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Alexas Da SIlva
Professor Jackie
English 113A
November 15, 2015
Role of Women
Men have always had this expectation to prove their masculinity by going to war or by
being physically aggressive, or to be the "man" of the house and be the primary economic
provider and always take care of the women. This assumes that women should be dependent on
the man, but in reality women can do all of the things men can do but it is not accepted in our
society to step outside the traditional role of wife and mother. Women have been misunderstood
in what they want, and they are able to do anything men can do. For example, traditionally
women were expected to take care of their husbands or please them any way possible. Women
were expected to be house wives, and if women did have jobs they were expected to get paid less
than men. Women shouldnt have these expectations in our society anymore, especially in the
United States. We are known for the American dream but no woman has ever made that dream
come true by becoming president. Women still havent been able to be get treated equally in the
military and in many other positions and occupations. At this point, I believe women should be
treated equally like men and have the same respect because women have the same capabilities
that men do.

In the past gender roles were more clearly defined but now many people feel confusion about
them. Many people today dont really know how to think about their role in society and what is
expected of them. In online entry Gender Roles it states that Your answers to these questions

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may depend on the types of gender roles you were exposed to as a child. Gender roles can be
defined as the behaviors and attitudes expected of male and female members of a society by that
society (faqs.org). Most people understand that their children are influenced by the way their
parents and teachers educate them and because of this, change is slow. So it is not surprising that
even now there is still an issue of how women are viewed in todays society. One would expect
by now we wouldnt have so many problems with womens equality but in reality we still do.
Just recently the media company Sony got hacked and information was leaked concerning how
much money actors were paid for various popular films. In Business Insider, in an articled
entitled LEAKED: Jennifer Lawerence got American Hustled in Sony Deal, it was reported,
In the latest leaked Sony emails, it was revealed that Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were
paid less than their male costars in 2013s American Hustle, which was co-financed by Sonys
arm Columbia Pictures (Weisman). This shows how even in the movie industry; women are still
not paid equally with men. Even though Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams were co-stars of the
movie they were not co-paid. The reason why this is an issue is because its proof positive that
women are not getting fair treatment. There is even a law, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which
made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform
substantially equal work (White House gov). Yet women are still not getting paid equally.

Another problem we still have is family expectations. Her fathers response was que Bueno
mija- thats good( De Leon 211). But what she later noticed was my father thought college was
good for girls good for finding a husband ( De Leon 211). Later on she explains how she went
to college and her father thought she had wasted her time because she didnt find a husband.
With these expectations for Latino women, the women try really hard to get approval from their

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families to be more important in society rather than being the stereotypical housewife. Another
issue we have is that women live with double standards when it comes to caring for children and
doing housework. For example, according to the Pew Research Center, studies have shown that
"In 1960, nearly all mothers with young children were married, compared with just 70% today.
About four-in-ten (41%) of all births today are to unmarried women; this was true of only 5% of
births in 1960 (Caumont and Wang). These young unmarried mothers of course must care for
the children by themselves. Yes, over time women have chosen have children later in life, but
many mothers are still expected to have children young because is required by some cultural
social norms. Even among older, married couples women are expected to work far harder at
home than the men: "Working mothers do 20 hours of housework each week, compared to
working fathers, who do 10 (faqs.org). This double standard shows how mothers today still
have had twice the work of men which ties back to the original point that women are still not
equally paid even though they do the same amount of work or even more work than men.

Other people may say that men are more capable to do more stuff than women based on man's
genetic tendency to be physically stronger. Biology dictates that men will generally have more
testosterone than women and therefore become physically stronger and more masculine. As a
result men generally have a genetic advantage in many situations and jobs that require physical
strength and dominance. In the richest article it states "to respond to a fire emergency feels
wrong, because a firefighter needs masculine qualities to survive which shows men have more
muscle than women and are able to put down a fire better than women because women are not as
strong as men. Men also typically dominate the workforce in numerous jobs that are laborious
and physically demanding. For example, the majority of labor and construction workers are

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males due to the nature and labor requirements of the job. Although women participate in these
fields, the majority are men since the job requires physical strength. Also, regarding gender roles,
men generally perform the labor-intensive tasks in a household such as yard work, construction,
and mechanics. Although men may be capable to do more masculine duties than women, at least
women can work in the same field.

In conclusion, women shouldnt be underestimated by how society looks at them. In the

past, women were over powered by social expectations, a lack of career opportunities, and
general inequality. Legal and social changes have been made over the years, but women still are
often underpaid and treated less equally than men. Although men have a genetic advantage in
physical strength, which rationalizes the large number of male workers in work fields that are
physically demanding, women are still capable of performing physically demanding tasks.
Overall times have changed and women are able to do many of the things men can do.

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Works Cited

"5 Questions (and Answers) about American Moms Today." Pew Research Center RSS.,
09 May 2014.
Web. 28 Oct. 2015."Health." Gender Roles, Information about Gender Roles. Web. 28
Oct. 2015.
"Did You Know That Women Are Still Paid Less Than Men?" The White House. The White
House, Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Weisman, Aly. "LEAKED: Jennifer Lawrence Got American Hustled In Sony Deal."
Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 14 Dec. 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
Leon, Jennifer De. Wise Latinas: Writers on Higher Education. Print.
"10 Jobs Women Will Never Be Able To Do Better Than Men." TheRichest. Web.
04 Nov. 2015.