Sexuality Does Not Defines Gender Roles And Gender Role Expectations Argumentative Essay Examples

In Ehrlich's work, ‘About men,’ there are three gender expectations and gender roles that come into question in the performance and their obligations. For instance, men are expected to be extraordinary in their activities. They are supposed to be strong, and fight for their families to keep their property safe. In the first paragraph, he says, “The vaqueros of the American West, branded cattle, staved off rustlers and engaged in land feuds between sheep and cattlemen,” (Ehrlich line 2). This needs strong and extraordinary men. He even says, “their escapades filled the pages with history more, sometimes, for the sheer romance of the range,” (Ehrlich line 3). “They seemed free from the ordinariness of life, the mundane sameness of things. The American cowboy achieved almost legendary status until this decade,” (Ehrlich 5). This is a role played by men according to Ehrlich. This is not necessary as protection does not need men in the house to help do that. The country has laws that are reinforced to protect the people, and there are people who ensure that the laws are followed. The police force does not comprise of only men. There are several women in the army and police force that do better work than men. It only takes training and experience to create extraordinary people to protect the people in the country and not gender based.
A man is also expected to be tough. She says that “it is not toughness but 'toughing it out' that counts, and that the secret, inner self is worn, not on the sleeve, but in the skin,” (Ehrlich 7). This portrays that all men are expected to be strong and tough. They are then expected to show their outward strength to people by doing many things that will exhibit toughness. For example, they are expected to fight and not run away when they are challenged in life. They are also supposed to do things that the other gender cannot do, to distinguish them from the others. She continues to say that, “cowboys are like a pile of rocks and everything can happen to them,” (Ehrlich 8). They get climbed on, kicked, rained and snowed on, scuffed up by the wind, (Ehrlich 9). “Their job is just to take it,” (Ehrlich 10). Toughness does not depend on the sex of people involved. Some women are much stronger than men of their age and can do hard things that men cannot do. Most of the things that men do does not depend on the strength, but the many chances they are given to do them. If women are given the chance, they can do even better than the men. What needs to be done is giving equal opportunities to both genders. Toughness is a trait that is acquired through the experiences encountered in life. For instance, people who are brought up in an environment free of challenges, regardless of their gender, they will grow to be weak and will not know how to handle tough situations. Thus, gender does not determine how tough one can be.
The third qualification men are expected to have is commitment. For the men to survive on the rough terrain, they have to be committed. Lack of commitment will lead to them losing hope and concentration and then giving up in the fight. She states, “Cowboys are just like a pile of rocks - everything happens to them,” (Ehrlich 8). “They get climbed on, kicked, rained and snowed on, scuffed up by the wind, (Ehrlich 9). Their job is to just to take it,” (Ehrlich 10). This as well does not depend on the gender of individuals involved. It requires the inner spirit to do something. It also depends on the benefits that one can get from the act that need the commitment, thus devote time to do it. Things that are beneficial to the people involved get more commitment. This does not depend on the gender. Anybody can be committed in doing something that is beneficial and needs to be done regardless of the obstacles that are incurred. Thus, it can be said that that sexuality does not defines gender roles and gender role expectations as said in the Ehrlich's article, “About men.”