Margaret Mead's Perspective On Specific Gender Roles

When I was little, I lived and moved to many different places. Since I traveled a lot, I saw many people that were viewed as outsiders by others in society. If you did not follow the rules our society has placed on specific genders, you were mocked for being different. Woman had to feminine and men had to be masculine. This has always been true throughout history, women have always been viewed as weak, and unable to care for themselves. Men were seen as the leader of the house, they were in charge of hunting and taking care of their family. Body image has played a big part on how each gender is viewed. As our society is advancing, each individual is becoming more accepting of these people who were once labeled as different. Transsexual, which is when a person identifies as the gender other than what they were born as, has become a normal part of our society. As we expand …show more content…
“In other words, she originally felt that there was a natural disposition of temperaments that was inbuilt depending on sex.” (pp. 856). In Sex and Temperament by Margaret Mead, she admitted that she also believed that genders were required to follow specific rules according to their gender. As she continued studying cultures, her views changed. Society was taught that females could only do feminine activities, and men could only do masculine things, all because of their specific body type. Careers were biased to one gender depending on what genders they felt were required to complete the job. Females typically stayed at home with their kids or became teachers because of how fragile they were. Men were allowed to focus on more advance careers that were difficult since their bodies were built for heavy types of work. Sports, in the beginning, were strictly for one gender. Gymnastics was viewed as a very feminine sport and was originally meant for woman; while football, a very masculine sport, was specifically created for