Gender and Sexual Orientation

When investigating society’s outlook regarding gender and the corresponding roles, society’s views on sexual orientation are certainly questioned. A gender role is based upon how a person acts both emotionally and physically and whether or not these actions exhibit male or female characteristics. Unfortunately, many times a person is judged outright based on the gender role they display; and many times sexual orientation becomes a part of what is being criticized.

In today’s society, it is deemed acceptable to judge someone’s sexuality based on first impressions rather than speaking to a person and understanding them on a personal level. Immediately, assumptions are made that a man or woman is gay if they display the characteristics of the opposite sex. This is a fairly common occurrence, as Kite and Deaux (1987) explain “male homosexuals are believed to be similar to female heterosexuals, and female homosexuals are believed to be similar to male heterosexuals” (p. 83). Certainly, this cannot be true one hundred percent of the time, but unfortunately, in modern-day, this is often how someone is categorized.

The reasoning behind these types of assumptions stems from the closed-minded perspective of today’s modern society. Though inappropriate, it is still assumed that gay men have more feminine qualities, while gay women possess many masculine qualities. An example of this is when gay women are expected to display masculine qualities such as being gruff, aggressive, or domineering, especially when they appear to look physically more like a man. However, it is also well known that many gay women do not display any masculine qualities at all and can, in fact, be extremely feminine. Not only is it upsetting that women who may act in a masculine way are considered lesbians, but it is unreasonable that there are even qualities that can be considered to belong to only one sex or the other.

The other major aspect that potentially affects the way society views gender roles and how they correlate to sexual orientation involves women in the workforce. Although women have certainly made a stance in today’s society by climbing the corporate ladders, there is still a label that is placed upon them when they begin that ascent. Women who do make it in the workforce often take a long time to get there, simply because they are categorized as unstable and emotional.

Sadly, powerful women in the workplace cannot possess masculine characteristics such as assertiveness, or aggression without being judged. The same can be said for males who display more emotion than is deemed acceptable for a man to show. As Giuffre (2008) states when discussing openly gay persons at work, there is “evidence of stereotyping, sexual harassment, and gender discrimination in their work experiences” (p. 254). Although both men and women’s jobs do not rely on their sexuality for success, a large amount of the time discrimination still exists when sexual orientation is made aware to colleagues.

Gender roles and sexuality are extremely prominent in the workforce simply because it is a subject that needs to be addressed on a daily basis, especially in modern-day. Judging, perceiving, and treating others in a specific way based solely on a guess is unacceptable, not only in everyday life but in the workforce as well.

Society’s view on gender roles certainly impacts the perspective on sexual orientation. By correlating masculine traits to a female and feminine traits to a male, it is obvious that society is still adjusting to individuality and the freedom it allows to act in any way a person deems fit and lawful. Though there are many barriers to overcome when dealing with homosexuality, this bias is outdated and simply prejudiced. A male and female should be able to express themselves in both feminine and masculine ways without being perceived as homosexual or straight.

References

Giuffre, P., Dellinger, K., & Williams, C. (2008). "No retribution for being gay?": Inequality in gay-friendly workplaces. Sociological Spectrum: Mid-South Sociological Association, 28(3), 254-277.

Kite, M., & Deaux, K. (1987). Gender belief systems: Homosexuality and the implicit inversion theory. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 11(1), 83-96.