Georgia Stucki

Unit 2

Essay 1: Switching Roles

Question

To get a sense of the significance of gender roles, please respond to the following question.  Would you
be a similar person if you were the other gender?  Would your plans be different?  What about your
activities, feelings, and goals?  (If you run out of ideas to fill the page, try this.  What kind (style) of
clothes would you wear if you were the other gender?  Why is it acceptable for females to act
masculine, but not for males to act feminine?

Answer

If I, a female, were to be the other gender, I would assume that I would be a similar person to who I am
today. I have rigid beliefs that you should be a hard worker to make a difference to your life today. My
parents both worked and made an everlasting impression on me that work is important for financial and
individual independence. My father grew up on a farm and had to spend his entire childhood working
hard and saving money to be financial independent. My mother grew up more privileged with money
but still had an incredible work ethic and understood that working hard meant you can live whatever life
you want to lead. My plans as a male would be much different than as a female. My plans would include
becoming the breadwinner for my life soon after high school, not just after college. I would plan on
being a leader at whatever job I work for, especially shooting for management positions. My activates
would be different as well, as I would probably find it important to participate in middle school and high
school sports and extracurricular activities. I was raised in a family of both parents and two older
siblings. If I were a male, I would have a feeling of protecting my older sisters from any harm done to
them. My goals would include finding a wife to take care of and having a family to provide to, just like
my father’s goals have been. My expectations would be different as I would be expected to ask my soon
to be wife’s father to take her hand. If I were a male, I would dress in strictly pants and shirts and when
dressing more professionally, I would wear a suit or a button up shirt with a tie. I would never wear
dresses or jewelry as I do commonly and would not do any makeup on myself every morning. I assume
that I would have facial hair, as facial hair gives men a unique characteristic to their everyday look. My
hair would be kept short as my father’s hair has always been. “We are capable of both masculine and
feminine qualities as it suggested by the notion of androgyny” (Strong & Cohen, 2017, p. 125-126). As
humans, we possess both masculine and feminine qualities but because of gender stereotypes and
male-female statuses when being compared to a male it is highly valued than being compared to a
woman. Men being nurturing or family-oriented is seen as weaker or more feminine than the traditional
masculine stereotype. The book brought up a good example of women being sexually assertive as being
less feminine and more masculine (Strong & Cohen, 2017, p. 125). The benefits of being a male would
be the dominant presence in politics, economic and family settings but have disadvantages when it
comes to showing emotion. I am a very emotional person so I assume I would be an emotional man and
that may cause me being treated lesser or weaker than other men. All names used in this response were
used with permission.

Reference

Strong, B., & Cohen, T. F. (2017). The marriage and family experience: Intimate relationships in a
changing society (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.