Pros and cons are gender roles a matter of Bilogy or environment?

Answer 1

Biology vs. Environment is an old question, but if you look at it from the viewpoint of the genes you will be surprised how many of our instincts and actions can be traced to our genes. I think that biology has a very strong impact on our lives, and when a child is first born the almost live exclusively on their instincts.

The best way for a male to reproduce is for him to have sex with as many women and as quickly as possible. Which explains why men don't like to make commitments and are always horny. We are designed for it.

The best way for a woman to reproduce is for her to find a mate, capture and hold his attention, then to get pregnant, and to raise the child; the best way to handle this if for a woman to develop strong relationships. She can trust her circle of friends to help her, to help care for her child and she can use her relationship with her mate to hold his attention, at least until the child is grown. To help hold their mates attention women are able to have sex year round, most mammals have a mating season and are uninterested in the other sex. Since women want to have strong relationships they are always talking, because that is the best way to deepen a relationship. It also explains why women go to the bathroom in packs and they talk all the way. To a male the best way to go the bathroom is to not see or talk to a single person until they are finished.

When a woman has a child the hormones don’t just affect her body they also affect their minds. They also rewrite part of the woman’s brain. Taking care of her child gives a woman more joy than sex ever did, and the act of care-taking ramps up their protection drive. This is why the most dangerous animals in the world are those who are taking care of their young. If you ask a woman if they would give up their life for their child about 90% of mothers would say yes without having to think about it. Women without children and men may have to think about it first. From the genetic point of view this is a great survival tactic. If a woman is willing to give up her life to protect her child then it is an act that continues the genetic line. If a man hesitates and survives then he can live to impregnate another woman and so continue his genetic line. Now it is unfair to say that a man or that any person would not risk their live to save another, but most people will agree with me when I say that when it comes to a mother and her child the mother will move as a reflex action.

Men were the solitary hunters so they didn't need many relationships, but they needed a few to hunt with them and to protect their backs. Because a man has to be able to trust his life to his friend they form very strong relationships and depend more on loyalty. However two men can go for two weeks without saying more than 12 words to each other and still consider themselves to be best friends. If a woman tried that then her friends would be thinking; "I wonder what is wrong with her, why won't she call. Is she mad at me, what did I do to make her mad? Nothing, that's what I did, and she has no right to treat me this way in fact I will give her a piece of my mind." And then she will call. They do this thinking in the time it takes a man to say, "Huh, what's the problem?"

Another problem between the sexes is that the women think such complicated thoughts trying to juggle all those relationships that they think men’s brains operate the same way. It doesn’t take many complex thoughts to hunt game. What it does take is focus and a willingness to wait in position for a long time. It also requires a man to visualize the terrain and plan his attack. Which explains why men are better with maps then most women are. It also explains why they can learn a complex subject with all their focus. Of course a woman has a multi-track mind so they can do multitasking much better then men. Women also have a way to come at a problem from several sides giving them a better point of view and more ways to solve a problem.

When a woman asks, “Does this dress make me look fat?” She is looking for a whole lot more than a yes or no answer but, the man only thinks that is what the woman is looking for. The woman has all these sub-currents and undertones in their thoughts. In this case she is looking for reassurance from her man. A woman would give that complex of an answer, but most men don’t think that way. Men look for the simple and direct way.

Back in our early history man hunted for food and to provide his family, this was the most important thing in his life. Today the man hunts at the job, and that is often the most important thing to him. When you first talk to a man, the conversation won’t go one for more than 2 minutes before the man mentions his job. To a woman her relationships and especially her family are the most important thing to her so that is what you will get from her in the first two minutes of conversation.

To women sex is the nice side effect of having a good relationship. To men sex is the major goal of the relationship. Of course most women don’t understand this and they can’t believe that the man wants all that sex. There are many ways that a marriage can break up, but for most men they start when they fill unfulfilled in their sex life. Carrying a child to birth and raising is not a job for the old; you need a strong body and spirit. So a woman has a limited lifespan on their sexual capability. For men it only takes a few seconds to get an erection and impregnate a woman so they are sexually active early and can remain so until almost the point of death. This also explains why men, even old men, want as much sex as they can get. It also explains why a lot of men in their middle ages start chasing much younger women who are still interested in sex.

Now I am talking about our instincts not our actual thoughts, but our instincts do set our default behavior. We can over come them, be we have to work hard at it. A woman can make just as good an account and soldier as a man, but they have to work against their basic instincts to do it. A man can be a stay at home caretaker or a nurse just as well as a woman can. But, they have to fight their normal desire to go out into the world and hunt so they can take care of the children and the way a man approaches the job of nursing is different than how a woman would do it. So we do have gender assigned roles for a reason.

However, there is a limit to how far our genes go and where our individuality takes root. In my case my mother had two more children just before I went into high school. Since both of my parents were working the kids had to help take care of the babies. For me that was a good experience, I feel comfortable around babies and I have done everything that can be done to take care of them (except for breast feeding and the 4:00 am feedings). I have a sister one year younger than me and she hated having to care for the babies so she doesn’t want any kids herself. Two people in the same home having to do very similar jobs came up with totally different ideas on a subject and both have ideas that are outside of what could be considered their normal gender roles.

Our upbringing and our environment have just as much to do with our instincts as our genes do. I think that the genes determine the person’s basic framework, but what they chose to put into that framework is different for each one.

So I think that our biology has a lot to do with who we are, but they are not the only things that do and we can consciously chose to do things other than what our instincts demand.

Answer 2

I think biology is the reason for the roles of each gender. Environment affects how this role is portrayed but doesn't change what the role is. Women were designed to carry children, and be protective, nurturing mothers. Men were designed to make children and then "bring home the bacon" so to speak. This is the case in most species so why not ours? Our intelligence just allows us to express this in different ways, hence the different environments that surround us.

Answer 3

Sexes is a matter of Biology, Gender Roles are environmental

Answer 4

Biology

Answer 5

Biology, mainly. Think about it: gender roles are pretty much the same across every culture that has ever been on the planet. Look at dogs, you don't see one group of dogs doing something different than all other groups of dogs.

Answer 6

I think it's biology... I mean, even animals have "gender roles". When people are born one sex or the other, they are inherantly one sex (sometimes it doesnt match the body), and will be driven and think like that sex. However, I think environment (society) takes off of those inherent gender roles, when it comes to things like interests, employment, and socialization patterns.

Answer 7

Seems you aren't a parent. Its very clear: Biology

Answer 8

who cares about gender roles.

people can do w/e the hell they want