Lesson 1: Roles and Group Influences

2 - How do Roles Differ?

Four basic criteria are involved in the description of roles. Sex, age, kinship, and common residence are factors important in defining many of our roles.

Roles: Sex

All human societies follow certain rules in assigning tasks that are appropriate for each of the sexes. The rules for “correct” sexual roles vary from one society to the next.

In modern industrial societies, the sexual division of labour for everyday household duties varies from family to family. In some households, both spouses share duties interchangeably. In other cases, the male does outside work and the female does inside chores. In peasant or tribal societies where the household has the added burden of producing goods for market, the division of labour by sex is usually dictated by a list of rules.

Let’s visit a husband and wife in a primitive Bushman society to see how they organize their daily activities. Their extremely harsh environment makes it imperative that each person strictly follow his or her role obligations. To deviate from their organized division of labour could put their survival in doubt.

These activities are interdependent and reciprocal. Each person has a clear understanding of what duties are expected of each one according to sex.

Cultural variation is clear in the practice of assigning roles to men and women. Some interesting examples illustrate cultural variation in the tasks assigned to men and women.

Hopi: Women do house building and look after house repairs. Men spin and weave cloth to make clothing for both men and women.

Navaho: Men weave ceremonial garments. Women do the everyday spinning and weaving.

Zulu: Women work in the fields, planting and harvesting the grain. Men look after the cattle.

Nuer: Men herd the cattle. Only women are allowed to milk the cattle.

These examples indicate that many roles that men and women are assigned cannot be explained in terms of differences in the physical characteristics of the sexes. Many roles are assigned arbitrarily to each sex by their culture. That means there is no clear reasons for the choices that are made; the roles seem to be sorted in a random way. In some cultures strong superstitions enforce the decisions about who is allowed to do what. But before we pass judgment on these people for being narrow-minded, are we really any different if we hesitate to picture a woman dentist?

Nevertheless, our society is gradually breaking from the strict division of roles—one for men and one for women. Women seem more flexible about breaking old barriers and moving into areas of work that were once considered for “men only”. Why do you think men are more reluctant to assume new tasks that were once viewed as “women’s work”? To answer that question we have to understand the concept of status. Status refers to one’s position of importance.

In many societies, the status of men is higher than the status of women. Women have seldom been given dominance over men (except for rare cases where an individual woman has become ruler for unusual reasons). How a society determines the status of the sexes remains a mystery. Men’s higher status is not based on the fact that they make a more significant contribution to survival because in many cases that is clearly the women’s role. In some societies the status of the two sexes approaches equality; in others, the men remain dominant.

Two rules apply to all cultures. In all societies the rearing of infants is the speciality of women. In all societies the primary police or military force used to preserve order is provided by men who are specially trained to use weapons. Beyond these two principles, a number of different rules and variations are applied to roles regarding the sexes.

Roles: Age

Age is a significant factor in determining the status of roles. The child’s role responsibilities gradually increase with age until the person finally reaches adult status. Then, slowly the status of one’s role declines as old age approaches and the elderly lose power and prestige in the society. For example, some seniors complain that people do not appreciate the contributions seniors have made to the progress of our society.

Transitions from one age category to another are not very smooth or clear at times. Many teenagers complain that some days they are treated like children by their parents, and other times they are expected to act as adults. For example, a sixteen year-old girl feels bitter that she is expected to assume full adult responsibilities in preparing supper alone. Yet when she goes out with her friends, her parents try to impose a 10:00 p.m. curfew as if she were a young child.

The seniors in our society are also disturbed by their status that relates to the age factor. One day they are active, productive members of the work-force. Then, they reach retirement age and are pushed to the sidelines. Being old is not considered a glamorous or a significant role. In primitive societies, the elderly are made to feel special. They are treated as intellectuals and have a definite place in decision-making.