Western Tradition and Gender Roles: The Script

In Western Societies, gender power is held by White, highly educated, middle-class, able-bodied heterosexual men whose gender represents hegemonic masculinity-the ideal to which other masculinities must interact with, conform to, and challenge. The subtlety of it, is not enforced through direct violence; instead, it exists as a cultural "script" that we have all been taught throughout our socialization processes. Western culture is largely indoctrinated with patriarchal ideals and traditions, femininity in Western culture is constructed to be inferior to masculinity. As a result, women, many times, lack the same alignment of cultural, economic and political power as men.