Introduction
In America, socialization is used as a method of instruction. It can not only assist in teaching a person life lessons of etiquette that will ensure an easy insertion or reception into society, but will also discipline a growing individual in customs, education, and culture necessary for survival. Here, however, we will focus on the socialization of gender roles and the expectations which constitute gender roles, including methods and agents of socialization, as well as some of the effects it has on certain individuals. By being conscious of these details, one will be better equipped to understand societal expectations, and be versed to make informed decisions of how to rear your children, especially if your child or children self-identify as being homosexual because the socialization of gender roles in the United States causes confusion amongst or conflict within homosexuals as a result of gender role expectations and the gender roles they assume and find to be natural.
Defining Gender
To begin with, gender is defined as a social structure that is culturally or socially engineered and was devised in the early hunter-gatherer age (Connell). It emphasizes the distinctions between “females and males found in the meanings, beliefs, and practices associated with ‘femininity’ and ‘masculinity’” (Kendall 2012). Informally, says the World English Dictionary, “it is the state of being male, female, or neuter” or “any of the categories, such as masculine, feminine, neuter, or common, within such a set.”
Gender Roles
More importantly, a gender role “refers to the attitudes, behavior, and activities that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex and are learned through the socialization process” (Kendall 2012). A sample of several expected gender roles, for males, would include being strong, tough, fearless, courageous, emotionless or