Roles of Gender in Modern Society

Abstract

A gender role, also known as a sex role, is a social role encompassing a range of behaviors and attitudes that are generally considered acceptable, appropriate, or desirable for a person based on that person's sex. Genders roles are culturally specific, and while most cultures distinguish only two (boy/man and girl/woman), others recognize more. Some non-Western societies have three genders: men, women, and a third gender. Buginese society has identified five genders. Androgyny has sometimes also been proposed as a third gender. An androgynies or androgynous person is someone with qualities pertaining to both the male and female gender. Some individuals identify with no gender at all. Gender role is not the same thing as gender identity, which refers to the internal sense of one's own gender, whether or not it aligns with categories offered by societal norms. The point at which these internalized gender identities become externalized into a set of expectations is the genesis of a gender role.