gender role, a culturally and socially determined set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and characteristics based on concepts of masculinity and femininity. A gender role should not be confused with gender identity, which refers to an individual’s internal sense of being masculine, feminine, on a spectrum between the two, a gender unrelated to that binary, or no gender at all.
The term gender role was coined by New Zealand American sexologist John Money, first appearing in print in 1955. Money defined it as “all those things that a person says or does to disclose himself or herself as having the status of boy or man, girl or woman.” Although the term wasn’t defined until 1955, men and women have had gendered roles throughout history in most societies. For example, beginning in the early 19th century, many European societies subscribed to the Victorian gender ideology of separate spheres, which stated that men and women were meant for different roles in society.
Gender roles fall into multiple categories. Some gender stereotypes describe how adult men and women are expected to function inside a family. In 20th-century Western culture in a two-parent household with children, the husband was typically the breadwinner and the wife managed the household. However, such dynamics shifted drastically in the latter half of the 20th century and onward. Traditionally masculine occupations include those in engineering and medicine, as well as jobs requiring high levels of technical skill or physical strength. Traditionally feminine occupations include teaching and secretarial work, as well as caregiving professions like nannying and nursing. Today such stereotypes are being challenged greatly, with women advancing in almost one-third of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers. Additionally, one-fourth of teacher positions are now held by men. Gender roles include expectations around physical appearance, with American men typically having shorter hairstyles and wearing pants and women often having longer hairstyles and wearing dresses or skirts in certain social situations.
Gender roles regarding paid work outside the home continue to evolve. A Pew Research Center study found that 18 percent of stay-at-home parents were fathers in 2023, compared with 11 percent in the late 1980s. The role of women in the workplace has changed with time as well. According to a McKinsey report from 2023, the number of women represented at the highest level of management in the workplace had increased from 17 to 28 percent. The report found that women are more inclined than in years past to aspire to senior and director positions in the workplace. This is partially due to the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which demonstrated that a hybrid or work-from-home model can help working mothers balance work-related and domestic responsibilities. In almost one-third of marriages in 2023, Pew found that men and women earn roughly the same amount of money, in contrast to previous gender roles that designated husbands the sole breadwinners. Such developments have brought about changing attitudes regarding the binary of gender roles, highlighting their restrictive nature.
Many gendered expectations have changed over time, influenced by shifting economic and cultural conditions. For example, in the late 19th century the idea of the “New Woman” emerged, influenced by the rise of socialism and the Industrial Revolution. In particular, the ideas of Karl Marx, whose writings emphasized equality between all people regardless of gender, inspired many women to challenge their assigned gender roles. Additionally, as a result of industrial development throughout the 19th century, many women began to work in factories and earn wages. However, women were often still pressured to manage household tasks.
Historically, most cultures have constructed their societies around two distinct gender roles corresponding to the biological male and female sexes. However, roles could vary significantly cross-culturally. For example, the Arapesh people of New Guinea saw men and women as having similar roles in society and being equally responsible for raising children.
Some cultures acknowledge the existence of more than two genders. For example, the Hawaiian māhū, or the “in-between,” are recognized as a third gender consisting of males or females who demonstrate behavior associated with the opposite gender. In precontact Hawaii the māhū held privileged positions in their communities. The Buginese, or Bugis, of Sulawesi, Indonesia, have five different recognized gender roles: oroani and makkunrai correspond to Western concepts of cisgender men and women; calabai are biologically male but take on feminine gender roles; calalai are biologically female but take on masculine gender roles; and bissu are not associated with either the male or female gender and consist of those who combine aspects of all genders into one. The bissu often hold positions of religious authority.
The process through which individuals learn their culture’s gender-related expectations is called gender socialization. Any person or group involved in the process is considered an agent of socialization, with the four primary agents being parents, teachers, peers, and media. Agents create and maintain standard expectations to reinforce gender roles and gender-specific behaviors. The process typically begins at a very early age; most children are aware of their biological sex by the age of three.
When young people conform to rigid stereotypes reinforced by traditional gender roles, it can limit their potential. For example, they might not pursue paths they are interested in, which could in turn limit career opportunities. When gender roles are construed so narrowly that they cannot represent everyone of a particular gender, they may also contribute to poor mental health, higher suicide rates, and eating disorders.
It should be noted that much of the research about gender roles is based on traditional heterosexual Western gender roles. Some theorists also describe two additional types of gender roles: egalitarian and transitional. Egalitarian gender roles hold that each gender is equally responsible for work outside the home, the household, and child-rearing. Within transitional gender roles, each gender may devote time to work, home, and family, but men are expected to focus more energy on work and women more on the household and child-rearing.