We have covered a wide range of topics, including feminism, masculinity, sex, and gender, in class discussions and lectures. The importance of discussing gender norms and roles is a major topic that I find important. Gender norms are culturally determined behaviors that are assumed to be appropriate for a gender. Gender norms define the expectations and standards that men and women are expected to meet within a specific range. Fear of rejection makes us conform to gender norms and roles. Throughout the twentieth and twenty first centuries, we were taught that gender roles have been prevalent in our society.

Sojourner Truth’s speech, “Ain’t I a Women”, is a good example of a 19th-century reading that illustrates gender roles. Sojourner Truth was a slave born in 1832 and became involved with the Women’s Rights Movement. She delivered the following speech at Akron’s Women’s Rights Convention 1851. She emphasized that women are capable of doing anything men can. The speech quoted “That man says women should be lifted into carriages and over ditches and have the best places everywhere.” I’ve never been helped into carriages or lifted over mud puddles. Am I not a lady? Take a look at me My arm is a good example! I’ve planted and plowed and collected into barns without a man being able to top me! “And ain’t that me?” She thought men believed women were entitled to protection because of their race, but she had never been a woman. This speech relates to both gender roles and social norms as well as oppression. It was a reaction to the men’s belief that women are inferior to men. Men are still stereotyped as the alpha, strong male. Women are portrayed as the weaker or more dependent female. Truth did the work of men in reality. The quote she gave can be read in two different ways. “Ain’t I a Woman,” could mean either that she is capable of performing a “man’s job” or that she is frustrated over being oppressed and treated as a slav. The fact that Sojourner Truth recognized that these gender roles were oppressive and that they should be changed in the 19th century is a great thing.

Pat Mainardi’s “The Politics of Housework”, a book from the 20th Century, is an example that supports my argument about gender norms and roles. This article summarizes that men of the time period viewed housework as being a woman’s job. They did laundry, washed dishes, bought and put away groceries, cleaned floors and did the shopping. Mainardi’s work is filled with translations to help explain what the men mean when they talk about housework. It was interesting to see her include the phrase “Housework Is Garbage Work”. The worst work I’ve ever performed. Someone of my intelligence doing it is humiliating and degrading. You’re smarter than that …. “. This comment confirms the view that men are considered superior to woman and that they should do “women’s work” rather than pursue professions deemed suitable for women.

Emma Watson filmed a video in 2014 about gender roles and expectations. Emma Watson became the UN Women goodwill ambassador in July 2014. HeForShe (He for She) is a UN campaign that promotes gender equality. She stresses the fact that everyone is needed to help end gender inequalities. Watson made several excellent points in her speech. She said women deserve to be treated the same as men and we should all have the freedom to decide what our bodies are. Emma is right. She said that if women don’t feel like they have to be submissive to men, it will be because men are not aggressive. She made it clear today that gender is a spectrum and not two opposing ideologies. This was a powerful point which directly related to our discussions in class. She went on to discuss how men also have gender roles. Watson says that men are afraid to express their emotions for fear of being deemed less manly if they do. So, instead of defining people by what they’re not, let’s define ourselves as who we are.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie presented “We Should Be Feminists”, a Ted Talk on gender roles. The Ted Talk I watched was fascinating and engaging. Chimamanda stressed that in our society, we encourage girls to strive to achieve success but not so much that it becomes threatening to men. In the 21stcentury, it is regrettable that girls are still told to compare themselves and not speak up for what their values are because they must conform to gender stereotypes. It is unfair to say that women almost live under a glass-ceiling, a concept which means unofficially admitting a barrier towards advancement in any profession. This affects women and people of color more than anyone else. Chimamanda teaches us that this isn’t the way to live, that gender norms and roles need to be changed.

This article, which is about current events and gender roles, is entitled “This Is What Happens When Gender Roles Are Forced on Kids”. The article discusses the fact that more than just biology, other social factors such as family and friends have a big impact on how you define yourself as a boy or girl. It is a bad thing to place high expectations on kids. The negative effects can last well into adulthood. Early on, children learn that men are dominant. They are independent and strong. And women are to be protected. Even adolescents are under pressure to conform. They say that boys who act and behave like girls do not have the same social acceptance as other boys.

We must, in general, realize that the expectations and standards to which men and women are usually held to conform and end them. In the past, we’ve seen that gender roles are determined before anyone is born. Despite not being comfortable, we continue to follow these norms and roles. Our communities can achieve this freedom by working together.