Viewing gender as a social institution helps to observe how perceived ideas of how men and women should act shape people’s behaviors, relationships, and crucial life choices. As a rule, the foundations of gender-related beliefs and perceptions are implicitly taught and accepted within a family as the scene in which a child sees for the first time people interacting (Depraetere et al., 2020). By introducing a survey as the tool for collecting data about the perceived concept of gender norms and relationships, one can acquire crucial data about the principles of gender roles within the target community (Scharrer & Blackburn, 2018). Based on the results of the survey developed for these purposes, gender as the set of expectations for shaping people’s behaviors and attitudes suggests rather rigid standards for a family hierarchy within the target community, yet three is a potential for change.
To conduct the survey, four key questions were selected as the main talking points. Namely, the participants were asked about parental gender role expectations and traditional and nontraditional gender roles. In addition, the participants were asked to share whether their families valued the birth of a child of specific sex and whether they believed that toys should be gender-neutral. The specified questions were thought to provide a layout for examining patterns in perceiving gender roles within the target community. For the survey, a 25-year-old married man, a 30-year-old married woman, and a 21-year-old single young woman were selected.
The survey returned the results that indicated the prevalence of ideas that supported the traditional assignment of gender roles to men and women within families. Specifically, the answers to the survey indicated that most households expected that both a man and a woman would share responsibilities to ensure that the key tasks are completed and that all of the participants remain content. The described approach reflects a rather progressive perspective on gender roles within a family, opening opportunities for change, yet it does not explicitly subvert stereotypes (Balachandra et al., 2019). In turn, all of the participants indicated the relationships within which a man takes the leading role and a woman remains a minor participant in decision-making as conventional. Moreover, performative femininity and masculinity were identified as a concept accepted within the traditional paradigm of relationships by one of the interviewees.
All of the participants claimed that the sex of a child did not have any relevance as to how the child would be accepted in the family. Specifically, all of the respondents asserted that their family members would welcome any new one in a most heartfelt way no matter what the child’s sex would be. However, all of the survey participants indicated that their families would be inclined to differentiate between the toys for a child based on the latter’s sex and the corresponding perceived gender role. Nonetheless, all of the participants confirmed that they would allow their children to play with all kinds of toys and would offer them a wide variety of toys to choose from, including those ascribed to male gender roles, female ones, and those without clear gender signifiers. The specified position can be considered rather progressive and indicates that a change in the perception of gender has been occurring within the target community (Unnever & Chouhy, 2020).
As the survey indicates, despite the presence of relatively clear preconceived notions about behavior and attitudes expected from men and women in the selected community, certain changes can be made to question the existing status quo. Therefore, the survey indicates that, while offering rather stiff standards for men and women to adhere to, especially in family interactions, the target set remains open for further transformation. Therefore, with the shift in the perception of men and women, as well as the destruction of stereotypes concerning each, one will be able to promote relationships based on equity and an unprejudiced attitude toward one another. Thus, a happier and friendlier community with fewer interpersonal conflicts will be created.
References
Balachandra, L., Briggs, T., Eddleston, K., & Brush, C. (2019). Don’t pitch like a girl!: how gender stereotypes influence investor decisions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(1), 116-137. Web.
Depraetere, J., Vandeviver, C., Beken, T. V., & Keygnaert, I. (2020). Big boys don’t cry: A critical interpretive synthesis of male sexual victimization. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 21(5), 991-1010. Web.
Scharrer, E., & Blackburn, G. (2018). Cultivating conceptions of masculinity: Television and perceptions of masculine gender role norms. Mass Communication and Society, 21(2), 149-177. Web.
Unnever, J. D., & Chouhy, C. (2020). Race, gender, and perceptions of peer delinquency: A within-subject analysis. Deviant Behavior, 41(11), 1413-1430. Web.