The Word “Gender“

1 Pages 260 Words

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word
gender has a variety of
meanings, including the difference between males and
females. The
word gender in today’s society has a negative
connotation, in that gender’s
meaning is controversial pertaining to gender roles,
gender gap, and gender
stereotypes. For instance, gender roles can be used to
describe the typical
tasks that are associated with being either male or
female. As time
progresses the gender gap will continue to merge and
gender will no longer
have a negative connotation.
Saying that women and men are traditionally supposed
to perform certain tasks
places many restrictions on the word gender. Gender
role stereotypes refer to
the oversimplified expectations of what it means to be
a woman or a man. It
would be stereotypical to believe that a woman's place
is in the kitchen, and
at the same time to assume that a man's job is to
financially support the
family. Most women today are strong willed and
perfectly able to take care of
themselves. Just the same, today's man is not only
concerned about his
muscles, but also if his belt matches his shoes.
When looking at a job application the word gender
appears as one of the questions. Should
we ask ourselves why the employer needs to know such
details when all that
should matter is experience and work ethic? In today's
day and age
we are coming closer to breaking gender roles. Women
are majoring in building
construction, while men pursue careers in nursing.
This is evidence that
people are beginning to view the term gender with a
positive outlook. In the future,
the attitudes and behaviors of both men and women will
come together....