Example Of Essay On Non-Traditional Gender Roles And Identity

As gender equality slowly but surely continues toward a more even footing with regards to women at work and in the home, gender roles and traditional ideas of masculinity and femininity are changing. One significant way in which this is occurring is the workplace, as women and men take jobs that are not typically considered appropriate to their gender (e.g. male nurses, women engineers) (Dodson & Borders, 2006; Simpson, 2005). While this redefinition of what constitutes a ‘man’s job’ and woman’s job’ is admirable, it is also necessary to examine the effects this will have on people taking these nontraditional roles on an individual, relational and collective level.
On an individual level, men in nontraditional gender roles often experience difficulty dealing with the compromises they must often make in their career choices (Dodson & Borders, 2006). People of both genders tend to form their first personal barriers based on sex type, as gender identity “governs the limits of sex-typed occupations that maybe considered” (Dodson & Borders 2006, p. 284). Later in life, individuals value social class and their own individual interests for their career, weighing that against career compromises. That being said, men in nontraditional gender roles and workplaces tend to have less traditional ideas about gender norms, and vice versa (Dodson & Borders, 2006). Individual reactions to male nursing, for instance, is complex, as many male nurses do feel shame and embarrassment at doing ‘women’s work,’ while others quit traditionally male careers to seek new challenges in nursing, showing a wide gamut of reactions to this new paradigm (Simpson, 2005).
Relationally, men and women in nontraditional gender roles tend to find themselves in somewhat more complicated situations with regards to their interactions, education and training. Women in nontraditional gender roles tend to have comparatively fewer service access and resources, as well as fewer chances for education, than men in nontraditional service roles (Simpson, 2005). Conversely, men in nontraditional gender roles for their fields experience alienation within their work environments, as they tend to work chiefly with women (Simpson, 2005).
On a collective level, the prevalence of men and women in non-traditional occupations has begun to address and reverse certain traditional ideas about what work is appropriate for what gender. For example, the presence of male nurses has redefined the occupation beyond being a woman’s field, and has consequently brought greater cachet to the field altogether (Simpson, 2005). Male nurses demonstrate a feeling of optimism in their profession, seeing more advantages than disadvantages of being in such a minority (Simpson, 2005). As the interest in the novelty and cachet of these positions increase, particularly as the stigma of being a man in a traditionally female-led position goes away, a collective cultural shift in the perception of these roles as being ‘abnormal’ should diminish.
As more men stay at home and more women go to the workplace, traditional ideas about family dynamics have begun to change and normalize these unique, multifaceted family units. While there are still some issues individually with men already in traditional occupations having more traditional gender roles, research shows that those actively seeking nontraditional occupations are more likely to have nontraditional ideas of what constitutes masculinity and less likely to subscribe to old ideas of gender stratification in the workforce (Dodson & Borders, 2006; Simpson, 2005). This then translates to relational interactions with others in their field, and the increased acceptance of men in nontraditional occupations in society and media.

References

Dodson, T. A., & Borders, L. A. (2006). Men in traditional and nontraditional careers: Gender
role attitudes, gender role conflict, and job satisfaction. The Career Development Quarterly, 54(4), 283-296.
Simpson, R. (2005). Men in non‐traditional occupations: career entry, career orientation and
experience of role strain. Gender, Work & Organization, 12(4), 363-380.
Discussion Questions:
1. What community initiatives could be taken to mitigate the stigma of men taking on nontraditional occupations?
2. Are there potential downsides to women taking nontraditional occupations that are not experienced by men in the same position?
3. Can the stigmas associated with these occupations and their gendered associations be addressed in a systemic way?
4. What ways can there be to address the aspects of masculinity that associate taking ‘women’s jobs’ with shame and embarrassment?
5. Is there a class component to the shame associated with women’s jobs as well, and if so, can that be properly addressed through restructuring of positions, pay, etc.?