Gender

A gender role is the behavior with a set of specific social regulations addressed to the people in the community with reference to their gender. Moreover, these principles appear in the respective aspects of male or female appearance, behavior, speech, mannerisms, gestures, and areas of activity.  As for the natural and mental qualities of traditional femininity, women’s gender role prescribes them to be nurturing, emotional, and sensitive to the interests and concerns of others. Besides, main masculine (male) features require activity, aggressiveness, dominance, and ambition. In fact, gender roles are constructed by society, so every cultural and historical community defines the specific functions and roles of women and men. Furthermore, every living environment has the distinct features of gender roles and relations. Norms of genders roles in South Africa, South America, and South India are different due to their cultural and social background, but they have some similar features in terms of instincts and attitudes to the family men and women possess.

In fact, gender issues in relationships are related to the inequalities in the family unit, as well as the contextual circumstances and stereotypes. Eventually, people of different countries and tribes have distinctive features and characteristics of their gender specifics. Among them, there are inhabitants of South Africa, central South America and rural South India. The population of the tribes and towns of these countries have clearly expressed gender features. Furthermore, they believe that role of male and female in the family and community is one of the most important aspects of their existence. In fact, these two social forces are mutually opposite. They play different parts in the life of their families, but their influence is significant in any way. For example, the San Bushmen hunters and gatherers in the Kalahari Desert have the specific roles in their communities and families. Thus, women of the! Kung tribe have their general household duties. Females take care of their children and cleanliness in their places of living. Besides, men must provide medical help to all the family members and monitor the health of children. Moreover, male and female of the !Kung tribe have their main work duties (Lee, 1979). For example, women must gather food and hunt the small game. Accordingly, by virtue of this work, they help men to increase the number of food products. In their turn, men must provide the miscellaneous items for women and hunt the big game. By contrast, in Yanomami tribes, the roles of male and female are different, but there are some similar features with !Kung’s. For example, men must raise the children, prepare the food and keep the unions solid (Sahlins, 1963). Besides, a woman must do the washing, clean the household and bear the children as a female of the !Kung tribe. Finally, the people of such ancient towns as Kerala have their specific gender features of a male and a female (Ossela, 2000). In fact, men of rural South India play the role of providers, and their duty is to ensure that their families have all necessary things as in San Bushmen and Yanomami tribes. In addition, a woman plays the role of a nurturer of the household. Thus, females must provide care for their children and welfare in their house. Therefore, these cultural communities have their specific features and all of the family members have their general duties.

Due to this fact, women and men constitute a strong social union. If they want a calm and prosperous life, they must provide support to each other. Definitely, these principles also exist in South Africa, South America, and South India.  For example, San Bushmen hunters in Kalahari Desert try to complement each other in different types of work. In fact, men and women are both responsible for the disciplining of their children. They strive to help each other to educate their children as a worthy generation. Besides, men and women try to balance the volume of their work (Shostak, 2009).  As a result, they support each other in their primary obligations. In Yanomami tribes, males do not have the responsibilities of taking the work of females as in a !Kung’s community. For example, men spend less than ten minutes per day for the children nurturing (Borofsky, 2005). Moreover, males take the role of females only when they are in the threatening circumstances. For example, when women work with greenery, men could help them to cut or burn the shrubs. In addition, females do not participate in male’s work as in a !Kung tribe because they are involved in numerous household duties. Kerala people have similar features with Yanomami tribes. For instance, men do not challenge themselves to participate in housework or childcare (Nielsen & Waldrop, 2014). Besides, women provide all of the household routines. As for conflicts, these communities have related specifics. For example, the desire to control a position of the family in Kerala leads to misunderstandings between the couple. Furthermore, males from !Kung and Yanomami tribes try to prove their ability to keep a family in welfare and withstand competition from other men. Due to this fact, sometimes they have disputes with their wives. Moreover, Yanomami people always compel each other to perform their work properly, and they often have some conflicts because of these disagreements. However, the !Kung people appreciate the truth in the words of their partner even if the news is painful.

Specificity of relations in the family is an extremely important feature of its functioning. Without a decent and correct relationship, people cannot create prosperity for their household and even survive. Besides, effective parenting depends exactly on this sufficient factor. In San Bushmen tribes, men have a more dominant role in relations with women. In fact, the male’s actions are fundamental and inviolable. Importantly, their relationship is a strong and stable union because each member of the family tries to bring the best for their welfare. They take care of each other and live to arrange a decent life for their descendants. Besides, when !Kung inhabitants have lovers, it is normal behavior. On the contrary, the Yanomami tribes have  distinctly different relations between males and females. In fact, there is no crossover of gender roles (Sahlins, 1963). For example, if men do not perform his work in a proper way, women will not pay attention to them. On the other hand, if females do not work diligently, their husbands could beat them. Nevertheless, Yanomami males take care of their families and prevent women from performing the heavy work in the household. In Kerala families, their relationship is calm and laidback. During a long time, people have worked to form their social family structure. As a result, the relations between a male and a female are constant and with clearly defined responsibilities (Nielsen & Waldrop, 2014). A man acts as a head of the household and a woman always tries to support and supplement him in different ways.

Throughout the lifetime of the relationship between men and women, they have changed and acquired miscellaneous features. Moreover, different cultures gradually formed new norms of their relations. However,  San Bushmen and Yanomami tribes have not undergone the strong influence of globalization. Due to this fact, the social structure of their gender roles and relations has not changed substantially. For example, Yanomami tribes continue to believe in equality between a woman and a man. Besides, they recognize that all decisions between male and female must be made by consensus, often after long debates, in which each can provide their thoughts. The San Bushmen tribes continue to consolidate in order to obtain food and basic goods. Furthermore, some Yanomami and San Bushmen tribes get cultural impact from foreign groupings. For example, representatives provide different training in the settlements of South Africa and South America and teach the inhabitants certain cultural and social norms. Consequently, people of these communities could use this knowledge and improve their social system. Besides, Kerala inhabitants actively develop their relations due to the globalization impact. Through the time, women of South India have raised the level of their equality in the family and society. For example, females have started to play the role of breadwinner and gained recognition of their opinions in society. Therefore, the relations and gender roles of the men and women have changed in these areas only partially (Scott, 2010).

Consequently, the impact of gender roles on various aspects of human life is essential. In fact, men and women of South Africa, South America and South India specialize in different but equally respected and socially useful areas that benefit their families. Besides, the communities of San Bushmen, Yanomami, and an ancient Kerala town preserved certain historical patterns, but they have their cultural peculiarities. Specifically, they have different foundations of the family relations and the position of women and men in the society. On the other hand, these communities have  certain similarities among them. They have a similar division of labor and attitude to their descendants. However, it is impossible to reduce the social relations between male and female to a single system of determinants. The principles of mutual relations could always vary depending on the area of residence and cultural features of the people. Despite this, relationships and gender role will always be an integral part of human society.