Title: Gender Roles in Modern Society | One World Education
Headings: Gender Roles in Modern Society
Gender Equality
Gender Roles in Modern Society
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Content: As a result, they should not be used as a guideline as to how people of a certain sex should behave, because they are not reliable nor constant. Although many people seem to fit within the specific categories of masculinity or femininity, these generalizations are simple social constructs. Alice Eagly and Wendy Wood, authors on the psychology website APA-PsycNet.com, state that “general differences between the behaviors of the genders are the result of the social roles they were placed in”; namely those developed in the first human social structures. Nathaniel Givens, an author for Times and Seasons, also states that gender roles were not invented, but were developed over time, and that they cannot work as generalized distinctions. Givens also explains how many traditional gender roles were based on the idea that parental duties should not overlap, rather, they be taken care of separately (Givens). For instance, during the Paleolithic Era and early Neolithic Era, during which most societies were nomadic tribal units, men hunted animals for sources of meat, skins, and bones, while women scavenged for roots, nuts, and berries, as well as looked after the children. These tasks held equal importance to early human societies, so both genders were viewed as equal. Over time, the technological and agricultural developments of the Neolithic Revolution spread, causing more nomadic tribes to settle down into stationary lifestyles. Thus, women began to stay home or within the settlement to take care of children, make clothes, and other domestic tasks, while men worked the fields to grow food, domesticate animals, and continue to hunt, although to a lesser scale.