Editing Gender role (section)

==In culture==
[[File:90Israhel van Meckenenem Verkehrte Welt.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The world turned upside down'', by [[Israhel van Meckenem the Younger]]. The wife is holding the [[sceptre]] and the man is spinning.]]
Ideas of appropriate gendered behavior vary among cultures and era, although some aspects receive more widespread attention than others. In the ''[[World Values Survey]]'', responders were asked if they thought that wage work should be restricted to only men in the case of shortage in jobs: in Iceland the proportion that agreed with the proposition was 3.6%; while in Egypt it was 94.9%.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fortin |first1=Nicole |author-link1=Nicole Fortin |year=2005 |title=Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour Market Outcomes of Women Across OECD Countries |journal=Oxford Review of Economic Policy |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=416–438 |doi=10.1093/oxrep/gri024}}</ref>

Attitudes have also varied historically. For example, in Europe, during the Middle Ages, women were commonly associated with roles related to medicine and healing.<ref name="Ehrenreich">{{cite book |last1=Ehrenreich |first1=Barbara |title=Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers |url=https://archive.org/details/witchesmidwivesn00ehrerich |url-access=registration |year=2010 |publisher=The Feminist Press |isbn=978-0-912670-13-3 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/witchesmidwivesn00ehrerich/page/44 44–87] |edition=2nd |first2=Deirdre |last2=English}}</ref> Because of the rise of [[witch-hunt]]s across Europe and the institutionalization of medicine, these roles became exclusively associated with men.<ref name="Ehrenreich" /> In the last few decades, these roles have become largely gender-neutral in [[Western world|Western society]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Boulis |first1=Ann K. |title=The changing face of medicine: women doctors and the evolution of health care in America |year=2010 |publisher=ILR |location=Ithaca, N.Y. |isbn=978-0-8014-7662-4 |last2=Jacobs |first2=Jerry A. |quote=Encouraging one's daughter to pursue a career in medicine is no longer an unusual idea... Americans are now more likely to report that they feel comfortable recommending a career in medicine for a young woman than for a young man.}}</ref>

[[Vern Bullough]] stated that homosexual communities are generally more tolerant of switching gender roles.<ref name="Bullough">{{cite book |last1=Bullough |first1=Vern L. |title=Crossdressing, Sex, and Gender |year=1993 |publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania Press]] |isbn=978-0-8122-1431-4 |page=390 |edition=1st |first2=Bonnie |last2=Bullough}}</ref> For instance, someone with a masculine voice, a five o'clock shadow (or a fuller beard), an [[Adam's apple]], wearing a woman's dress and high heels, carrying a purse would most likely draw ridicule or other unfriendly attention in ordinary social contexts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Butler |first=Judith |author-link=Judith Butler |title=Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=New York |date=2008}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Halberstam |first=Judith |title=Female Masculinity |publisher=[[Duke University Press]] |location=Durham and London |date=1998}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2025}}<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Epstein |editor1-first=Julia |editor2-last=Straub |editor2-first=Kristina |title=Body Guards: The Cultural Politics of Gender Ambiguity |publisher=Routledge |location=London |date=1991}}</ref>{{pn|date=February 2025}}

Because the dominant class sees this form of gender expression as unacceptable, inappropriate, or perhaps threatening, these individuals are significantly more likely to experience discrimination and harassment both in their personal lives and from their employers, according to a 2011 report from the [[Center for American Progress]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Burns |first1=Crosby |last2=Krehely |first2=Jeff |title=Gay and Transgender People Face High Rates of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment |date=May 2011 |url=https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/06/pdf/workplace_discrimination.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://cdn.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/issues/2011/06/pdf/workplace_discrimination.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Center for American Progress]] |access-date=23 March 2022}}</ref>

Gender roles may be a means through which one expresses one's [[gender identity]], but they may also be employed as a means of exerting [[social control]], and individuals may experience negative social consequences for violating them.<ref>Hackman, J.R. (1992). "Group influences on individuals in organizations". In M.D. Dunnette & L.M. Hough (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (Vol. 3). Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press, 234–245.</ref>

