Gender Roles In Modern Society

In the pre- industrial western world, gender roles in technology were created during a time where the completion of daily tasks and chores was more of a life and death matter, rather than an issue of cleanliness or organization. Pre-market economy, the vast majority of any kind of work was done at the home. Most of the essential goods and supplies that a household needed was produced by the members of the family, using resources available to them. Not having the option to go to the store and buy something that you can’t make yourself drastically puts in perspective some of the things we take for granted with modern technology. The margin of error was far smaller, if a family missed a harvest because the man in charge of that was sick or injured, …show more content…
The family unit was an individual’s business, legacy, and retirement plan. Culture established a methodology of living that was proven to be sustainable, in that environment that strict gender roles naturally occurred. Today modern society is largely gendered. The social norms and the general architype of personalities are developed and nurtured in a medium of gender bias, persuasion, and societal indoctrination. As a man, it’s incredibly uncomfortable for me to cry in a public setting, even during times where that would be a completely justifiable reaction. This is a small example of how gender roles that were developed out of necessity in the pre-industrial world have become intertwined into our culture and development in the modern epoch. The defining characteristics of “feminine and masculine” in the modern day can trace its roots to the essential family structure of preindustrial era. Life before industrialization was a harshly different existence from what we experience today. It was near impossible to exist apart from a family unit. The culture had set up a systematic way of living that ensured all of life’s essentials would be covered from birth to death. Most of us feel the impact of the way pre-industrial people lived from an early age. The toys we played with as children were massively gendered. Marketed to boys are trucks, guns, and tools. Girls were given doll houses, easy bake ovens, and played dress up. This is a direct reflection of the social roles that helped maintain life less than three centuries ago. Women were expected to grow up and become “housewives”. They would find a man, have children, maintain their home, and complete the tasks expected of her. Men were expected to grow and provide. He would find a wife, have children, and try and provide them with a home and the essentials of life. What once were societies ideals regarding