A gender role , or sex role , are social norms deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. In addition, gender roles and perceived gender roles vary based on a person's race or ethnicity. Gender roles influence a wide range of human behavior , often including the clothing a person chooses to wear, the profession a person pursues, manner of approach to things, the personal relationships a person enters, and how they behave within those relationships.
Although gender roles have evolved and expanded, they traditionally keep women in the "private" sphere , and men in the "public" sphere. Various groups, most notably feminist movements, have led efforts to change aspects of prevailing gender roles that they believe are oppressive , inaccurate, and sexist. A gender role , also known as a sex role , [ 4 ] is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex.
Sociologists tend to use the term "gender role" instead of "sex role", because the sociocultural understanding of gender is distinguished from biological conceptions of sex. In the sociology of gender , the process whereby an individual learns and acquires a gender role in society is termed gender socialization. Some non-Western societies have three genders: men, women, and a third gender. Some individuals identify with no gender at all. Many transgender people identify simply as men or women, and do not constitute a separate third gender.
Gender role is not the same thing as gender identity , which refers to the internal sense of one's own gender, whether or not it aligns with categories offered by societal norms. The point at which these internalized gender identities become externalized into a set of expectations is the genesis of a gender role.
According to social constructionism , gendered behavior is mostly due to social conventions. Theories such as evolutionary psychology disagree with that position. Most children learn to categorize themselves by gender by the age of three. Traditionally, boys learn to manipulate their physical and social environment through physical strength or dexterity, while girls learn to present themselves as objects to be viewed.
