Traditional Gender Roles Bad for Society ?

"Stereotypes about gender can cause unequal and unfair treatment because of a person's gender. This is called sexism" (Gender and Gender Identity). Traditional gender roles have caused a huge effect on today's society. "In American culture, masculine roles have traditionally been associated with strength, aggression, dominance, while feminine roles have traditionally been associated with passivity, nurturing, and subordination" (Gender and Sociology). We have categorized and divided the roles between men and women on what they should and should not do. This is extremely wrong! This has an effect on this generation, the generations before us, and the next generations. Now, based on the traditional gender roles, women are expected to stay home and be a house wife, while the male goes out and provides for the family.
"The term "gender role" refers to society's concept of how men and women are expected to act and behave. Gender roles are based on norms, or standards, created by society"(Gender and Sociology).

 Society has created these standards, or norms, that make men and women behave a certain way. They believe that women and men have to act a certain way and dress a certain way. In reality, we are our own person and we live our own life. People should not dictate what is right and what is wrong. If people want to act or dress a certain way, who are you to tell them they cannot? Who are you to tell them how to think? This comes from respect. People lack respect in this society and they expect to be respected. You need to treat people the way you want to be treated. We need to respect the decisions people make for themselves because their choices do not affect your life. "The socialization process in which children learn these gender roles begins at birth. Today, our society is quick to outfit male infants in blue and girls in pink... It is interesting to note that these color associations with gender have not always been what they are today... pink was actually more associated with boys, while blue was more associated with girls..." (Gender and Sociology). Everything is not always what it seems. The root of this comes from implementing these "gender roles" at the beginning of birth. This is based on how society wants you to act, not personal preferences. The problem with this is that the children then grow up being dependent and not being able to make their own decisions because in society it is viewed as wrong. "Children learn at a young age that there are distinct expectations for them based on their assigned gender" (Gender and Sociology).
They say don't judge a book by its cover, but that is exactly what we are doing. "Gender roles shape individual behavior not only by dictating how people of each gender should behave, but also by giving rise to penalties for people who don't conform to the norms" (Gender and Sociology).  We are judging people based on their gender and basically telling them how to act, dress, or talk because they need to "fit in" with society. Truth to the matter is, we are all unique individuals who were born to shine. We were meant to stand out and be different. Children are being limited to certain things and being cheated out of experiences because of society. If children are not allowed to make their own decisions, they grow up being dependent on other people and try to fit in. However, if we allow these children to shine as human beings and allow them to make their own decisions, they become their own person. They are more of an individual and also are independent. They will not depend on other people or society and will make decisions based on personal preferences. We need to allow people, not only children, to be able to express themselves freely. Because at the end of they day, their happiness has nothing to do with your happiness. Do what makes you happy, not because it is what society expects. This are the consequences of dividing roles between men and women. Anybody can do anything as long as they put their mind to it. Gender has nothing to do with it, it is all mental.