Cultural diversity is a debatable, open-ended term, which generally refers to a reality of coexistence of diverse knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, religions, languages, abilities and disabilities, genders, ethnicities, races, nationalities, sexual orientations, etc., of human beings. It could extend to the way people react to this reality and the way people choose to live together with this reality.
On Other Hand, it is a common misconception that the words “gender” and “sex” are words used to describe the same thing, when there is actually a big difference between the two.
Facts show the clear differences between sex and gender. Sex is anatomical, while gender is social and psychological. Therefore, gender should not be confined to the sex of an individual, because gender is not actually a biological occurrence.
some people believe that gender-specific expectations are necessary because each gender has jobs they fulfil in society; they “are necessary for society to function naturally”.
Others believe that gender roles can never be abolished because of the biological differences between men and women, and that traditional gender behaviors are simply “in our nature”. (“Are gender roles…”).
Gender roles have often been defined by a separation of men into public spheres, such as business and leadership, and women into private spheres, such as homemaking and motherhood. But the new ideas in the long nineteenth century—like nationalism, communism and industrialization—challenged these roles.
Gender roles are influenced by social beliefs and generalizations that have been in use for centuries. Similar to the title of tomboy, there are other gender classifications that many people go by, such as agender, gender fluid, omnigender, and bigender (Killermann). Genders and gender roles are not clear-cut categories that can be applied to everyone in society.
This can lead people to believe that those who do not fit neatly into the set gender roles might be flawed somehow, which can result in problems like discrimination or mistreatment. Instead, gender should be thought of as behaviors and personal identifications that exist along a spectrum.
One way to solve this problem in society is for the media to show more relatable, positive portrayals of people who do not follow traditional gender roles, such as a transgender or transsexual teenager who is going to school like any other teenager, or a football player who dresses or behaves in a feminine way.
Another solution would be more comprehensive lessons in schools that show the differences between sex and gender, as well as the different feelings kids and teenagers may experience as they begin to go through puberty. This would help teenagers better understand themselves and their bodies as they begin to develop and change.
Both women and men perform multiple roles in their lives, in the productive domain – which includes activities related to the production of goods for consumption or trade and income-generating activities – and in the reproductive domain – which includes tasks and activities relating to the creation and sustaining of the family and the household.
New ideas like socialism, nationalism and women’s rights helped transform traditional attitudes and expectations. As a result, gender roles began to shift and change. The labor-intensive Industrial Revolution brought many women out of the home to work in factories.
Change is inevitable as Karl Marx argued. Today we are experiencing rapid change in gender responsibility across the globe especially in the developed countries.
Though, ‘Gender’ included both men and women, I will emphasise more on women, as the changes on roles or responsibilities are more related to.
CHANGING ROLES IN TERMS OF GENDER RESPONSIBILITY
In the long nineteenth century, ideas about gender started to change. Men and women have had gendered roles in almost all societies throughout history; although these roles varied a great deal depending on the geographic location. But in the long nineteenth century, the expansion of European colonialism spread European norms about men’s and women’s roles to other parts of the world.
Sometimes it spread through cultural networks of exchange and sometimes by force and coercion. In many societies, men’s roles were in the public sphere, meaning things like government and business. Women, by contrast, participated in the private sphere of the home. But there were lots of exceptions to this! Most people’s lives and stories don’t fit neatly into these boxes of public and private spheres.
Life is more complicated than that, and not everyone performs the role society assigns them. Gender roles are different in different places, cultures, societies and social classes.
Many European societies subscribed to “Victorian” ideals of gender roles, named for the long reign of the British Queen Victoria. Women were to stay in the home, and if they went out, they usually only went to spaces separate from men. While Queen Victoria didn’t exactly fit into this traditional gender role—she did rule all of Britain and its empire—she still conveyed these ideals to her subjects.
Because of the global reach of the British Empire, these ideas spread all over the world, often through force.
But in the long nineteenth century, people all over the world found new ways to resist these oppressive gender roles. New ideas like socialism, nationalism and women’s rights helped transform traditional attitudes and expectations. As a result, gender roles began to shift and change. The labor-intensive Industrial Revolution brought many women out of the home to work in factories.
