Gender Roles

To the scholar 'gender' refers to the cultural difference between men and women. (Paoletti, 2013)  Whereas, 'Sex' is used to denote those biological differences; gender is used for distinctions in role, appearance, and behaviour that are cultural in origin but stemming from an individual’s sex (masculinity and femininity). (Paoletti, 2013) In terms of gender, stereotypes are everywhere and constantly reinforced. Regardless of our behaviour our perception of gender is often reflected by our experiences and interactions that leave a cultural imprint. Cordelia Fine's Delusions of Gender, 'Cultural realities and beliefs about females and males represented in existing inequalities; in commercials, in conversations; in the minds, expectations or behaviour of others; or primed in our own minds by the environment - alter our self-perception, interests and behaviour. (Millar, 2017)

It seems more socially acceptable for girls to wear 'boys' clothes/colours.' Why is it so unacceptable for boys to be like girls at all? (Millar, 2017) In contrast to historical terms and the long tradition of dressing boys and girls alike seem, curiously inappropriate to modern eyes. American babies in the twenty-first century are gendered, named, and furnished with appropriate clothing, room decor and toys months before birth, and they are only perceived as neutral for the very first few weeks of pregnancy. (Millar, 2017) In considerations to feminisms, third-wave feminist’s perception might confuse and frustrate their second wave mothers with their appearance - and the way they dress their children - but many still embraced the core belief of equal opportunity for their sons and daughters. The complications seen in children's clothing are not superficial; they reflect the vexing choices and contradictions that exist in modern gender roles for adults. 

Femininity, on the other hand, is not necessarily seen as the state of being a woman; instead, it's perceived more as a stereotype of a woman's role from the past. Femininity is not a typical core value today. Instead being 'feminine' is just one of the performances that women can choose to employ in everyday life - perhaps for pleasure, or to achieve a particular goal (Gauntlett, 2008) Stereotypes in advertising have been similar to those in women's magazines, and other media, although they have often been slower to change with the times. From a critical perspective, Friedan's 1963 critique of women's magazines runs alongside a similar assessment of advertising; the stereotypes reproduced by the housewife's journals were the same as those exploited by advertisers. (Gauntlett, 2008) A classic example of stereotyping women was notable when all women were perceived as the ‘housewife.’ However, the number of 'housewife' images began to decline slowly after the 1950s, but the image was still common in the 1960s and 1970s (Gunter, 1995:34). Content analyses of advertising on television in the early 1970s found strong evidence of stereotyping: of all ads featuring women, three-quarters were for kitchen and bathroom products. (Gauntlett, 2008)

To summarise, unsurprisingly the mass media used to be very stereotyped in its representations of gender. As well as showing men being more active, decisive, courageous, intelligent and resourceful, television and movies showed a much greater quantity of men, compared to women, as well. There were exceptions of course - it’s not hard to think of the odd clever, brave or challenging female character from the past - but these remained exceptions to the norm. Magazines and adverts aimed at women also tended to reinforce the feminine and housewife stereotypes. The emergence of Cosmopolitan, though, with its contradictory but generally forthright, assertive and sexually frank approach, heralded the changes which we would see develop in more recent media. (Gauntlett, 2008)