===Gender stereotypes===
{{See also|Sexism#Gender stereotypes|Implicit stereotype#Gender stereotypes|Stereotypes}}
[[File:Glaspalast München 1883 064.jpg|thumb|An 1883 German illustration of children playing house]]
A 1992 study tested gender stereotypes and labeling within young children in the [[United States]].<ref name="fagot">{{Cite journal | last1 = Fagot | first1 = Beverly I. | last2 = Leinbach | first2 = Mary D. | last3 = O'Boyle | first3 = Cherie | title = Gender labeling, gender stereotyping, and parenting behaviors | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_developmental-psychology_1992-03_28_2/page/225 | journal = [[Developmental Psychology (journal)|Developmental Psychology]] | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 225–230 | doi = 10.1037/0012-1649.28.2.225 | date = March 1992 }}</ref> Fagot ''et al.'' divided this into two different studies; the first investigated how children identified the differences between gender labels of boys and girls, the second study looked at both gender labeling and stereotyping in the relationship of mother and child.<ref name="fagot"/>

Within the first study, 23 children between the ages of two and seven underwent a series of gender labeling and gender stereotyping tests: the children viewed either pictures of males and females or objects such as a hammer or a broom, then identified or labeled those to a certain gender. The results of these tests showed that children under three years could make gender-stereotypic associations.<ref name="fagot" />

The second study looked at gender labeling and stereotyping in the relationship of mother and child using three separate methods. The first consisted of identifying gender labeling and stereotyping, essentially the same method as the first study. The second consisted of behavioral observations, which looked at ten-minute play sessions with mother and child using gender-specific toys.

The third study used a series of questionnaires such as an "Attitude Toward Women Scale", "[[Personal Attributes Questionnaire]]", and "Schaefer and Edgerton Scale" which looked at the family values of the mother.<ref name="fagot" />

The results of these studies showed the same as the first study with regards to labeling and stereotyping.

They also identified in the second method that the mothers' positive reactions and responses to same-sex or opposite-sex toys played a role in how children identified them. Within the third method the results found that the mothers of the children who passed the "Gender Labeling Test" had more traditional family values. These two studies, conducted by Beverly I. Fagot, Mar D. Leinbach and Cherie O'Boyle, showed that gender stereotyping and labeling is acquired at a very young age, and that social interactions and associations play a large role in how genders are identified.<ref name="fagot" />

[[Virginia Woolf]], in the 1920s, made the point: "It is obvious that the values of women differ very often from the values which have been made by the other sex. Yet it is the masculine values that prevail",<ref>{{cite book |last = Woolf | first = Virginia | author-link = Virginia Woolf | title = A room of one's own | publisher = Hogarth Press | location = New York | year = 1929 | page = 76 | oclc = 31499943| title-link = A Room of One's Own }}</ref> remade sixty years later by psychologist [[Carol Gilligan]] who used it to show that psychological tests of maturity have generally been based on masculine parameters, and so tended to show that women were less 'mature'. Gilligan countered this in her ground-breaking work, ''[[In a Different Voice]]'', holding that maturity in women is shown in terms of different, but equally important, human values.<ref>{{cite book | last = Gilligan |first = Carol | author-link = Carol Gilligan | title = In a different voice |publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge, Massachusetts | year = 2009 | isbn = 978-0-674-44544-4|title-link = In a Different Voice }}</ref>

[[File:Mixed stereotype content model (Fiske et al.).png|thumb|300px|Stereotype content model, adapted from [[Susan Fiske|Fiske]] et al. (2002): Four types of stereotypes resulting from combinations of perceived warmth and competence.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Fiske | first1 = Susan T. | last2 = Cuddy | first2 = Amy J.C. |last3 = Glick | first3 = Peter | last4 = Xu | first4 = Jun | author-link1 = Susan Fiske | title = A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition | journal = [[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] | volume = 82 | issue = 6 | pages = 878–902 | doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878 | date = June 2002 | pmid=12051578| citeseerx = 10.1.1.320.4001 | s2cid = 17057403 |url=http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Fiske_StereotypeContent.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.cos.gatech.edu/facultyres/Diversity_Studies/Fiske_StereotypeContent.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live}}</ref>]]

Gender stereotypes are extremely common in society.<ref>{{cite web | last = Brewer | first = Holly | title = List of gender stereotypes | url = http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15910/1/List-of-Gender-Stereotypes.html | date = 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Gender and gender identity at a glance | url = http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-identity-26530.htm | website = plannedparenthood.org | publisher = Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc. | date = 2012 | access-date = 4 April 2015 | archive-date = 4 March 2014 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140304202825/http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/sexual-orientation-gender/gender-gender-identity-26530.htm | url-status = dead }}</ref> One of the reasons this may be is simply because it is easier on the brain to stereotype (see [[Heuristics in judgment and decision-making|Heuristics]]).

