Lessons about Gender Roles in the Cultures - Essay Example

Girls were considered to be clean after the cut, and this was a license to marriage (Dirie 11).
The essay, "The Brothel's Bottom Line," highlights the various evils young girls are subjected to in the brothel business. According to the story, girls are sex objects that men can buy to please themselves and dispose of whenever they please. They are used as tools of the trade by brothel owners, who attach no value to them, to a point of beating them to death. Others are stitched their private parts to become virgins solely for their owners to make more money. While there are people who attach good gender roles to girls’ economic growth, like involving in businesses, others do not see the use of women apart from pleasing men (Kristof 4-8).

Gender and Our Culture
The essays have various lessons about the role of gender in our culture. They show that gender plays a big role in shaping our children’s destinies. Gender assigns various roles to people and they assume these roles to their maturity. While in the essay "The Tragedy of Female Circumcision," the author was circumcised because her grandmother and great-grandmother had to be circumcised, the girls in "The Brothel's Bottom Line” essay who had become used to prostitution found it hard to leave the business. Gender plays a great role in shaping our reasoning and determines who we are at maturity. Srey's Mom in the essay had become addicted to methamphetamine and decided to stick to it even after being saved from the brothels, she opted to go back to the habit. From both essays, it is evident that gender is responsible for assigning people various roles that they play in their cultures. Although they point at the negativity of the said roles, gender is also responsible for positive roles assigned to people in society.

How Gender Moves and Behaves in Global Culture

Globally, different cultures have different perceptions regarding gender. While the culture of various third-world countries like Africa and some Asian countries assign specific roles to women and men, developed countries like America and Europe have no gender disparities. In some African countries, it is taboo for a woman to undertake a man’s role. Women are required to be submissive to their husbands and respect them. When such women come to developed countries, their perception of gender roles changes significantly. In different parts of the world, different cultures will have different gender roles and what is said to be wrong in a certain culture could be accepted in another culture. However, various gender roles are universally accepted and similar in all parts of the world. For example, women must give birth and take care of the children, a role that is biologically defined. Read More