Gender Inequality Research Paper Example

At the start of civilization, physical strength and physiological makeup were determinants for roles in society. Hence, when it came to assigning jobs and niches, men and women were sorted by the aforementioned abilities. Based on these jobs that males and females were expected to obtain, gender stereotypes and expectations have become ingrained in society. With expectations comes societal pressure to adhere to the cultural norm, oftentimes causing emotional distress. Gender norms not only determine the conventional jobs and familial roles of men and women, but also expectations of femininity, masculinity, and appearance. Because of this, stereotypical gender roles and expectations in society are contributors to gender-specific mental disorders.  

Gender, as a construct, is based on societal standards of femininity and masculinity.  These standards include stereotypes such as: a man is supposed to be courageous, strong, unafraid of getting his hands dirty. The ‘man of the house’ is expected to be the breadwinner and the unquestioned ruler of the household. In The Journal of Health and Social Behavior, it is written that, “Hegemonic masculinity is the culturally dominant gender construction that represents power, authority, competitiveness, independence, and control” (Pudrovska & Karraker 426). However, when these stereotypes are not met, or when a man’s masculinity is questioned, the consequences to a man’s ego can be detrimental. Beyond that, there can be psychological repercussions of emasculation: “Adherence to toxic masculinity may promote engagement with, and dwelling upon, such negative interactions, as one component of toxic masculinity is a need to dominate interactions. Such negative interactions constitute a form of affect-based attention, and may promote the occurrence of depressive symptoms'' (Parent 3). The societal ideal for a male to be dominant in order to be deemed a ‘man’ has links to depression in men. Although women do experience depression, this issue is unique to the male gender. In the short story Backpack by Tony Earley, the protagonist is antagonized and emasculated by his wife, Charlotte: “She grabbed a handful of his hair and gave his head a shake. Almost rough. ‘Write that article,’ she said” (Earley). Not only is she demanding her husband to finish a task, she is also asserting her dominance physically. In the story Charlotte has a high power job, and is seeking an even better one, while John is stuck teaching at a high school. In this relationship, Charlotte has usurped the title as the leader of the house. Although this example is fictional, John’s is a story that happens to many men. John’s psychological conditions that include, but are not limited to depression, suicidal thoughts and dissociative personality disorder, are a direct result of his submissive position in his marriage. John’s alter ego is a “man’s man” who works a hands-on job, dresses masculinity and is tough in personality. He is the exact opposite of John. Since John, like many real life men, felt so emasculated, he developed mental illnesses as a result. 

Another result of a heavy emphasis on masculinity is the pressure for men and boys not to express emotions. Often called ‘toxic masculinity‘, this practice encourages people of the male sex not to reach out for mental help and not to express emotions. Instead, men are pressured to bottle up emotions and, if they must express emotions, it is typical for it to be through anger or violence: “Society dictates that boys be raised to believe that confidence, strength, success, and composure are the core elements of being a man, and anything "emotional" is girly or womanly, and should therefore be stifled and ignored (Sister Namibia 2). This unhealthy coping mechanism is a gateway to psychological disorders, the most common being  major depressive disorder. In a paper outlining common risk factors of mental illness, it is stated that, “depression in men can often  be overlooked as many find it difficult to talk about their  feelings or fear a falling of masculinity” (Moreh & O’Lawrence 291). In a society where it is discouraged for men to express emotions, the pressure to appear masculine outweighs the potential risk factors of withholding the expression of emotions. There is even evidence that there is male-specified depression because of this phenomenon. It has been proven that there are masculine presentations of depression, called masculine depression and that, “Masculine depression is characterized by pressures felt by men to limit certain emotional expressions'' (Parent 4). It is apparent that there is a vicious cycle of hiding depression symptoms, and in turn exacerbating symptoms. 

In society, there is not only a pressure to act a certain way, but also to appear a certain way. This expectation of appearance is mainly given to women. It is ideal for a woman to be thin, but not too thin. To be curvy, but not fat. To have a large bust, but not so large that it is distracting. These highly specified ideals make it impossible for a woman to meet the beauty standards. The overarching ideal, however, is to be skinny: “Thin-ideal internalization refers to  the extent to which an individual cognitively ‘buys into’ socially defined ideals of attractiveness and  engages in behaviors designed to produce an approximation of these ideals” (Thompson & Stice 181). The ways in which a woman can ‘buy into’ a thin ideal society and engage in behaviors in order to fit the standard can be dieting, exercising, and in extreme cases, developing an eating disorder. Disorders such as anorexia and bulimia result from the pressures for a girl to be thin. Although men can have body image issues and also engage in disordered eating, this problem is a female specific one. It has been said that anorexia is a “direct result of women's social positioning and focus on sex role expectations as key in women's identity construction” (Knapton 462).  The stereotypical view of women as heavily idealized sexual objects, expected to serve men, comes with the expectation that a woman appears a particular way. In an effort to meet these standards, psychological disorders involving diet and exercise ensue. 

It is a widespread belief that women are meant to be bound to the home: to cook, clean and raise children. From a young age, girls are told that they do not need to excel in school, or have a dream job, because it is their fate to be a housewife: “traditionally girls are given less encouragement to be independent” (Adhikari 3). Due to this stereotypical cultural norm, many women are cornered into becoming stay-at-home-moms. To some, staying at home and raising children may seem like a dream come true. However, it often can come with adverse psychological consequences. In an experiment measuring depression symptoms in working and non-working moms, it was observed that, “working mothers had better mental health and reported less depression than the non-working mothers” (Adhikari 2). Not only can being home most of the time be lonely, but also unfulfilling. Raising children, although difficult and important, can result in boredom and depression. Additionally, when children grow up and leave the home, stay-at-home-moms have difficulty adjusting to this new environment. Adihkari writes, “The boredom and lack of satisfaction experienced by many stay-at-home mothers are troubling enough when their children are young, but the problem becomes acute as the kids get older” (Adhikari 3). A phenomenon known as ‘empty nest syndrome’ is a particularly common cause of depression in stay at home mothers. Unlike working moms, these mothers not only feel lonely,  but also unsatisfied and old, for they have nothing to turn their attention to once their children are gone. Since women are typically the group pressured into being a stay-at-home-parent, the issue of loneliness and depression associated with being a non-working parent is typically a female-specific issue. 

Gender-specific mental illnesses are not only caused by hormonal or physiological differences, but also variations in social expectations for each sex. Stereotypical ideals of masculinity and femininity may lead to disorders such as depression and suicidal tendencies. Beliefs of how one must act and look based on gender may lead to individuals partaking in unhealthy, counterproductive practices such as failing to reach out for mental help, or developing an eating disorder. All of these illnesses that men and women are plagued with are due to cultural norms involving gender.