Cultural Influences on Gender Identity

Society exerts great pressure on both men and women to conform to its standard of how they should look, live and act. Men are generally expected to be strong, confident, tough workers, while women are assigned the role of nurturers, and weak, emotional sexual objects. To an extent, these gender roles stem from natural characteristics found in each sex, but popular culture has greatly exaggerated them. Nature has hardwired men to be hunters, protectors and physically strong, and women to be nurturers, physically weaker and thinkers. However, their exaggeration in society can be potentially damaging. Boys try to prove their worth through being tough and unessescarily aggressive, all the while being rewarded by society for their negative behavior. This leaves us with legions of angry, potentially violent males, who have been wrongly influenced by our ideal vision of them.