The brain has limited perceptual and memory systems, so it categorizes information into fewer and simpler units which allows for more efficient information processing.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Martin | first1 = Carol Lynn | last2 = Halverson | first2 = Charles F. Jr. | title = A schematic processing model of sex typing and stereotyping in children | journal = [[Child Development (journal)|Child Development]] | volume = 52 | issue = 4 | pages = 1119–1134 | doi = 10.2307/1129498 | jstor = 1129498 | date = December 1981 }}</ref> Gender stereotypes appear to have an effect at an early age. In one study, the effects of gender stereotypes on children's mathematical abilities were tested. In this study of American children between the ages of six and ten, it was found that the children, as early as the [[second grade]], demonstrated the gender stereotype that mathematics is a 'boy's subject'. This may show that the mathematical self-belief is influenced before the age in which there are discernible differences in mathematical achievement.<ref name="Cvencek">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cvencek | first1 = Dario | last2 = Meltzoff | first2 = Andrew N. | last3 = Greenwald | first3 = Anthony G. | title = Math–gender stereotypes in elementary school children | journal = [[Child Development (journal)|Child Development]] | volume = 82 | issue = 3 | pages = 766–779 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01529.x | pmid = 21410915 | date = May–June 2011 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.300.2757 }}</ref>

According to the 1972 study by Jean Lipman-Blumen, women who grew up following traditional gender-roles from childhood were less likely to want to be highly educated while women brought up with the view that men and women are equal were more likely to want higher education. This result indicates that gender roles that have been passed down traditionally can influence stereotypes about gender.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Lipman-Blumen | first = Jean | title = How ideology shapes women's lives | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_scientific-american_1972-01_226_1/page/34 | journal = [[Scientific American]] | volume = 226 | issue = 1 | pages = 34–42 | doi = 10.1038/scientificamerican0172-34 | date = January 1972 | bibcode = 1972SciAm.226a..34L }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=9 July 2015 |first1 = Leigh|last1 = Goodmark|first2 = Juanita|last2 = Flores|first3 = Julie |last3 = Goldscheid|first4 = Andrea |last4 = Ritchie |last5=SpearIt |title=Plenary 2—Redefining Gender Violence |url= https://repository.law.miami.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=umrsjlr |journal= University of Miami Race & Social Justice Law Review |volume=5 |page=289 |ssrn=2628984}}</ref>

In a later study, Deaux and her colleagues (1984) found that most people think women are ''more'' ''nurturant'', but ''less self-assertive'' than men, and that this belief is indicated universally, but that this awareness is related to women's ''role''. To put it another way, women do not have an ''inherently'' nurturant personality, rather that a nurturing personality is acquired by whoever happens to be doing the housework.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Deaux |first1=Kay |last2=Lewis |first2=Laurie L. |title=Structure of gender stereotypes: interrelationships among components and gender label |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |volume=46 |issue=5 |pages=991–1004 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.46.5.991 |date=May 1984}}</ref>

A study of gender stereotypes by Jacobs (1991) found that parents' stereotypes interact with the sex of their child to directly influence the parents' beliefs about the child's abilities. In turn, parents' beliefs about their child directly influence their child's self-perceptions, and both the parents' stereotypes and the child's self-perceptions influence the child's performance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jacobs |first=Janis E. |title=Influence of gender stereotypes on parent and child mathematics attitudes |journal=[[Journal of Educational Psychology]] |volume=83 |issue=4 |pages=518–527 |doi=10.1037/0022-0663.83.4.518 |date=December 1991}}</ref>

[[Stereotype threat]] involves the risk of confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative stereotype about one's group.<ref name="SteeleAronson">{{Cite journal |last1=Steele |first1=Claude M. |last2=Aronson |first2=Joshua |author1-link=Claude Steele |title=Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |volume=69 |issue=5 |pages=797–811 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.69.5.797 |pmid=7473032 |date=November 1995 |s2cid=4665022 |url=http://users.nber.org/~sewp/events/2005.01.14/Bios+Links/Good-rec2-Steele_&_Aronson_95.pdf}}</ref> In the case of gender it is the implicit belief in gender stereotype that women perform worse than men in mathematics, which is proposed to lead to lower performance by women.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Spencer |first1=Steven J. |last2=Steele |first2=Claude M. |last3=Quinn |first3=Diane M. |author2-link=Claude Steele |title=Stereotype threat and women's math performance |journal=[[Journal of Experimental Social Psychology]] |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=4–28 |doi=10.1006/jesp.1998.1373 |date=January 1999 |citeseerx=10.1.1.370.3979 |s2cid=12556019 |url=http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/carnegie/learning_resources/LAW_PGCHE/SteeleandQuinnStereotypeThreat.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160108184501/http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/carnegie/learning_resources/LAW_PGCHE/SteeleandQuinnStereotypeThreat.pdf |archive-date=8 January 2016}}</ref>

