Sociological Perspectives On Gender Roles

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In this essay we would be exploring the different sociological perspectives on sex and gender roles as it pertains to the statement “A woman’s place is in the home. She is out of place in the workplace.” Before we go in, first let us understand sex, gender and gender roles. Sex refers to one’s biological classification, whereas “gender is a term that refers to social or cultural distinctions of behavior that are considered male or female (masculine or feminine).” (OpenStax College 2012.) Gender role are society’s concept of how men and women are expected to behave. Now that we have an understanding of the terms, we can now explore each perspective; Functionalist, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism and Feminist Theory as it pertain to …show more content…
Talcott Parsons (1955) saw the nuclear family in modern industrial society as specializing in two functions: 1. Socialization of the young, 2. the stabilization of adult personalities, Parsons turned to biology to explain this. He stated: “In our opinion the fundamental explanation of the allocation of roles between the biological sexes is in the fact that the bearing and early nursing of children establish a strong presumptive primacy of the relation of mother to the small child.”(Parsons, 1955a, p.23.) For that reason, because mothers bore children and nursed them they had a stronger relationship with them. Parsons characterized the woman’s role in the family as expressive, which meant she provided emotional support, security and warmth to the family. In the isolated nuclear family the second major contribution of the woman was the stabilization of the adult personalities. The male (breadwinner) spent his day working in a competitive achievement-oriented society. This role that he played is instrumental, but it also leads to stress and anxiety. The expressive female relieves this tension by providing the male with love, consideration and understanding. Parsons argued that there had to be a clear-cut sexual division of labor in order for the family system to function efficiently, and that the instrumental and expressive roles complement each other to promote social
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