Artistic Themes from Ancient Cultures: Greece and Rome
A gender role is something that decides what role the man will play in society, and what role the woman will play in society. These roles can include the position, status, activities, and behavior that is appropriate for one’s sex. The roles of men and women have always been different, and they have generally been expected to have different attitudes and thoughts. Social aspects are reflected by behavior, and the idea that specific behavior is naturally tied to the biological sex of a person is challenged by these social aspects. The word “role” can be reducing because it indicates that something is strongly characterized, but gender roles are specific to culture and history, and the roles do change over time. Gender roles have stayed fairly regular over the course of time, such as women being the sole custodian of the children, many of the roles have changed.
It is necessary to know that gender roles can be explained in different ways depending on the culture and background of a specific people. Some cultures feel as if the woman should stay home and take care of the children and the home, while other cultures may feel that the woman should be out making money to help support the family. Even today some cultures believe that women should not be independent or build a family for themselves. Some expectations of gender roles even still prohibit women the right to vote or try to be equal to men. The specifics of gender roles are not determined by biological gender, but rather by society (World of Sociology, 2001).
Roman culture had heavy gender roles. Roman women, according to the Roman men were essentially weak and needed someone of the male gender to command and defend them. The father was the first to play this role, then the role would pass to the husband once the father handed his daughter over in marriage.