A review article of stereotype threat research (2012) relating to the relationship between gender and mathematical abilities concluded "that although stereotype threat may affect some women, the existing state of knowledge does not support the current level of enthusiasm for this [as a] mechanism underlying the gender gap in mathematics".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Stoet |first1=Gijsbert |last2=Geary |first2=David C. |title=Can stereotype threat explain the gender gap in mathematics performance and achievement? |journal=[[Review of General Psychology]] |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=93–102 |doi=10.1037/a0026617 |date=March 2012 |s2cid=145724069}}</ref>

In 2018, Jolien A. van Breen and colleagues conducted research into [[Subliminal stimuli|subliminal]] gender stereotyping. Researchers took participants through a fictional "Moral Choice Dilemma Task", which presented eight scenarios "in which sacrificing one person can save several others of unspecified gender. In four scenarios, participants are asked to sacrifice a man to save several others (of unspecified gender), and in four other scenarios they are asked to sacrifice a woman." The results showed that women who identified as feminists were more willing to 'sacrifice' men than women who did not identify as feminists.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jolien A. |first1=van Breen |last2=Spears |first2=Russell |last3=Kuppens |first3=Toon |last4=de Lemus |first4=Soledad |title=Subliminal gender stereotypes: who can resist? |journal=[[Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin]] |volume=44 |issue=12 |pages=1648–1663 |doi=10.1177/0146167218771895 |pmid=29781373 |date=May 2018 |s2cid=29170275 |url=https://pure.rug.nl/ws/files/76613806/0146167218771895.pdf}} [Epub ahead of print]</ref> "If a person wanted to counteract that and 'level the playing field', that can be done either by boosting women or by downgrading men", said van Breen. "So I think that this effect on evaluations of men arises because our participants are trying to achieve an underlying aim: counteracting gender stereotypes."<ref>{{cite news |last=Airaksinen |first=Toni |title=STUDY: Feminists more willing to 'sacrifice' men |url=https://www.campusreform.org/?ID=10984 |work=[[Campus Reform]] |publisher=[[Leadership Institute]] |date=5 June 2018 |access-date=11 June 2018}}
</ref>

According to Professor Lei Chang, gender attitudes within the domains of work and domestic roles, can be measured using a cross-cultural gender role attitudes test. Psychological processes of the East have historically been analysed using Western models (or ''instruments'') that have been translated, which potentially, is a more far-reaching process than linguistic translation. Some North American instruments for assessing gender role attitudes include:
* Attitudes Towards Women Scale,
* Sex-Role Egalitarian Scale, and
* Sex-Role Ideology Scale.
Through such tests, it is known that American southerners exhibit less egalitarian gender views than their northern counterparts, demonstrating that gender views are inevitably affected by an individual's culture. This also may differ among compatriots whose 'cultures' are a few hundred miles apart.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chang |first1=Lei |year=1999 |title=Gender Role Egalitarian Attitudes in Beijing, Hong Kong, Florida, and Michigan |journal=[[Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology]] |volume=30 |issue=6 |pages=722–741 |doi=10.1177/0022022199030006004 |s2cid=145646892}}</ref>

Although existing studies have generally focused on gender views or attitudes that are work-related, there has so far not been a study on specific domestic roles. Supporting Hofstede's 1980 findings, that "high masculinity cultures are associated with low percentages of women holding professional and technical employment", test values for work-related egalitarianism were lower for Chinese than for Americans.<ref>Hofstede</ref>{{Specify|date=July 2016}} This is supported by the proportion of women that held professional jobs in China (far less than that of America), the data clearly indicating the limitations on opportunities open to women in contemporary Eastern society. In contrast, there was no difference between the viewpoint of Chinese and Americans regarding domestic gender roles.

