Gender Messages

Gender roles are the behaviors and traits and expectations that are linked to women and men through socialization, according to Janice Lee and Amie Ashcraft (2005). In fact gender roles define what it means to be a feminine or masculine person. During one's lifetime there is an enormous amount of social pressure to "conform to these gender roles" (Lee, 2005). This paper examines the gender roles learned from family, school, and from the media. People who fail to behave "…according to gender stereotypes are judged less likable, competent, and attractive" than those who do show appropriate traits and behaviors that match their gender (Lee, 7).

Gender role association learned from family

The individual begins to learn his or her gender role not long after birth, associating the values and beliefs that are associated with "masculinity and femininity" from the family. The mother in a family fills the role...
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