This document discusses gender roles in popular culture and how they have changed over time. It defines traditional gender roles as socially defined behaviors appropriate for each sex, with men typically fulfilling provider and decision-making roles, and women typically fulfilling domestic and caretaking roles. It explains that gender roles are learned from a young age through parental reinforcement. While gender roles have become less rigid over time, especially as more women entered the workforce in the 1960s-70s, traditional roles still persist in media and society. The document also explores how popular culture both reflects and shapes evolving views of gender and sexuality.

1. GENDER ROLES IN
POPULAR CULTURE
SOCIOLOGY OF POPULAR CULTURE
SOC 211

2. WHAT ARE GENDER
ROLES?
 Gender roles are the attitudes, behaviors and activities
that are socially defined as appropriate for each sex.
 Traditional Gender Roles – takes its source from past.
MEN
 Takes care of the family
financially.
 Guides the family.
 Makes the final decision.
 Is Strong
 Do not show emotions
 Do not share personal
feelings.
WOMEN
 In charge of running the
household.
 Caring children.
 Weak
 Shows emotions

3. GENDER ROLES ARE LEARNED
 Gender roles are passed on through generations.
 From the age of 3, children are able to start becoming
aware of the differences between girls and boys, based
on the actions of the parents, and the nature of their
environment.
 As children grow older, they start learning what
behavior is appropriate and expected.
 The behavior is reinforced when the parents praise or
reward their children for their actions. They can also be
punished or challenged to change, if it is considered
inappropriate.

4. CHANGE OF GENDER ROLES
OVER TIME
 During World War II, women got their first exposure to jobs
outside the home, mainly in offices and factories- when their
husbands were fighting the war.
 In 1960s and 1970s, the social atmosphere began changing
and women started to act more independent.
 Women began working outside the home, in the fields of
healthcare, teaching and secretarial positions.
 While the idea of women at work was no longer foreign in
the late 20th century, many women still felt the need to prove
themselves.

5. CHANGE OF GENDER
ROLES OVER TIME
 Likewise women, men’s roles have shifted over time.
 As women began going to work, men began getting
more involved caring for their children and for the
home.
 Men became more open to sharing personal
experiences and feelings.
 Although, changes in gender roles have occurred in
modern countries, traditional gender roles still remain
strong.

6. GENDER ROLES AND
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
 Gender is one of the major ways by which social life is
organized in all sectors of society.
 Some sociologists suggest that a specific job is given
meaning based on its association with a particular
gender.
 The public sees works done predominantly by women
or by men as a confirmation that females and males
have different natures and capabilities.
 Assumptions about so-called natural differences in men
and women are maintained and reinforces by a
gendered belief system.

7. GENDER ROLES AND
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
 Gendered belief system- All of the ideologies and
assumptions regarding masculine and feminine
attributes that are held to be valid in society.
 Even though, men and women have equal rights by law
in modern countries, there are obvious inequalities.
 Most visibly, those people we see on TV, running
governments and businesses are more often men than
women.
 The principle jobs in businesses and organizations are
no doubt protected by a ‘culture of men’ at the top.

8. GENDER ROLES AND
SOCIAL INEQUALITIES
 Recently, there is a lot of ongoing transformation about
gender inequality issue.
 Society clearly changed in the second half of 20th
century and sexual equality is something that almost
everybody in power, at least says they are in favor of it.
 On the everyday level, women and men expect to be
treated equally and are frustrated if this does not
happen.

9. MEDIA, GENDER AND
CREATION OF POPULAR CULTURE
 Media and communication agents are central elements
of modern life and creation of popular culture.
 At the same time, gender and sexuality remain at the
core of how we think about our identities.
 Masculinity and Femininity issues are being used by
media agents, creating perceptions about genders.
 Gender stereotypes in media- movies

10. SEXUAL IDENTITIES TODAY
 Although, lesbians, gays and bisexuals continue to face
prejudice and discrimination, there is a growing amount of
evidence that Western societies- especially younger
generations- are becoming more accepting of sexual
diversity.
 Same-sex marriages have been legally recognized by many
countries.
 It is not possible to measure the relative influence of the
mass media upon changing attitudes to sexuality, but since
the media is an important source of information, its effect is
inevitable.
 Popular culture has a central role in the rejection of
tradition and the transformation of society.