A study by Richard Bagozzi, Nancy Wong and Youjae Yi, examines the interaction between culture and gender that produces distinct patterns of association between positive and negative emotions.<ref name="Bag"/> The United States was considered a more 'independence-based culture', while China was considered {{'}}'''''inter'''''dependence-based'. In the US people tend to experience emotions in terms of opposition whereas in China, they do so in dialectical terms (i.e., those of logical argumentation and contradictory forces). The study continued with sets of psychological tests among university students in Beijing and in Michigan. The fundamental goals of the research were to show that "gender differences in emotions are adaptive for the differing roles that males and females play in the culture". The evidence for differences in gender role was found during the [[socialization]] in work experiment, proving that "women are socialized to be more expressive of their feelings and to show this to a greater extent in facial expressions and gestures, as well as by verbal means".<ref name="Bag">{{cite journal |last1=Bagozzi |first1=Richard P. |last2=Wong |first2=Nancy |last3=Yi |first3=Youjae |year=1999 |title=The Role of Culture and Gender in the Relationship between Positive and Negative Affect |journal=Cognition & Emotion |volume=13 |issue=6 |pages=641–672 |doi=10.1080/026999399379023}}</ref> The study extended to the biological characteristics of both gender groups — for a higher association between PA and NA hormones in memory for women, the cultural patterns became more evident for women than for men.

===Implicit gender stereotypes===
{{See also|Implicit stereotype}}
[[File:Bettie Page driving.jpg|thumb|300px|A magazine feature from ''Beauty Parade'' from March 1952 stereotyping women drivers. It features [[Bettie Page]] as the model.]]
Gender stereotypes and roles can also be supported implicitly. [[Implicit stereotypes]] are the unconscious influence of attitudes a person may or may not even be aware that he or she holds. Gender stereotypes can also be held in this manner.

These implicit stereotypes can often be demonstrated by the [[Implicit-association test]] (IAT).

One example of an implicit gender stereotype is that males are seen as better at mathematics than females. It has been found that men have stronger positive associations with mathematics than women, while women have stronger negative associations with mathematics and the more strongly a woman associates herself with the female gender identity, the more negative her association with mathematics.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Nosek |first1=Brian A. |last2=Banaji |first2=Mahzarin R. |last3=Greenwald |first3=Anthony G. |title=Math = male, me = female, therefore math ≠ me |journal=[[Journal of Personality and Social Psychology]] |volume=83 |issue=1 |pages=44–59 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.83.1.44 |date=July 2002 |citeseerx=10.1.1.463.6120 |pmid=12088131 |s2cid=204321795}}</ref>

These associations have been disputed for their biological connection to gender and have been attributed to social forces that perpetuate stereotypes such as aforementioned stereotype that men are better at mathematics than women.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kYw7ZZzCqNYC&pg=PR5|title=Myths Of Gender: Biological Theories About Women And Men, Revised Edition|first=Anne|last=Fausto-Sterling|date=4 August 2008|publisher=Basic Books|access-date=22 October 2017|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-7867-2390-4}}</ref>

This particular stereotype has been found in American children as early as second grade.<ref name="Cvencek" />

The same test found that the strength of a Singaporean child's mathematics-gender stereotype and gender identity predicted the child's association between individuals and mathematical ability.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cvencek |first1=Dario |last2=Meltzoff |first2=Andrew N. |last3=Kapur |first3=Manu |title=Cognitive consistency and math–gender stereotypes in Singaporean children |journal=Journal of Experimental Child Psychology |volume=117 |pages=73–91 |doi=10.1016/j.jecp.2013.07.018 |pmid=24141205 |date=January 2014}}</ref>

