Gender is range of social, physical and biological characteristics of an individual, which differentiate a person from masculine or fiminine. This means that societies have different gender perceptions depending on how their traditions define men and women. The society assigns roles to its members depending on their gender orientations and this means that men and women have different responsibilities, thus, one’s gender should decide his or her role in the society.
Imagine a situation where men are in charge of children in a day care center. The responsibilities of workers in this facility range from providing security to changing the diapers of babies (Fine, 2011). Women have better senses and approaches to taking care of children, for example, they can tell when a child wants to wet its clothes long before it does it.
In addition, they have keen eyes and ears that ensure they understand children better than men do (Healey, 2013). Therefore, a woman will work better than a man in providing babysitting services and this proves that one’s gender should determine his or her role in the society.
Secondly, the biological composition of people differs depending on their sexes. Men have XY chromosomes that have different characteristics from those of women that are XX. Research done by Lisa Cahill suggests that the differences in the anatomy of men and women’s chromosomes make them have psychological variations (Fine, 2011). She argues that their reproductive systems produce different hormones and this makes them behave differently.
Her findings are accurate because it is evident that men are aggressive because of the testosterone hormone that controls the behavior of the individuals. This research was supported by Melvin Konner who found out that women who were given this hormone during pregnancy produced children that scored very high in standard aggression tests.
In addition, individuals’ brains are influenced by their hormones and this means that they behave according to how these chemicals direct them. The difference in cognition levels between men and women is attributed to their sexual orientations. Men have high abilities and prowess in spatial thinking, while women beat them at verbal issues. This explains why most women perform better in languages than men and the opposite is true when it comes to sciences and mathematics (Fine, 2011).
People believe that women are good communicators because they understand how to use language to influence others. Men are afraid of showing their emotions, especially in public places while women do not hesitate to express their feelings whenever they want. A research conducted by Charlotte Smith of Northwestern University revealed that the brains of men and women are not similar and that is why they have different speeds of processing information (Healey, 2013).
Men process information using the front part of their brains (frontal cortex), while women do this in the central part (central cortex). In addition, men will be affected if they work in hot places because it takes a lot of time before they react to it.
On the other hand, women are more sensitive to cold and this explains why health facilities register a high number of female than male patients suffering from common cold (Healey, 2013). Therefore, people should consider these aspects before they assign roles to others to ensure they are not exposed to health risks that may affect their performance.
Moreover, women have better hearing and tasting abilities and this explains why they are good care givers. Professions like nursing and babysitting are supposed to be taken by people that are very keen and can observe changes as soon as they occur (Healey, 2013). Male nurses may have the aggression required to perform risky medical procedures in health facilities and after that they should let their female colleagues be in charge of providing nursing care to patients.
Moreover, women pay attention to minor details while most men ignore them and focus on major issues (Fine, 2011). This means that female nurses are in a better position to offer quality nursing care services compared to their male counterparts. Therefore, health care facilities and stakeholders should consider hiring more female than male nurses to ensure they offer quality services to patients.
In addition, some roles should be performed by people that have exceptional skills to ensure the objectives of organizations are achieved (Healey, 2013). For instance, rescue missions should have communication officials that understand the position of victims and can communicate with them without worsening their situations. Women are very good at establishing rapport and maintaining relationships. In addition, they are very careful when it comes to managing sensitive issues that require patience and proper handling.
They know how to communicate during crisis and comfort victims and their family members (Fine, 2011). Moreover, they know how to use body language and facial expressions to ensure they do not disrespect their audiences.
Most humanitarian organizations employ women as their communication officers, counselors and outreach agents because they know that they are in better positions to achieve the missions of these bodies. On the other hand, men are strong and can easily lift victims and carry them to safe places. This means that they are better in rescueing victims and moving them to safe places.
Gender stereotypes are very important in assigning members different roles in the society. First, most boys believe that male circumcisers are better than female ones because they do not want women to see their private parts. Therefore, health care facilities that have women as circumcisers may discourage boys from seeking their services while their male counterparts get more visitors regularly (Healey, 2013). In addition, some boys will ridicule those that were circumcised by female nurses and this may stigmatize them.
Some people believe that women cannot be effective security guards and thus they usually break into places guarded by them because criminals believe they will not be caught. This may cause injury or death of female guards. This means that most men are yet to accept that some women can play their roles better than them (Fine, 2011). Therefore, they ridicule or attack them and this discourages women from pursuing careers that are known to be controlled by men.
Lastly, men have fear for competition from women even though they are very aggressive and usually struggle to make their presence and contributions known and appreciated (Healey, 2013). Therefore, it is important to ensure that women are assigned different roles from men to reduce competition in places of work. This will promote healthy relationships among members of the same sex and encourage people to do their best at work.
Affirmative actions are important in ensuring that women get equal opportunities like their male counterparts in education, politics, jobs and sports. However, women tend to have excuses for not performing better than their male counterparts and it is surprising that men support them when they fail to meet their targets.
Organizations cannot risk employing women as managers and perform poorly while their competitors make profits. Women should not be assigned roles that are known to belong to men to ensure gender is not used as an excuse for poor performance.
On the other hand, some critics argue that gender should not be an issue when it comes to assigning roles to people in the society. They claim that some men are better than women at cooking, babysitting and laundry work.
In addition, they claim that some women have impeccable leadership traits that transform their societies. Moreover, they prove that gender is a mental construct and an individual’s belief in this issue determines his or her success (Fine, 2011). Therefore, people should ignore gender stereotypes and work hard to ensure they make positive contributions to their societies.
Conclusion
People usually have different skills and abilities and acquire more through education and experience. The society should assign roles to its members depending on their gender to ensure people are offered what they can accomplish. Biological differences between men and women make them have variations in their abilities to manage various tasks.
Their childhood socialization processes determine their careers and this means that they are usually ready to play roles that are related to their sexes. Lastly, the society shapes and determines the performance of individuals at their places of work. Gender stereotyping does not allow women to effectively play the roles of men in the society because of discrimination and culture shock. Therefore, one’s gender should decide his or her role in the society.
References
Fine, C. (2011). Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference. W. W. Norton and Company.
Healey, J. F. (2013). Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender. California: Sage Publishers.