Culture can be viewed as a natural stratification that distinguishes one group of people from another. It encompasses the norms, value and beliefs that dictate the life of a particular group of people. This stratification may arise as a result of geographical location whereby people living in that area gradually adapt to the daily motions of day to day living, learn to coexist and with time develop a particular way of doing things which is then passed down from one generation to the other as the accepted way of life. Culture mainly stems from the ethnic backgrounds and the races where more salient features such as language and skin color are the ties that strongly bind people together.
Naturally people with similar attributes such as skin color live together and form their own social structures, have their own languages and their lifestyles are unique to the particular group. Various groups of people with each group being defined by its own lifestyle constitute cultural diversity. Interestingly one is not aware of one’s culture until you encounter another person from a different culture and details that seem so trivial or obvious in your environment such as body space, eye contact and your role in the society begin to matter and become more apparent. Culture is not static or permanent it can also be viewed as an ongoing process that gives identity to a group of people but it also slowly evolves over time giving way to changes and external influences which are crucial if the people in question are to survive in a changing environment.
In today’s world people from various cultures no longer live in isolation: economic factors have compelled cross cultural interactions be it in the workplace or in the urban cities. This creates a need to understand the various cultures and how culture affects human behavior in order to explain the social and economic differences in society. There are many salient features that depict a particular culture but the most common and apparent ones include the dressing code, consumption, social interactions and perception of gender which is reflected by the gender roles of the men and women in that particular community. This paper examines alternative gender roles among various cultures in an attempt to explain the existing differences in today’s society.
The literal meaning of gender may confine its scope to a narrow definition of either female or male. Gender is however a representation of so many things. The concept of gender will vary from one culture to another and it goes farther than the literal definition of male and female. Gender in most cultures refers to the degree of masculinity and feminine as shaped by one’s actions and the fulfillment of a person’s role with regards to the culture. Gender can therefore be viewed as an active role that guides the way of life by dictating the life patterns and roles depending on one’s sex. These patterns will include consumption, dressing code and social interactions. In the past culture was firm in ensuring that there was a strict adherence to the designed gender roles, but in today’s world, social and economic changes are slowly blurring any gender boundaries that once existed.
Masculinity is a core pillar on which many things are founded on in any given culture. It can be regarded as the extent to which one is manly by virtue of various traits such as being tough, assertive, courageous, material wealth and ability to fend for one’s family. The implication in this is that masculinity is often associated with superior value and outstanding traits where everyone who does not fall in this particular category should defer and subdue to masculine figures. Feminine on the other hand is associated with modesty, high concern for others, tender and nurturing. Based on these traits feminine is often associated with a certain sense of fragility and inherent weakness which is not on an equal footing with the masculinity. Consequently women are placed in the lower hierarchies of society while men exist in the higher echelons of the power structures.
The existence of power differential can be regarded to be as a result of accepted masculinity and femininity which accommodates the acceptance that in any given social structure their exists unequal distribution of power. Authority conception will vary from one culture to another and it is a key factor in shaping the gender roles be it in the work place or at the most simple, basic social unit; family. In order to depict the various gender roles in each culture it is important to start at the most basic level; the family. Gender roles take shape in the family level and go a long way in influencing a person’s behavior in the work place and his or her social interactions with other people.