Sex Roles In America

Historians have argued that the early colonists in this country granted women a higher status than they had in England. One reason for the break with English custom was the importance of women’s labor in colonial times.

In 1813 the first New England cloth factory was established. Most of the women working in factories were in their late teens or early 20s; they usually quit when they married.

In the 19^thcentury middle-class women did not work outside the home. Economic and political doings were men’s responsibilities; the domestic side of life was the domain of women. The family was regarded as a kind of retreat from the stress and tension of the workday world; a good wife provided an atmosphere of tranquility, affection, and warmth. Child- care, instead of being just one of many tasks, became a “sacred duty” and a woman’s most important responsibility.

During the mid-19^thcentury the western migration, the abortion and social-reform movement, the Civil War, missionary activity, and industrialism had the combined effect of undermining the cult of True Womanhood by involving women in activities outside the home. Yet despite the departure of many women from family-centered concerns, our gender ideals and attitudes about sex roles are still rooted in the 19^thcentury belief in the “rightness” of man-as-provider, woman-as-homemaker.

Today, although these stereotypes persist, they have been weakened by several forces. One of the truths that has emerged from psychological research is that there is no such thing as a “pure” masculine personality or a “pure” feminine personality. There are traits of autonomy and dependency, aggression and passivity, in all of us, male and female. And given personality is a complex mix of all these traits. Another factor that has weakened stereotypes about the sexes is the realization that “masculinity” and “femininity” are the least partly a result of years of exposure to family, schools, peer groups, and other agents of socialization. It is widely recognized that the stereotypes are not “natural” but, rather, are created by the society.

6. Answer the questions.

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of women’s emancipation?

• Should women have some privileges?

• Do you think women should have a shorter working day?

• Do you think that men should share the household duties?

• Who, do you think, are more socially active, men or women?

• What accounts for women living longer than men?

• Why is women’s participation in power lower than that of men?

• Do you think that gender roles will change in the nearer future?

• Does being male or female make any difference in your life?

• What are women’s problems in Russia?

7. Comment on the following quotations.

   1. Two women placed together make cold weather. (W. Shakespeare)

   2. In old age a woman must put up with her face, the friends, the health and the children she has earned. (W. Fay)

   3. I have never regarded woman as a toy. Woman is the intellectual helpmate of man in public as in private life. Without her we should forget the true ideas. (O. Wilde)

   4. Plain women are always jealous of their husbands, beautiful women never are! – Beautiful women have no time. They are always so occupied in being jealous of other people’s husbands. (O. Wilde)

   5. One could never trust a woman who tells one her real age. A woman who would tell one that, would tell one anything. (O. Wilde)

   6. The way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and run. (Anonymous)

   7. Being a woman is a terribly difficult task. Since it consists principally in dealing with men. (J. Conrad)

   8. Don’t tell a woman she is pretty; tell her there is no other woman like her, and all roads will open to you. (J. R. Renard)

   9. On one issue, at least, men and women agree: they both distrust women. (H. L. Mencken)

8. Use the following proverbs in situations of your own. Give Russian equivalents if possible.

1. A woman is as young as she looks, and a man is as old as he feels.

2. Men make houses, women make homes.

3. Since a wife basked in the glory of her husband’s success, so she must share his fall.

9. Solve the problems.

1. If you changed overnight into a person of the opposite sex, how would your life be different?

2. You are completing a nationwide survey about the role of women in contemporary society. Make up the list of questions you will ask.

3. What measures would you take to improve women’s position if you were Minister of Social Insurance?