Gender roles are beliefs about the ways in which individual, familial, community, and societal roles are defined by gender. Traditional gender roles view masculinity as being independent, assertive, and aggressive, whereas femininity has been traditionally stereotyped as nurturing, sensitive, and emotional (Bem, 1974; Brody, 1997). A person who describes themselves strongly in terms of stereotypical masculine characteristics and reports low levels of traditional feminine characteristics is considered to have a masculine gender role. A person with a feminine gender role describes high feminine and low masculine characteristics. Androgyny (Bem, 1974) is the incorporation of both masculine and feminine characteristics. The androgynous individual defines his/her gender role as being masculine or feminine depending on the role that is needed. In contrast, persons with undifferentiated gender roles do not perceive themselves to be high in either traditionally masculine or feminine characteristics. Using these four gender-role categories, the current study explores three aspects of gender roles: the person's perceptions of their own gender role (personal gender roles), the person's perceptions of socially idealized gender roles (the ideal person's gender role), and the fit between an individual's personal role and their perception of the ideal person's gender role. 1960's was vastly different than today. In a patriarchal society women were funneled into traditional roles fostering communality. With the social changes of the 60's and 70's women had a much greater ability to define their identity and gender autonomously and to establish balance.
Parent Child Relationships
Parent--child relationships and gender models and attitudes in one- and two-parent families may differ, the gender roles of college students raised in one- versus two-parent families may differ. Males and females raised in mother-headed one-parent families are more likely than males and females raised in intact two-parent families to view their own gender role in terms of traditionally....
