Gender Roles and Society's Tendency to Impose Them

Gender Roles in the Contemporary Society

With the contemporary society having reached an impressive level of equality and moral thinking, a series of traditional ideas came to be refuted. Women in particular have experienced much progress across recent centuries and their fight for equality continues to this day. Even with this, there is much controversy concerning the role that women play in the social order. Many are likely to have a limited understanding of their current position and one is likely to come across a series of divisive opinions when asking the question "what makes a woman?" Probably one of the best methods of addressing this discussion would be to consider the idea of a transgender person.

People have been historically accustomed to thinking that men and women are essentially different because of each group taking on gender roles characteristic to it. Even with this, as gender roles became more and more controversial during recent decades, it seems that numerous individuals from around the world support the idea that each person is free to take on whatever role he or she wants regardless of their gender.

Bruce Jenner's coming out and sex change is one of the hottest topics today, as the world watched in amazement as one of the symbols of masculinity in the U.S. decided to break the norm and to put across her true feelings. As Caitlyn Jenner, she seems to consider that she has the freedom to be herself and to put an end to a society that typically concentrates on having individuals take on limited roles in spite of the fact that many don't actually identify with these respective roles. One can only imagine the feelings Jenner must have felt throughout her life, taking into account that she was indirectly forced to represent masculinity in one of its most significant ways -- through portraying a sporting individual.

As they struggle to express themselves, many people risk offending others. While most are likely to agree that women are inherently different from men, actually emphasizing this aspect as a difference between the two groups can be especially controversial. Probably one of the safest ways to address this issue would be to say that women and men are different because each group is likely to display particular characteristics through their lives. Men have more testosterone and are thus more probable to excel in physical prowess while women are provided with the ability to give birth. These two are typically some of the most significant differences between the groups, but by using a series of medical techniques one is likely to enable a man to give birth and a woman to develop physical attributes similar to those observed in men.

When all said and done, it is all a matter of finances and the lengths to which a person is willing to go to in order to achieve the look that they identify with the most. Even with her courage, Caitlyn Jenner's example is probably not the best that one can consider when taking into account gender roles. The fact that she had access to finances to become a woman does not mean that she is more of a woman than a man who feels like a woman but does not have the finances to perform surgery.

Cases like Jenner's also risk diminishing the role of transgender individuals and of women in particular today. By posing into an attractive woman using make-up, silicone, and a series of other surgical enhancements to improve her appearance, she indirectly suggested that all women should concentrate on trying to appear as feminine (in agreement with the traditional concept of feminine) as possible. "That's the kind of nonsense that was used to repress women for centuries. But the desire to support people like Ms. Jenner and their journey toward their truest selves has strangely and unwittingly brought it back." (Burket 2)