Gender Roles in Society - Essay Example

The approach evaluates society at a macro-level while focusing on social structures such as gender roles that shape society as a whole. The structural-functionalist approach addresses society as a whole by considering its constituent elements such as traditions, norms, institutions, and customs. Herbert Spenser popularized the analogy that presents parts of society, for example, gender, as organs that function together for the human body to be normal (Magar).

Gender roles from a functionalist perspective were articulated in the early 1950s. The theory suggests that differences in gender roles are an efficient way of creating divisions in labor. The division, therefore, aims at maximizing the use of resources, as well as, the efficiency of the society’s system. The perspective views the predefined roles as complementary. Men will provide for the families while women manage homes. Gender, therefore, contributes to society’s stability, in the same way, as other social institutions (Magar).

The functional prerequisites refer to the basic needs such as shelter and clothing that people require to live beyond the poverty line. Similarly, the functional prerequisite also refers to factors that help maintain society's order. Gender roles maintain social order by ensuring that the basic needs people need in society are available (Magar). Read More