted the notion of “gender role” as a term referring to the socially defined, outward manifestations of gender, and “gender identity” as one’s personal experienced sense of gender (Zosuls et al.).
Another study...