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Britney Zelaya
Professor Beadle
English 115
October 26, 2016
The Effect of Gender Norms on Society
Gender is something taught at a young age. Along with it being taught, it has its own
subliminal messages of what it should be. Not all messages are subliminal. In fact, some become
very clear as to what society makes gender out to be. In a Van Heusen magazine cover you find a
man in bed with his arms up as a woman is kneeling down beside the bed next to him serving
him food as if she were a dog. Shes dressed in clothing that would seem rather quite appealing
to men. The man is wearing a suit and tie as if he were ready to go work. You also see the women
looking up at him as he looks down at her with a grin. In the cover you read the words, Show
her its a mans world. Society uses a negative representation of women and how they should
act, a negative representation of men while showing the entitlement society gives them, and of
course, the context of gender to show the social norms of gender characteristics. While doing so
they degrade women and make men look like monsters. This becomes a relevant topic because it
represents gender reality and actual situations which occur between males and females.
In society, the culture of gender is quite simple. Boys or men are supposed to do manly
things and girls or women are supposed to do female things. For example, females are supposed
to cook and clean. They do their job at home and make sure dinner is made. Males go to work.
They make the money and expect to come home to a cooked meal. Although this stereotype
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doesnt fit the picture for all households, it is a huge picture that most people seem to think is
normal. Little girls play with dolls and little boys play with toy trucks. These gender ideas
become so normal that if a little boy is seen playing with dolls, hes not tough anymore. Men
arent supposed to be emotional. Thats a womans job, or so society claims. This interpretation
in everyones head becomes so normal that it makes it okay to degrade women. Making men
look superior to women becomes an idea in which men believe is right themselves. Even worse,
women begin to believe that these social norms are how things are supposed to be. In
Composing Gender written by Rachel Groner and John F. Ohara, you come across two articles
which can further explain these ideas of social norms in society. In Becoming Members of
Society: The Social Meaning of Gender, by Aaron Devor, he presents a concept that society
rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differently, relating to the social norms of how certain
genders should perform (Devor 35). He shows the wrongful standards society feels male and
female should meet in performance while describing the specific guidelines which society bases
their standards to describe acts like those mentioned earlier. He points out that seeing a man
doing what is considered a womans job and a women doing what is considered a mans job is
out of normality and character in society. In his article he writes Popular conception of
femininity and masculinity instead resolve around hierarchical appraisals of the natural roles of
male and females (Devor 39). This is specifically shown in the Van Heusen magazine cover
when reading the words Show her its a mans world.. Society makes it normal to have men
feel like their rank in society, compared to women, is much higher than what it really should be
considered.

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The picture in the Van Heusen magazine shows a negative representation of women. It
gives women an image of being inferior to men. The womans entire body language sends the
subliminal message that women must serve to a mans needs. It perfectly describes the words on
the magazine cover which read Show her its a mans world.. The woman is serving the man
what seems to be his breakfast right before he leaves for work. This concept is greatly described
by Ruth Hubbard in her article Rethinking womens biology. She states her views on the
norms of how a woman and man are expected to be rather than how they feel theyre
personally identified. She says Womens biology is a social construct, and a political concept,
not a scientific oneso one isnt born a woman (or man), one becomes one (Hubbard 46). She
makes herself clear when stating that gender roles are more of an idea that comes from what is
expected from male and female. In correlation with this she describes the extent to which women
are demoted. Media like the Van Heusen cover show society that putting women at a lower rank
is okay. Even today, womens work will go unknown. In an article in the Journal of the Academy
of Marketing Science, The Longitude View of Womens Role Portrayal in Television
Advertising, by Marjorie Caballero and Paul Solomon, they write, specifically, men outnumbered womenespecially as authority figures. Women were portrayed more often than men
in decorative roles and in the home. While the number of women shown working increased over
time, the jobs they were shown holding were generally traditional female occupations. In
some situations, women even get paid less or are given a given different job title for doing the
same work that a man does. The female occupations becomes an excuse for the lessoning of a
womans pay. The magazine cover gives women a negative representation by not showing them

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in their fullest potential. This becomes so drastic that even women themselves begin to believe
that thats how their morals should be set up.
The cover in the Van Heusen magazine cover also gives men a negative representation
slightly different to that of womens however. The man laying back with his hands behind his
head as he relaxes gives off the subliminal message that society gives men the right to feel
superior to women. As said before the words on the cover, show her its a mans world, says it
all. As Aaron Devor mentions in his article, Becoming Members of Society: The Social
Meanings of Gender, the hierarchical appraisals of the natural roles of males and females
(Devor 39), give men the entitlement over women. Men almost make themselves look like
monsters when it comes womens morals. The unequal opportunities for women most of the time
come from men. This becomes so important in society because it shows even some know the
idea is wrong it will always be considered right because thats how it should be. Men benefit
regardless of how women are degraded. To them they lose nothing.
Some might argue that times are different now. Minds are much more advanced than to
think so one-sided about this topic. Yet, there has yet to be women president representing
America. Even today when a man is doing a womens job its considered out of place. In an
article in Gender Education, Spice Girls, Nice Girls, Girlies, and Tomboys: Gender Discourses,
Girls Culture and Femininities in the Primary Classroom, by Diane Ready, a study is shown to
prove females ability to be more skillful and intelligent than males. Even then Ready writes
Although the main focus of this article is how gender discourses position girls at school, in
order to understand femininities in the primary classroom, the ways in which masculinities are
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being played out cannot be ignored.. The fact that society norms automatically make men more
superior isnt a secret. The superiority that men hold in gender roles is clearly one-sided.
Gender should definitely be a debatable topic for everyone. The guidelines society makes for
everyone to follow seem ignorant and uneducated.

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Works Cited Page

Caballero, Marjorie, and Paul Solomon. "A Longitudinal View of Women's Role Portrayal in
Television Advertising." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 12.4 (1984): 93108
Devor Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meanings of Gender. Composing
Gender, edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, p.p 3543
Hubbard, Ruth. Rethinking Womens Biology. Composing Gender, edited by Rachel Groner
and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, p.p 46-51
Lorber, Judith. A Night to His Day: The Social Construction of Gender. Composing Gender,
edited by Rachel Groner and John F. OHara, Bedford/St. Martins, 2016, p.p 19-30
Reay, Diane. "'Spice Girls', 'Nice Girls', 'Girlies', and 'Tomboys': Gender Discourses, Girls'
Cultures and Femininities in the Primary Classroom." Gender and Education, 13.2
(2001): 153-166

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