Summary
Gender roles refer to the behaviors and attitudes that individuals learn as acceptable to their biological sex due to the prevailing cultural norms. Every society and culture has different gender role expectations, which are likely to change over a given period. Gender role definition occurs under various aspects such as conducting oneself, speaking, dressing and acting. While women appear accommodating, caring, and polite, men are bold and aggressive. Gender role expectations result in stereotype tendencies relating to appearance and occupation aspects that can cause unequal treatment. This paper focuses on the comparison of the media sources’ assumptions about genders.
Disney Films and Their Gender Roles
The Disney films depict gender roles about patriarchal progression. It portrays men as leaders while females are followers. In the same progression, the female’s leadership appears negative while men enhance positivity (Tonn 2008, p. 16). Consequently, the films assert that men should portray courage by fighting for their loved ones, while females utilize beauty, grace, and charm qualities to gain marriage partners.
Assumptions from the Media Sources
Married at First Sight is a TV show that depicts several assumptions on gender roles, presenting women as men-pleasers based on the items they buy for their husbands. Additionally, women accept their marriage as the only occupation attracting the sexual object element as they wait upon men to cover financial responsibilities and gain world knowledge (Beal 2008, p. 167). In the advancement, women strive to look beautiful to the extent of performing plastic surgery. Society expects a female to be respectful and soft in their expressions, although some tend to depict aggressive and disrespectful cues. On the other hand, men dominate everything in marriage, placing ladies at a submissive level. The media sources portray women as those lacking a voice in the decision-making process when they submit to and follow men’s directives without question, indicating a lack of respect.
At workplaces, gender roles define work by presenting the tough ones as male occupations, and less intellectually driven jobs fit women. For instance, the expectations entail men’s ability to play aggressively as it is a male-dominated occupation (Playing the Gender Card 2019). Workplaces encompass stereotypes that depict women as the weaker sex that cannot outshine men in challenging careers. The subject’s arguments indicate women as less intelligent than men (Cordelia 2010, p. 19). The women who manage to work in male-dominated positions undergo pressure and humiliation based on not performing at equal terms with their male counterparts, implicating the sexual object element. In the progression, females are more emotional than men, who are tough even when under pressure. On the parenting aspect, society expects women to be perfect even under unrealistic situations. It is okay for a woman to manage their duties at work, do house chores while at home, and ensure proper parenting to the children, but that is too much to take for a man.
Comparing and Contrasting the Media Sources
The Married at First Sight and parenting media sources depict that gender role entail similar societal expectations where women play specific responsibilities different from men. The gender role definition requires women to outperform men in the home working progression as they do well in managing the household. In both materials, there are pressures regarding particular duties. Men struggle to maintain financial stability to ensure bill payments while women strive to handle home duties, including proper child care. Apart from a few similar aspects, the media sources encompass various contrasting ideas.
There are contrasting aspects in the sources where the Married at First Sight implicates men as feeling the pressure in role execution, and the parenting media portrays women as ensuring more effort. The Married at First Sight source presents men as dominating the family matters, and as men talk, women have to be submissive by accomplishing the male directives. Women accept their role presentation as sexual objects and attest to the stereotypes and traditional provisions of an ideal woman possessing submissive and respectful qualities while men struggle with workplace pressures. The parenting media source depicts women as the pressure holders in the line of duty. The women in the source do not wait upon men’s struggles in the workplace responsibilities and participate in working for pay. The women multitask as they balance work, childcare, and home duties (Schoppe-Sullivan 2017, par. 15). Even though research indicates an increase in males’ involvement in parenting, they cannot outdo women. This comparison aspect depicts how women work more hours than men per week. Moreover, the Married at First Sight portrays men as home organizers and planners. On the contrary, in the parenting source, mothers are more determined in ensuring children’s health by realizing appointment booking, schedule organization, and activity management.
In conclusion, the gender roles concept entails character expectations at a societal level that determines how individuals behave to fit in the community without judgment. The media sources depict many assumptions regarding the subject, including portraying women on the weaker and submissive levels while men dominate leadership roles in the family. At workplaces, individuals define responsibilities about gender and occupation. Demanding and intelligent job requirements appear like men’s while women link to more minor creative professions. Additionally, while at home in household chore execution, the dominance shifts to women facing pressure in accomplishing different tasks, such as child care and managing domestic house chores. Comparing Married at First Sight, and parenting sources, indicate gender role identification regarding individuals’ biological sex. While Married, at First Sight, portrays men having the pressure to provide for family needs, such as bill payments. The parenting media source presents women struggling to balance between work and home duties.
References
Beal, FM 2008, ‘Double jeopardy: to be black and female.’ Meridians, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 166-176.
Cordelia, F 2010, ‘Introduction,’ Delusions of gender: the real science behind sex differences, Icon Books, London.
Married at First Sight (TV show). Lecture Notes. Par 1-11
Playing the Gender Card 2019, Podcast: Gender roles in the workplace, Web.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S., 2017, ‘Dads are more involved in parenting, yes, but moms still put more work.’ The Conversation Africa, Inc, Web.
Tonn, T 2008, ‘Disney’s influence of females perception of gender and love’ [Thesis: Submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Stout], 1-42, Web.