It has been shown that this stereotype also reflects mathematical performance: a study was done on the worldwide scale and it was found that the strength of this mathematics-gender stereotype in varying countries correlates with 8th graders' scores on the [[TIMSS]], a standardized math and science achievement test that is given worldwide. The results were controlled for general gender inequality and yet were still significant.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nosek |first1=B. A. |last2=Smyth |first2=F. L. |last3=Sriram |first3=N. |last4=Lindner |first4=N. M. |last5=Devos |first5=T. |last6=Ayala |first6=A. |last7=BarAnan |first7=Y. |last8=Bergh |first8=R. |last9=Cai |first9=H. |last10=Gonsalkorale |first10=K. |last11=Kesebir |first11=S. |last12=Maliszewski |first12=N. |last13=Neto |first13=F. |last14=Olli |first14=E. |last15=Park |first15=J. |last16=Schnabel |first16=K. |last17=Shiomura |first17=K. |last18=Tulbure |first18=B. |last19=Wiers |first19=R. W. |last20=Somogyi |first20=M. |last21=Akrami |first21=N. |last22=Ekehammar |first22=B. |last23=Vianello |first23=M. |last24=Banaji |first24=M. R. |last25=Greenwald |first25=A. G. |title=National differences in gender–science stereotypes predict national sex differences in science and math achievement |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] |volume=106 |issue=26 |pages=10593–10597 |doi=10.1073/pnas.0809921106 |pmid=19549876 |pmc=2705538 |date=30 June 2009 |bibcode=2009PNAS..10610593N |doi-access=free}}</ref>

===Changing roles===
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| footer            = Men and women in non-traditional gendered occupations clockwise from top left: a male [[midwife]] in [[Oslo, Norway]]; women being sworn into the [[Afghan National Police]]; a male [[kindergarten]] teacher in [[Colorado Springs]], [[U.S.]] playing the [[ukulele]]; a woman doing [[construction work]] in the [[Solomon Islands]]|a woman doing [[construction work]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], a male [[kindergarten]] teacher in [[Colorado Springs, Colorado|Colorado Springs, U.S.]] playing the [[ukulele]].
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[[File:AssemblyOfQuakers.jpg|thumb|right|A woman publicly witnessing at a [[Quaker]] meeting seemed an extraordinary feature of the Religious Society of Friends, worth recording for a wider public. Engraving by Bernard Picart, ''ca'' 1723.]]
Throughout history spouses have been charged with certain societal functions.<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Marriage Trends in America: Estimates, Implications, and Underlying Causes |journal=Population and Development Review |date=1 January 1985 |pages=193–245 |volume=11 |issue=2 |doi=10.2307/1973487 |first=Thomas J. |last=Espenshade |jstor=1973487}}</ref> With the rise of the New World came the expected roles that each spouse was to carry out specifically. Husbands were typically working farmers - the providers. Wives were caregivers for children and the home. However, the roles are now changing, and even reversing.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=http://dc.cod.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1023&context=essai |title=Gender Roles Within the American Marriage: Are They Really Changing? |last=Hawke |first=Lucy |date=2007 |journal=ESSAI}}</ref>

Societies can change such that the gender roles rapidly change. The 21st century has seen a shift in gender roles due to multiple factors such as new family structures, education, media, and several others. A 2003 survey by the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that about 1/3 of wives may earn more than their husbands.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/27/business/27instincts.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=M. P. |last=Dunleavey |title=A Breadwinner Rethinks Gender Roles |date=27 January 2007}}</ref>

With the importance of education emphasized nationwide, and the access of college degrees (online, for example), women have begun furthering their educations. Women have also started to get more involved in recreation activities such as sports, which in the past were regarded to be for men.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=7 November 2012 |title=Women and the Wild: Gender Socialization in Wilderness Recreation Advertising |journal=Gender Issues |volume=29 |issue=1–4 |pages=39–55 |doi=10.1007/s12147-012-9111-1 |last1=McNiel |first1=Jamie N. |last2=Harris |first2=Deborah A. |last3=Fondren |first3=Kristi M. |s2cid=143305053}}</ref> Family dynamic structures are changing, and the number of single-mother or single-father households is increasing. Fathers are also becoming more involved with raising their children, instead of the responsibility resting solely with the mother.

According to the Pew Research Center, the number of stay-at-home fathers in the US nearly doubled in the period from 1989 to 2012, from 1.1 million to 2.0 million.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/06/05/growing-number-of-dads-home-with-the-kids/ |title=Growing Number of Stay-at-Home Dads |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |date=5 June 2014 |work=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project |access-date=14 June 2015}}</ref> This trend appears to be mirrored in a number of countries including the UK, Canada and Sweden.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/9822271/Rise-in-stay-at-home-fathers-fuelled-by-growing-numbers-of-female-breadwinners.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/9822271/Rise-in-stay-at-home-fathers-fuelled-by-growing-numbers-of-female-breadwinners.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Rise in stay-at-home fathers fuelled by growing numbers of female breadwinners |first1=Louisa |last1=Peacock |first2=Sam |last2=Marsden |date=23 January 2013 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=14 June 2015 |location=London}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/stay-at-home-dads-on-the-rise-increasingly-because-they-want-to-be/article19014624/ |title=Stay-at-home dads on the rise – increasingly because they want to be |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |access-date=14 June 2015 |location=Toronto |date=5 June 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=19 October 2010 |access-date=6 June 2021 |title=Sweden: Land of the Stay-At-Home Dad |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/sweden-land-stay-home-dad/story?id=11918278 |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]}}</ref> However, Pew also found that, at least in the US, public opinion in general appears to show a substantial bias toward favoring a mother as a care-taker versus a father, regardless of any shift in actual roles each plays.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/05/29/breadwinner-moms/ |title=Breadwinner Moms |date=29 May 2013 |work=Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |access-date=14 June 2015}}</ref>

