Gender

Traditional Sex Roles:

Remember our definition of a racial myth:  "When one group systematically subordinates another group, they will generate a justification for their subordination that makes it a positive virtue.  This is most easily done by giving attributes to the oppressed group that "explain" the need to subordinate them.  This is a racial myth. "

In light of this definition, reflect on the characteristics of "males" and "females" found in most traditional sex role definitions:
 
 

Like in the situation of a racial myth, these differences are often given a divine or biological origin.  Note that this list does not simply note the "differences" between men and women, it makes invidious distinctions between them.  Few would "choose" to be a woman.  Why have most societies assigned to women so many inferior characteristics?

A Structural Functional Explanation of Traditional Sex Roles

• Until 200 years ago every society had to deal with very high mortality conditions -- life expectancies of about 25 years, infant mortality rates of over 200 deaths during the first year of life for each 1,000 births.

 
• Under such high mortality conditions, if the society is to have a future generation of the same size as the present generation then each woman has to experience about 8 pregnancies.

 
• Traditional sex role definitions worked to make reproduction and mothering the primary goal of all women.  Motherhood became the one acceptable means of self-fulfillment for women.  Traditional sex role definitions provided the rationale for excluding women from all other avenues of self-fulfillment -- their nature was such as to exclude them.  Thereby they worked to ensure the high fertility that society "needed" for survival reasons.

A Structural Functional Explanation of Why Traditional Sex Roles Are Disappearing in Societies Around the World

• If women today have 8 pregnancies, even in societies with less developed economies, about 6 will survive to adulthood.

 
• The population growth produced by such reproduction is no longer beneficial to the survival chances of societies.  In fact, such growth threatens these societies' survival chances.

 
• Traditional sex role definitions support the emphasis on motherhood and reproduction.  Now they have to be replaced with ones that will not induce women to think of their self-fulfillment primarily in terms of motherhood, ones that will offer women many additional avenues of self-fulfillment.




---