The year is 2017, and there are still closets for girls filled with pink and toy chests for boys filled with trucks. A reasonable wish for the future is to see clothing, colors, and toys as genderless. Before we can obliterate gender roles entirely, we must understand their origin.
The allocation of gender roles dates back to the Industrial Revolution, which started in the nineteenth century. The men worked with machines as farmers and apprentices, while the few employed women worked in factories and cottage industries. Men went to work every day to make money, while women managed the household. Sound familiar? Many of the stereotypes associated with being a female come from “The Cult of True Womanhood,” which is an idea that originated in 1820. The four facets of True Womanhood were piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. These values carried into teachings from magazines and social/religious leaders, who told women that their value lied in their virginity and that education other than religion would detract from their femininity.
Masculinity came from the Victorian ideal of manhood, which is described as the “Male Gender Role Identity.” The four topics branching out from the “Male Gender Role Identity” are called No Sissy Stuff, The Big Wheel, The Sturdy Oak, and Give ‘em Hell. According to the details of these topics, men were seen as strong, aggressive, successful, and seemingly immune to emotion. It was seen as controversial to even send boys to school because being well-behaved was a sign of femininity. Industrialization, exploration, and civil wars all laid out the foundation of modern masculinity as far back as the sixteenth century.
Gender roles began to become more specific at around the time of WWI. Before WWI, the stereotypical colors for boys and girls were switched. Little boys donned pink, while little girls wore blue. During the women’s liberation movement, girls refused to wear blue because of the color association. Instead of eradicating the stereotypes, blue became the color for boys instead. It wasn’t until around 1980 when gendered colors expanded from clothes to diapers, toys, and more. Video games were even considered gender neutral until they switched from the electronic aisle to the toy aisle. Since the toy aisles are sorted by gender, the video game companies had to pick a gender to market to. Lo and behold, video games are seen as a boy’s occupation. Since boys were seen as the more athletic sex, boys were told to wear shorts and pants. Since girls were not seen as athletic, they were told to wear dresses and skirts.
The roles and stereotypes that have been assigned for centuries all stem from the same rules laid out centuries ago. With a society that is constantly growing and changing, it is simply ridiculous to accept rules from as far back as the sixteenth century. While gender roles may have served a purpose during the Industrial Revolution, there is no place for them now in 2017.
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