Men and women tend to behave in different and distinct ways in the process of socialization. There are specific actions that men as well as women either consciously or unconsciously do that depict the gendered roles assigned by the society. The following is a summary of an observation on the gendered roles in both men and women in a cafeteria. The observation lasted for one hour.
I observed a total of twenty-two men and eighteen women. Fifteen men and sixteen women came accompanied (one man was accompanied by two women). The rest came unaccompanied. Whereas it is expected that people walk side by side while in the open, when entering the cafeteria 12 of the accompanied women entered first as the men followed. Such can be explained based on the fact that masculinity is associated with strength while feminity with weakness requiring the men to protect women and, therefore, most men walk closely behind the women. Once inside the cafeteria, men tended to dominate in the decision of the location to occupy in the cafeteria. I noted that the men who entered first followed by women walked across to any table with the women closely following. The women who led the way in paused and looked upon the men to choose the location. The women waited for the men to take the leadership role. Such indicates the dominance expected of men as women take a subordinate role.
Ten men pulled chairs for their women showing care that the society expects of men towards women. In addition, I could see that for the couples, only the men did the ordering as women sat passively. Conversations were two way, but men initiated most of the conversations. It is evident that men assume the leadership role in the whole process of socialization. The women tended not to maintain a steady eye contact with the men perhaps due to shyness while men would not maintain a long eye contact but would often wander their eyes across the room perhaps checking the security of the room or seeking other possible mates! It shows how men are aggressive while women passive.
I noted that women were extra-ordinarily cautious how they took the coffee and the snack while men did not seem to mind that very much. It is expected that the society gets a well-organized lady who is not gullible. For this reason, the women were careful not to proof otherwise. For the unaccompanied males and females, the males tended to initiate the communication process between the two indicating aggressiveness and passivity of males and females respectively.
Although many scenarios occurred, the most dominant was the payment of the males, over 90percent of the males in the cafeteria settled the bills while a few women did. The society expects men as family heads and caretakers to make more money than women and take care of the women and children. A man must show such capability in monitory terms. It was not clear whether for the women who settled the bills were in a sexual relationship of family (siblings). However, it was clear that such happened for the women who appeared older than the men. Women were taking subjective roles (Isabella Crespi, n.d).Such shows the roles set aside by the society for both men and women. Men assume guidance and leadership while women would follow instructions. As they had come, women would leave first with men coming closely behind.
Work cited
Isabella Crespi. Socialization and gender roles within the family: a study on Adolescents and their parents in Great Britain. Pdf. Accessed from http://www.mariecurie.org/annals/volume3/crespi.pdf on December 7, 2014.
