Introduction
Women are now taking the roles of men and some men are becoming women in the way they act. It has been claimed that the women gender is endangered as women are now becoming brave and taking on the tasks that have been done by men in the past. The concept therefore means that women are abandoning their roles as women and now taking on the roles of men. There has been trans movement where women want to be taken to hold the same positions as males. This shows that women have been in the struggle to gain a higher status in the society. The concept shows that women are not regarded as women because of the outfit and the biological differences that they exhibit; it is rather about their perception and the position they feel they belong. The consequences of the cultural practice are that women will remain in their current position if they do not get empowered and strive to get equal positions with men. The consequence of the strife to be equal with men is that the female gender will be endangered. With the current trend where women strive to be equal with men, the role of the woman will be erased. Women are required to be submissive and do tasks that are considered to be feminine. This is no longer the case as women are now striving to do tasks that have been a preserve of only men. This is changing the scene of the society.
There are many signals that show us that we belong to a given gender and not the other one. The things that we engage and the services that we receive all show us that we belong to a specific gender. From tender ages, we have learnt how to be one gender and not the other one. Right from childhood, we have all learnt how to behave like one gender by the gifts that we were given by our parents. From tender ages, girls have been bought dolls as gifts while boys have been given toys like toy cars as gifts. Also, from tender ages, boys have been taught how to do masculine tasks like driving cars and fencing while girls have been taught how to do feminine duties like cooking and washing dishes.
This is a common phenomenon that is seen in the lives that we live today. In the current scenario, there are many indicators that show us what gender we belong in. this is an interesting scenario as many people learn the role they play in the society. In most shops that we get to visit, we have a look at the shopping materials that show us that we belong to a given gender. In most shops, we find most of the clothes that are put on display belong to women. This shows that women like fashion unlike men. The display of most of these items shows us that we are made to men or women. Men are known not to follow fashion so much unlike women. Women are known to buy many things on impulse buying. Effort is made to ensure that women get attracted to these designs and eventually buy these items.
While going around shops in town looking for materials that will be used to undertake exercises, we are shown and reminded of our gender. Many items that are sold show us what gender we belong. Most of the items that are on display are used by men. This is because we are made to know and reminded of the fact that men are conscious of their bodies and they are the ones who will get involved with body building most of the times. Most ladies do not undertake these exercises most of the time and the shoppers do not stock most of these items. This is another signal that we belong to one gender or the other. This business is booming and many items that are brought and displayed by the people selling these items make use of gender. It is important to understand what means to sell gender under these circumstances. Many gym item businessmen have made money by selling basing on men. They ensure that they stock items that have many men items. This way, any shopper will know that the businessmen targeted men while they set up the shop.
When we go to buy cars, the issue of gender also comes into mind. Many car dealers have gender in their minds. Most ladies acquire cars which are slim and sleek. These are cars like Toyota Premio, Nissan Wingroad, Toyota Starlet, Toyota Duet. They are preferred by women as they consider them to be easy to use. They like small items that serve the purposes. The owners of the car yard business make use of this information and stock all these types of car in regard to this information. On the other hand, car sellers will stock pickups and Landcruisers which are preferred by men. It looks weird to find ladies driving trucks and pickups. They are taken to be a preserve of the man. These are the issues and the things which remind us that we belong to a given gender. It is important to understand the requirements of the populace in order to understand the selling patterns.
When we go to the restaurants, this is another place where gender is seen to be used when ordering and making food. Restaurant owners remind us of the gender that we belong. The feminine gender will go for foods like fries, spaghetti and rice which are considered to be lighter than the other foods. This is not the case with the male gender. They are considered to like and go for starchy foods like African Ugali, and many natural mixes. These are the requirements and the considerations that are undertaken when operating a restaurant. We are reminded of the fact that even the foods that we eat mean gender to us.
It has also been found that the media that we meet today show the gender. A research that was done in Fiji shows that many women have got addicted to American images of thin women who make up American television. Many programs that have been adopted and shown in the Fiji television target women. This is another issue and fact that tells us the gender that we belong in. the programs that are shown in Fiji have influenced women in this country such that eating disorders like anorexia nervosa have started infiltrating the country of Fiji. Media personnel and investors are making use of this information to look for programs that will be sold to various genders. The programs that are used by the male gender are programmed in strategic times that will be viewed by males. Many media people have understood this information and make sure that they program their television programs during these times that the men are at home. Men are known to arrive home late are night. Programs that deal with real estate management and car mechanizations are preserved to be watched late at night.
Nursing course has been associated to be more of feminine. This is another aspect that reminds us of the gender that we belong. It is common to understand the gender needs and the requirements that are required of each of the courses. With the awareness of the need to get educated and knowledge, many women are going to school. This is a fact that has been understood and made use of by many educationists. Again, this reminds us of the gender that we belong. The courses that we choose and made to choose show that we belong to a given gender. Men are made to believe that they are suited to be engineers and mechanics. Gender segmentation is seen to be taking shape even in the courses that we choose. This is something that is changing. Courses like nursing, homecare, kindergarten teachers, and nutrition have been regarded to be feminine. This way, when advertising for these courses, it is common to look at the gender and the target population. It is, therefore, common to see high schools that are one gender being encouraged to undertake a given course. Girls’ high schools will see feminine courses while boys’ high schools are common with engineering and masculine courses.
Even the enrollment in the military has been known to be of a given gender. Traditionally, men in the military undergo masculinity socialization to create a mentality of self-reliance, independence, being powerful, competitive, disdain homosexuality and feminine traits and courage and self-control. This makes the military male servicemen to believe and behave in a manner that they are able to handle any situation even when they are erring as they do not attach any emotion to anything they do. This is meant to instill emotional control under any kind of duress to promote survival and mission completion in combat. Weakness, therefore, is not a term which should be heard in the military. When advertising for military vacancies, there has been effort to entice the male more than the females.
Women have been known to be gentle in their undertakings and less aggressive when compared with men. This is changing and women are now seen to be aggressive and taking challenges that are considered manly. The struggle for many American women to be equal to men has been evident. Although women are fragile, they are seen to want to fight for battles that are fit for men. The woman gender is fast changing and is being erased by the struggle to gain equality. Women are now working and men are the ones being left at home to take care of domestic affairs. This is the norm as the career woman strives to achieve her ambitions. They no longer value the family values that have been sought and valued from time immemorial.
Works Cited
Beauvoir, Simone. "One is not born a woman, but becomes one." The Second Sex (1949): 1-8.
Golden, Linda, Neil Allison and Mona Clee. "The Role of Sex Role Self-Concept in Masculine and Feminine Product Perceptions." Association for Consumer Research 6 (2009): 599-605.
Green, Robert and Isabella Cunningham. "Feminine Role Perception and Family Purchasing Decisions." Journal of Marketing Research 12.3 (2005): 325-332.
Morris, Geoffrey and Eliud Cundiff. "Acceptance by males of feminine products." Journal of Marketing Research 8.3 (2001): 372-374.
Worth, Leila, Jeane Smith and Diane Mackie. "Gender schematicity and preference for gender-typed products." Psychology & Marketing 9.1 (2003): 17-30.