[[Gender equality]] allows gender roles to become less distinct and according to Donnalyn Pompper, is the reason "men no longer own breadwinning identities and, like women, their bodies are objectified in mass media images."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pompper |first1=Donnalyn |year=2010 |title=Masculinities, The Metrosexual, And Media Images: Across Dimensions Of Age And Ethnicity |journal=Sex Roles |volume=63 |issue=9/10 |pages=682–696 |doi=10.1007/s11199-010-9870-7 |s2cid=144577635}}</ref> The [[LGBT rights movement]] has played a role increasing pro-gay attitudes, which according to Brian McNair, are expressed by many metrosexual men.<ref>McNair, Brian. Striptease culture: Sex, media and the democratization of desire. London: Routledge, 2002.Print.</ref>

Besides North America and Europe, there are other regions whose gender roles are also changing. In Asia, Hong Kong is very close to the USA because the female surgeons in these societies are focused heavily on home life, whereas Japan is focused more on work life. After a female surgeon gives birth in Hong Kong, she wants to cut her work schedule down, but keeps working full time (60–80 hours per week).<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last1=Kawase |first1=Kazumi |display-authors=etal |year=2013 |title=The Attitude and Perceptions of Work-Life Balance: A Comparison Among Women Surgeons in Japan, USA, and Hong Kong China |journal=[[World Journal of Surgery]] |volume=37 |issue=1 |pages=2–11 |doi=10.1007/s00268-012-1784-9 |pmid=22955955 |s2cid=30292858}}</ref> Similar to Hong Kong, Japanese surgeons still work long hours, but they try to rearrange their schedules so they can be at home more (end up working less than 60 hours).<ref name=":4" /> Although all three places have women working advanced jobs, the female surgeons in the US and Hong Kong feel more gender equality at home where they have equal, if not more control of their families, and Japanese surgeons feel the men are still in control.<ref name=":4" />

A big change was seen in Hong Kong because the wives used to deal with unhappy marriage. Now, Chinese wives have been divorcing their husbands when they feel unhappy with their marriages, and are stable financially. This makes the wife seem more in control of her own life, instead of letting her husband control her.<ref name=":5" /> Other places, such as Singapore and Taipei are also seeing changes in gender roles. In many societies, but especially Singapore and Taipei, women have more jobs that have a leadership position (i.e. A doctor or manager), and fewer jobs as a regular worker (i.e. A clerk or salesperson).<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last1=Tai |first1=Po-Fen |year=2013 |title=Gender Matters in Social Polarisation: Comparing Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei |journal=Urban Studies |volume=50 |issue=6 |pages=1148–1164 |doi=10.1177/0042098012460734 |bibcode=2013UrbSt..50.1148T}}</ref> The males in Singapore also have more leadership roles, but they have more lower level jobs too. In the past, the women would get the lower level jobs, and the men would get all the leadership positions.<ref name=":5" /> There is an increase of male unemployment in Singapore, Taipei, and Hong Kong, so the women are having to work more in order to support their families.<ref name=":5" /> In the past, the males were usually the ones supporting the family.

In India, the women are married young, and are expected to run the household, even if they did not finish school.<ref name=":6" /> It is seen as shameful if a woman has to work outside of the house in order to help support the family.<ref name=":6" /> Many women are starting jewelry businesses inside their houses and have their own bank accounts because of it. Middle aged women are now able to work without being shameful because they are no longer childbearing.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last1=Rao |first1=Nitya |year=2012 |title=Male 'Providers' and Female 'Housewives': A Gendered Co-Performance in Rural North India |journal=Development and Change |volume=43 |issue=5 |pages=1025–1048 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7660.2012.01789.x}}</ref>