Gender Roles

HOW DOES MY GENDER AFFECT MY HEALTH?

• It makes me worry about illnesses that target the female gender (such as: breast cancer, cervical cancer, ovarian cancer, etc).
• Due to ‘societal norms’ portrayed in the media about body image, dieting is seen as a commonality and often an obligation for women. Dieting as a societal norm could lead to eating disorders (such as: anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, etc) which can be severely damaging to an individual’s health.

HOW DOES MY GENDER AFFECT MY RELIGION?

• Having to decide whether or not to use contraceptives (such as birth control), which is not encouraged in my religion.

HOW DOES MY GENDER AFFECT MY PERSONAL OPINION?

I believe that gender is often socially constructed...

Inequality in types of jobs (secretaries are typically female; construction workers are typically male, etc).

Gender divides work in the home and economic productivity; it identifies those in power and determines sexuality.

How men are supposed to act (being the breadwinner) and how women are supposed to act (having to cook, clean and take after the children).

"Boys wear blue; Girls wear pink"

Social Stratification: Men as a group have more status and power than women as a group; women are treated as “other”.

MEN MUST ACT "MASCULINE"

                WOMEN MUST ACT "FEMININE"