Colonized people began to resist European control. These and other changes also helped create social reforms and new ideas about childhood, voting rights, education and labor. In Europe and America, the term “New Woman” was applied—and not always as a compliment—to women who sought greater access to higher education and more freedoms.
Many women of different classes united to fight for greater rights in the workplace, marriage and, of course, the voting booth, where they wanted their voices to be heard in government.
In the colonized world, changing gender roles emerged alongside nationalism and struggles for independence. People there resisted colonialism and formed transnational networks to fight for women’s rights. Ideas about how to define gender, femininity and even masculinity were transforming everywhere.
In Asia, particularly East and Southeast Asia, Confucianism had the greatest impact on defining gender roles, and it defined women as subordinate to men. This applied to women in prominent roles at court as well as women in middle- to lower-class households. Social traditions deemed that women should be respectful of the men in their lives: rulers, fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. Confucian ideology wasn’t just confined to East Asia and China— its influence reached other areas through trade and migration.
For the most part, East Asian women were confined to living and working in the private sphere around the home. However, some women broke free from these constraints. There were a handful of powerful women in Chinese government, such as Empress Dowager Cixi, who dominated governmental policy during the Qing Dynasty. Other women exercised power alongside male relatives.
Some women also had to work outside of the home to support their families. Wet-rice farming was a labor-intensive process that required both men and women to participate in the planting, tending and harvesting of the crop. Along with agricultural duties, many women also worked in the textile industry, although this was usually done in the home prior to industrialization. When men were called off to war, women took their places in the fields and in the markets.
As these examples show, Confucian ideals were often very different from the daily life of many women, especially those of the middle to lower classes. These traditional Chinese roles began to change as European imperialists pushed their way into China.
European desires to open up China’s markets unleashed more changes for China in both political and intellectual life. This mainly affected the upper classes. However, those changes would be felt by many people living in both China and Southeast Asia, as European imperialism spread. There is a Chinese saying that goes, “Chinese learning for essence, Western learning for application.” It expresses the Chinese view of the European intrusion as necessary for military and economic reasons, but also a commitment to keep their traditional Confucian ideals.
In many areas of Africa and Latin America, traditional gender roles changed as a result of resistance to colonialism. Gender roles in Africa varied depending on the location. But generally, men and women performed different types of jobs. In many regions of the continent, women farmed while men tended to animals and did metalworking.
In West Africa, both men and women were traders and merchants, although men usually held more of these positions than women.
With the expansion of imperial control throughout the nineteenth century, Western nations attempted to force their ideas about gender roles on their colonized subjects. But imperialist governments often underestimated the cultural power and importance that women had in local society.
Indigenous women attempted to use their traditional roles to exert influence over European imperial governments. For example, Igbo-Ibibio women in Nigeria were angered when the British officials attempted to tax women’s property.
Historically, Though, there are many women that play a significant role (Like Queen Amina Of Zazzau), but women are mostly undermined due to gender inequality and patriarchal nature of especially our society.
CONCLUSION
World Culture is diverse, so also changes in gender roles and responsibilities. But almost in all society women are gradually getting rights to participate so many activities. For example, in economy, women are employed now more, and many are allowed to go out and work, some women are now holding higher offices and participating in National income growth. Which before they are restricted to or very few are having the opportunity.
When we look at education, many women are allowed to attain higher education, Likewise, when we look at politics, women are participating. In 2023 Nigeria’s election, there are 25 female governorship candidates. The ‘United Nations Women Offfice’ in Nigeria has disclosed that only 1,553 of the total 15,307 candidates who would be participating in 2023 general elections are women (Premiumtimesng 2022).
In family also, there are many changes indeed. Dual earners ( Dad is Working, also Mom is working ) are prevalent now, which in the days back is contrary, only father go to work. Mother is expected to be in the kitchen and taking of the children.
In addition, we also have many women that are working and the husbands are relaying on them. Conclusively so many changes do exist now, some are positive, while some are negative. And All are important to the study of sociology.
REFERENCES
- Joy Nash (2016): “Gender Roles in Modern Society.”
- Jason Cong Lin (2020): “Understanding Cultural Diversity and Diverse Identities.”
- Bridgette Byrd O’Connor: “Changing Gender Roles”. Khan Academy.
- Only 10% of candidates in Nigeria are Women: Report By PremiumtimesNg 2022.
