A Midsummer Night's Dream Gender Roles Essay

1462 Words6 Pages
Gender are characteristics differentiating between masculinity and femininity. These characteristics may include biological (i.e. the state of being male, female or intersex), sex-based social structures( gender roles and other social roles) or gender identity. Gender is a socially constructed phenomenon. When born, one is either male or female. They are not masculine or feminine. Later, depending upon their sex, masculinity or femininity is rewarded to the child. The male are expected to do the masculine, the works that demand more strength and hardship, like chopping off wood, working in the fields, etc. the female are expected to perform mostly the household related tasks, mostly those, that demand their keeping indoors, like cooking, cleaning, knitting, etc. from the very childhood, one is groomed according to their gender. As a child, a girl-child is expected to play with dolls, or playing with kitchen utilities replicas, whereas, a boy-child is expected to play with cars, gun-toys, instruments used in harvest and others. The term gender role is defined as the actions or responsibilities that may reveal their status as boy-man, girl or woman, respectively. Elements that effect gender roles are like clothing, speech patterns, movements, and other factors. Most societies have two broad classes of gender…show more content…
According to the rules of patriarchy, fathers have complete control not only over their daughter’s choices, but over their daughter’s very selves. It does not matter that Lysander is acknowledged by all to be Demetrius’s equal or even superior in every respect; nor does it matter that Demetrius is known for his infidelity. The determining factor that makes Demetrius the more suitable lover is that he has the approval of her father. As Duke Theseus warns Hermia, the cultural ideology asserts the supremacy of the father’s
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