Differences in Gender Roles
Woolf and Mead both discuss
gender roles, Woolf focusing more on women.
Woolf wrote an
essay directed to two Oxford students which happened to be both women. You can
tell this because Woolf recognizes their gift of intelligence, she makes
several comments regarding back to their intelligence. During this time women
were basically considered property, chapter headings from Trevelyan’s History
of England support this. Many of these chapter headings consist of something
regarding war, women obviously weren’t fit for war so therefor it can be
inferred that women weren’t very relevant to society. An important change in
society that is needed to benefit gifted women, is that more acceptance for
women needs to be in place. Talent makes a women’s situation difficult because
they basically challenge the men therefor are resented.
Mead
broadens her research to the temperament of both the male and female. Her research
finds that the traits of women and men vary from culture to culture. In some cultures,
men are only fit to paint in color while in others women are apt to fish. When
restricting opportunities of one sex, the society limits themselves of potential
fillers for jobs. Say for example if they needed teachers and only men could do
this then they would have a limited pool to choose from. Opposite sexes pay a
high toll in discrimination when standardized temperamental expectations are
put in place. If they are not within the norm, then they are shunned. Our society
needs to be concerned and follow the ways of the primitive cultures because the
gender roles where not as prominent. More people were allowed to do various jobs
and they were not discriminated upon do to their gender.
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