Gender Role Behavior

[Page 706]Gender role behavior is a construct expressive of one’s identification as a man or a woman. As individuals receive social cues from their environments on how to behave according to their gender, they enact those behaviors in accordance with the expectations of being male or female. Behaviors along the gender spectrum have traditionally been seen and appraised through a binary perspective, although more recent explorations of gender roles view gender-based attitudes and behaviors as a more fluid and less dichotomized construct. This entry is a review of gender-based behaviors; their inception, history, and maintenance in society; their political and psychological implications; and the limitations of binary gender role behavior expectations.